Farhan Akhtar imagines Dil Chahta Hai trio together 25 years later; ‘They’ll have a table of their own’

New Delhi: Some friendships survive distance, changing priorities and the sheer chaos of adulthood. For Farhan Akhtar, that is exactly what he imagines for Akash, Sid and Sameer, the inseparable trio at the heart of Dil Chahta Hai. Twenty-five years after the film’s release, the filmmaker still pictures the three friends finding their way back to each other, even if their meetings become less frequent with age.

Speaking to The Juggernaut, Akhtar recalled seeing two elderly men during a recent holiday. They were sitting together at a beach shack, eating ice cream sundaes at what appeared to be their regular table. The sight immediately transported him to the future he imagines for his beloved characters.

Farhan Akhtar imagines Akash, Sid and Sameer growing old together

Akhtar said the sight of the two friends made him think of Akash, Sid and Sameer having a similar ritual decades later.

“That’s where I see Akash, Sid and Sameer,” he said, imagining the trio with “a table of their own” where they could meet, talk and eat ice cream sundaes together.

The image is particularly fitting because Dil Chahta Hai itself contains an early glimpse of the uncertainty that can come with growing older.

In one of the film’s most memorable exchanges, Akash suggests that the three friends should return to Goa every year. Sid, however, watches a ship passing by and wonders whether they will even manage to meet once in the next 10 years.

What initially feels like a throwaway moment gradually acquires greater meaning as life moves on. Friendships that seem permanent in one’s 20s can become harder to maintain once careers, relationships, families and responsibilities take over.

Akhtar believes the film captured that reality remarkably well.

“Life will constantly keep getting in the way,” he said, stressing that maintaining friendships requires an active effort. He added that people in their twenties rarely imagine going five or six years without seeing their closest friends, but that is precisely why they should “cherish what we have and enjoy ourselves while we can.”

The filmmaker also acknowledged that the friendship at the centre of Dil Chahta Hai was not entirely detached from his own experiences.

The friends Akhtar had when he wrote the film, he revealed, remain some of his closest friends even today. “I just feel blessed,” he said, before joking that he did not want to “jinx it” by talking about it too much.

Asked how he managed to capture such a mature understanding of friendship while he was still in his 20s, Akhtar suggested that he simply recognised the possibility that relationships could change with time.

That insight became one of Dil Chahta Hai’s most enduring qualities. Beyond its Goa trip, youthful romance and memorable characters, the film understood that growing up does not necessarily mean growing apart – but staying close takes intention.

And 25 years later, Akhtar’s vision of Akash, Sid and Sameer still finding their way to their own little table feels like the perfect ending to their story.