Akshaye Khanna, Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan in Dil Chahta Hai. (Express archive photo)Like it or hate it, there’s no denying that Farhan Akhtar’s directorial debut, Dil Chahta Hai is a seminal Bollywood film that ushered in a new era and showed the industry the path forward. Revolving around three college friends dealing with adulthood, relationships, and responsibilities, the coming-of-age comedy-drama featured the trio of Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Akshaye Khanna in the lead roles.Marking the movie’s 25th anniversary, a group of its core cast and crew members recently got together for a reunion, during which they revealed more about the landmark film and how it took shape. As the conversation progressed, Aamir Khan shared that it was when he got his hairdo for the movie that he finally felt like Akash Malhotra. For those unfamiliar, both Aamir and Saif’s hairstyles, which Bollywood had never seen before, became trendsetters following the film’s release.Must Read | ‘Young Amitabh’ Mayur Verma quit Bollywood to follow wife’s dream, now runs restaurantsHow a hair transformation turned Aamir Khan into Akash Malhotra“Until then, I had a puffy hairstyle. All actors used to copy Amitabh Bachchan and had a centre parting with bounce on either side. So, I used to look the same in all my films,” he recalled during a Dil Chahta Hai reunion organised by Yuvaa.He continued, “Then Farhan said he wanted to change my look completely. I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I decided to just go with it. Then we went to the salon, and when they started cutting my hair, I started panicking. By then, we’d done script readings and some costume tests. Normally, for me, I become the character on set when I get into the outfit during the first 2-3 days. But it happened early in this film for me, and I felt like the character once we cut my hair.”Also Read | Hanuman Ansh director says Bollywood didn’t help Neem Karoli Baba film; shows reduced to 25Aamir Khan stepped in to stop Saif Ali Khan from quitting Dil Chahta HaiAs Saif started raving about how he felt that the character of Sameer Mulchandani was tailor-made for him and that it was easy for him to slip into the role, Dimple Kapadia jumped in, reminding him that she had specifically asked him not to pass up the movie when he showed some hesitation at the last minute. Aamir added that they all did the same with Saif.Story continues below this adDimple pointed out, “I think you completely forgot that I called you up and said, ‘Saif, you have to do this film. It’s a fantastic role. How can you not do this film?'” Aamir added, “All of us have done that with him.”Saif admitted, “Yes, there were some last-minute commitment issues,” revealing that he almost skipped Dil Chahta Hai for two other movies where he was offered lead roles and wasn’t just one among a group of central men.ICYMI | Lagaan actor Amin Hajee calls himself ‘failure as man’, says wife stood by him ‘like rock’He continued, “But when I read it, it felt like the part suited me perfectly. I can’t remember what other films it was (that I wanted to do). It was a last-minute panic about committing to the idea. But I remember talking to Aamir. He asked, ‘What is this other movie you’re doing?’ So, I told him there were two movies. Then he was like, ‘The mounting of this film is twice as big as both those. Plus, the way you’re going to be presented here will be great. So you have to do this.'”