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Dil Se..

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Dil Se..
English release poster
Directed byMani Ratnam
Screenplay byMani Ratnam
Story byMani Ratnam
Dialogues byTigmanshu Dhulia
Produced byBharat Shah
Mani Ratnam
Ram Gopal Varma
Shekhar Kapur
StarringShah Rukh Khan
Manisha Koirala
Preity Zinta
CinematographySantosh Sivan
Edited bySuresh Urs
Music byA. R. Rahman
Production
companies
Madras Talkies
Varma Corporation
Distributed byEros International
Release date
  • 21 August 1998 (1998-08-21)
Running time
167 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi[1]
Budget11.5 crores[2]
Box office28.40 crores[2]

Dil Se.. (transl.From the heart..) is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Mani Ratnam who produced it with Ram Gopal Varma and Shekhar Kapur. Set against the backdrop of Insurgency in Assam, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, while Preity Zinta makes her film debut in a supporting role. An example of parallel cinema, it is noted as the final installment in Ratnam's trilogy consisting of Roja (1992) and Bombay (1995).[3][4] The film's soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, sold six million units in India.[5]

Dil Se.. was screened at the Era New Horizons Film Festival and the Helsinki International Film Festival. Noted for its aspects of nonlinear storytelling, the film was moderately successful at the domestic box office; however, it was a major success overseas, earning $975,000 in the United States and £537,930 in the United Kingdom,[2] where it was the first Indian film to enter the top 10,[6] and it was also a hit in Japan.[7]

At the 44th Filmfare Awards, Dil Se.. received 10 nominations, including Best Actress (Koirala) and Best Supporting Actress (Zinta), and won 6 awards, including Best Female Debut (Zinta) and Best Music Director (Rahman). At the 46th National Film Awards, the film won two awards – Best Cinematography and Best Audiography, while also receiving a Netpac Award at the 49th Berlinale.[6][8]

Plot

[edit]

Amarkant "Amar" Varma is a driven program executive for All India Radio based in New Delhi, dispatched to northeastern India to report on local perspectives regarding the upcoming 50th anniversary of Indian Independence. While stranded during a rainstorm at Haflong railway station, he encounters a mysterious woman whose striking presence immediately intrigues him. Despite his attempts at casual conversation, she remains aloof and silent. When she finally requests a cup of tea, Amar rushes to a nearby kiosk, but returns only to see her board a departing train alongside three unidentified men.

Amar proceeds with his assignment in Silchar, where he interviews a cross-section of society, including regional citizens and an extremist insurgent chieftain. The chieftain explicitly accuses the Indian Government and military of widespread human rights violations and institutional neglect, justifying their armed resistance and refusing any diplomatic dialogue with the state. During his travels, Amar spots the mysterious woman again. When he confronts her, she denies any memory of their previous encounter. Undeterred, Amar broadcasts a poetic description of their meeting over the radio, which she overhears. He tracks her to a local post office, corners her, and confesses his love. To deter his persistence, she claims she is married. When a remorseful Amar later tries to apologize for his aggressiveness, she leads him into an ambush where two male associates beat him unconscious.

Amar subsequently discovers that the woman lied about her marital status and has abruptly evacuated her residence. By bribing a public telephone operator, he discovers she has been placing regular long-distance calls to Ladakh. Amar travels to Leh under the pretext of recording the Sindhu Darshan Festival. During his reporting, he witnesses military forces neutralizing a local suicide bomber. Amidst the chaos, Amar spots the woman boarding a public bus. When military security details intercept the vehicle to interrogate the passengers, the woman leverages Amar's presence, falsely claiming to the soldiers that he is her husband to evade scrutiny.

When the bus breaks down in a barren terrain, forcing the passengers to trek to a nearby village, Amar confronts her, compelling her to reveal her name as Meghna. They travel together for a day, sharing moments of emotional vulnerability, but Amar wakes up the following morning to find that Meghna has vanished. Unbeknownst to Amar, Meghna is a core operative of an extremist liberation front, currently mobilizing for a series of coordinated suicide bombings in New Delhi during the high-profile Republic Day parade.

A dejected Amar returns to Delhi, where his family arranges a marriage proposal with Preeti Nair, a vibrant woman from Kerala. Believing he will never see Meghna again, Amar acquiesces to the alliance. However, during a public outing with Preeti, Amar recognizes Kim, one of Meghna's insurgent handlers. Amar pursues him through Connaught Place but when cornered by local police, the operative commits suicide by consuming a cyanide capsule. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) assumes control of the case. Concurrently, Meghna arrives in Delhi and subtly reconnects with Amar, requesting that he use his official credentials to secure her a temporary staff position at his broadcasting office. Amar complies, inadvertently allowing her to use his residence to evade the tightening CBI dragnet.

Based on eyewitness accounts from Connaught Place, the CBI places Amar under surveillance as a prime terrorist suspect. Confronting Meghna over her true motives, Amar demands the truth. She reveals her birth name is Moina, disclosing a deeply traumatic childhood where she was brutalized by security forces, an ordeal that left her psychologically broken and radicalized her into pursuing a martyrdom mission.

The following evening, Moina’s insurgent cell assaults Amar at a secluded location. During the violent altercation, the handlers receive a radio transmission from Moina. Amar seizes the device and desperately pleads with her to abandon the plot and marry him, but Moina asserts that her trajectory is irreversible. Believing Amar has been executed by her cell, she cuts communication. Concurrently, the CBI raids Amar's home, misinterpreting his interactions as treason, and takes him into custody, where they sedate him after dismissing his frantic warnings about the Republic Day plot.

On the morning of the parade, Moina dons an explosive vest beneath her civilian attire, preparing to infiltrate the dignitary enclosure. Amar manages a desperate escape from federal custody and intercepts her at her staging location. Intercepting her path, Amar refuses to let her proceed, passionately reaffirming his devotion and pleading with her to choose a life with him. Overwhelmed by her suppressed emotions for Amar, Moina relents and embraces him tightly. As they hold each other, Moina's handler remotely detonates the vest, instantly killing both Amar and Moina in a destructive convergence of love and tragedy.

Cast

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Production

[edit]

Filming began in December 1996, while Shah Rukh Khan was also simultaneously shooting for Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai. Mani Ratnam selected Manisha Koirala to play the lead role, after he was unable to get through to Kajol.[9][10] Preity Zinta was chosen to play a supporting role.[11] Raveena Tandon was approached by the team to appear in the "Chaiyya Chaiyya" song, but turned down the offer citing her disinterest in featuring as a part of an item number.[12]

Sameer Chanda and Wasiq Khan were the production and art designers for Dil Se...[2][13] The principal photography took place in Himachal Pradesh, Leh, Assam, New Delhi, Kerala, and Ladakh over a period of 55 days.[2][13] Tigmanshu Dhulia was the casting director. Pia Benegal and Manish Malhotra were the costume designers. The song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" was shot between Malaika Arora and Shah Rukh Khan on top of the Nilgiri Express, en route Ooty, Coonoor and Kotagiri, the train is particularly painted in brown for the song sequence.[14] The travelling scenes, other crucial scenes were shot between Manisha Koirala and Shah Rukh Khan near Alchi Monastery, during the Sindhu Darshan Festival in Leh.[14] The longest song of the film "Satrangi Re" with the lead pair was shot near Thikse Monastery, the mystical Basgo Monastery ruins, and Pangong lake near Pangong Tso in Ladakh.[14] The song "Jiya Jale" was shot on Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan near Athirappilly Falls, Alappuzha backwaters, Periyar National Park, Vilangan Hills and Periyar Lake in Kerala.[14] Several action sequences in the film choreographed by Allan Amin were shot near Connaught Place, New Delhi, Rajpath and Old Delhi. Filming wrapped up in February 1998.[2][14]

Themes

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Dil Se.. is said to be a journey through the seven shades of love that are defined in ancient Arabic literature. Those shades are defined as attraction, infatuation, love, reverence, worship, obsession, and death. The character played by Shahrukh Khan passes through each shade during the course of the film.[15] Authors Sangita Gopal and Sujata Moorti of Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance also compared Khan's romance in the film to the trajectory of love in ancient Arabic literature, believing the lyrics in two of the songs to have delivered an "apocalyptic fatalism".[16]

The film is a dramatization of the attraction between a character from the heart of India and another from a peripheral state and a representation of opposites in the eyes of the law and society.[17] Dil Se.. is described as a film "structured through deferment and unfulfilled teasing promises".[18] Rediff.com said about the film, "The entire feel of the film is appropriately poetic, with a few romantic exchanges standing out quite memorable. Tigmanshu Dhulia has handled the film's dialogues adroitly. Amid moonlit desert dunes, there is a particularly stirring conversation between the leading pair. Amar reveals his hate for Meghna's eyes – because he can't see the world is hidden behind them and his love for the same, stunning eyes – because he can't see the world hidden behind them."[19]

Elleke Boehmer and Stephen Morton in their book Terror and the Postcolonial (2009) believe that the songs and their exotic locations in the film were very important in masking the impossible reconciliation between a terrorist and an uptight government agent by evoking pure fantasy.[18] They argue that this is a phenomenon called the "liminal space of dreaming" in that the terrorist woman cannot fulfill her sexual desire so the songs fill the void of this desire by "their sumptuousness and exotic locales" in the Ladakh region.[18] The theme of the movie was reported to be paying homage to the 1981 British film The French Lieutenant's Woman.[20]

Soundtrack

[edit]
Dil Se...
Soundtrack album by
Released8 July 1998 (1998-07-08)[21]
RecordedPanchathan Record Inn
GenreWorld Music
Length36:38
LabelVenus
ProducerA.R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Jeans
(1998)
Dil Se...
(1998)
Earth
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Planet BollywoodStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStarHalf star[22]
All MusicStarStarStar[23]

The soundtrack features six songs composed by A. R. Rahman. Raja Sen of Rediff called it, "Rahman's finest soundtrack, by far."[19] The soundtrack album sold six million units in India.[5] The song "Chaiyya Chaiyya", based on Sufi music (lyrics based on the Sufi folk song, "Thaiyya Thaiyya" by Bulleh Shah) and Urdu poetry,[24] became especially popular and the song has been featured in the film Inside Man (2006), in the musical Bombay Dreams, and in the television shows Smith and CSI: Miami.[25] The soundtrack was recorded in several other languages.

Malayalam lyrics for the song "Jiya Jale" were written by lyricist Gireesh Puthenchery.

The bass guitarist Guy Pratt, who played on post-Roger Waters Pink Floyd albums Delicate Sound of Thunder, The Division Bell and Pulse played bass on title song "Dil Se Re".[26]

Original version

[edit]

Hindi (Dil Se..)

All lyrics are written by Gulzar and Malayalam lyrics from the song "Jiya Jale" was penned by Gireesh Puthenchery; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Chaiyya Chaiyya"Sukhwinder Singh & Sapna Awasthi6:54
2."Dil Se Re"A. R. Rahman, Anuradha Sriram, Anupama & Febi Mani6:44
3."Satrangi Re"Sonu Nigam & Kavita Krishnamurthy7:25
4."Ae Ajnabi"Udit Narayan & Mahalakshmi Iyer5:48
5."Jiya Jale"Lata Mangeshkar, M. G. Sreekumar & Chorus5:07
6."Thayya Thayya (Reprise of Chaiyya Chaiyya)"Sukhwinder Singh4:35

Personnel

[edit]
  • Producer: India Talkies (Bharat Shah)
  • Director: Mani Ratnam
  • Lyrics: Gulzar
  • Bass Guitar on "Dil Se Re": Guy Pratt
  • Bass Guitar on "Chaiyya Chaiyya": Keith Peters
  • Flamenco guitar on "Satrangi Re": John Themis
  • Percussion: Sivamani
  • Dilruba: Saroja
  • Santoor: Seenu
  • Engineer – H. Sridhar, S. Sivakumar
  • Engineer [Additional Engineer] – Paul Wright
  • Ganga, Kanchana, Febi, Seji, Anto, Chandran, Shreenivas, Noell James[27]

Dubbed versions

[edit]

Tamil (Uyire)

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Vairamuthu and Malayalam lyrics from the song "Nenjinile Nenjinile" was penned by Gireesh Puthenchery; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Thaiyya Thaiyya"Sukhwinder Singh, Malgudi Subha & Palakkad Sreeram6:55
2."Nenjinile Nenjinile"S. Janaki, M. G. Sreekumar & Chorus5:09
3."Sandhosha Kanneere"A. R. Rahman, Anuradha Sriram, Febi Mani, Anupama6:42
4."Poongkaatrilae"Unni Menon & Swarnalatha5:45
5."Thayya Thayya (Remix)"Srinivas, Sukhwinder Singh, Hariharan4:19
6."En Uyire"Kavita Krishnamurthy, Srinivas & Sujatha7:26

Telugu (Prematho)

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry and Malayalam lyrics from the song "Innaalilaa Ledule" was penned by Gireesh Puthenchery; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Chaiyya Chaiyya"Sukhwinder Singh, Malgudi Subha & Sapna Awasthi6:52
2."Innaalilaa Ledule"K. S. Chithra, M. G. Sreekumar & Chorus5:06
3."Ninnele"A. R. Rahman, Sowmya Raoh, Dominique Cerejo & Kavitha Paudwal6:37
4."O Priyatama"Mano & Swarnalatha7:25
5."Chaiyya Chaiyya (Remix)"Sukhwinder Singh & Sapna Awasthi4:17
6."Ooristhu Ooguthu"Kavita Krishnamurthy, Srinivas & Sujatha5:42

Background score

[edit]
Dil Se...
Soundtrack album by
RecordedPanchathan Record Inn
GenreWorld Music
LabelVenus
ProducerA.R. Rahman

Hindi (Dil Se..)

[edit]

Track List :

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Pokhi Pokhi Bidekhi"Zubeen Garg01:35

Tamil (Uyire)

[edit]

Track List :

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Pokhi Pokhi Bidekhi"Zubeen Garg01:35

Malayalam (Uyire)

[edit]

Track List :

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Pokhi Pokhi Bidekhi"Zubeen Garg01:35

Telugu (Prematho)

[edit]

Track List :

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Pokhi Pokhi Bidekhi"Zubeen Garg01:35

Release

[edit]

Dil Se.. released on 21 August 1998. Though the film was shot mainly in Hindi-language, director Mani Ratnam also dubbed and released the film in Tamil and Malayalam in the title Uyire.. (transl.Darling..) which became very popular among Tamil-audience with its songs and in Telugu with the title Prematho (transl.With love).[28][29][30] Shah Rukh Khan's Tamil dialogues were dubbed by Arvind Swamy in the film.[31]

Reception

[edit]

Critical reception and box office

[edit]
The performances of Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta received critical acclaim; each received Filmfare Award nominations, with Zinta winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Though Dil Se.. received an average box office response in India, it found success overseas. It was screened at the Era New Horizons Film Festival and the Helsinki International Film Festival. The film went on to win the Netpac Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, two National Film Awards, and six Filmfare Awards. The intense political agenda of the film with the trials of the Assamese on the India-China border, the love story and the fact that it coincided with the 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations became a major factor for its success overseas, particularly amongst the South Asian diaspora in the west.[32][33]

The film became the first Indian film to enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom box office charts.[6] Even months after its release in September 1998, the film was still screened on five screens, five times per day with an average of 3,000 spectators across all screens in the Cineworld complex in Feltham, West London.[32] Deepa Deosthalee wrote a positive review to the film, calling it "a picture-perfect ode to love" and praising the direction, writing and performances.[34] Khalid Mohamed found the film disappointing, noting its "fine performances, technique and music" but panning its lack "of that crucial element called a story".[35] Anupama Chopra of India Today wrote, "Amid the reels of tripe churned out by Bollywood every week, Dil Se... is a noble attempt. But coming from Mani, that's simply not good enough."[36] The film was included in Time's "Best of Bollywood" list in 2010.[37] Dil Se.. was also a hit in Japan.[7]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Recipients and nominees Results
1999 49th Berlinale Netpac Award Mani Ratnam Won
46th National Film Awards Best Cinematography Santosh Sivan Won
Best Audiography H. Sridhar
44th Filmfare Awards Best Female Debut Preity Zinta Won
Best Music Director A. R. Rahman
Best Lyricist Gulzar for "Chaiyya Chaiyya"
Best Male Playback Singer Sukhwinder Singh for "Chaiyya Chaiyya"
Best Cinematography Santosh Sivan
Best Choreography Farah Khan for "Chaiyya Chaiyya"
Best Actress Manisha Koirala Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Preity Zinta
Best Lyricist Gulzar for "Ae Ajnabi"
Best Female Playback Singer Sapna Awasthi for "Chaiyya Chaiyya"
Screen Awards Best Male Playback Singer Sukhwinder Singh for "Chaiyya Chaiyya" Won

References

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  1. Shelly Walia and Tanushree Ghosh (21 January 2013). "Language no bar". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dil Se.. – Movie". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. Ciecko, Anne Tereska (2006). Contemporary Asian cinema: popular culture in a global frame. Berg Publishers. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-84520-237-8. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  4. Pat Padua. "FROM THE HEART – The Films of Mani Ratnam". cinescene.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Rahman @ 25". News18. CNN International. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Aftab, Kaleem (October 2002). "Brown: the new black! Bollywood in Britain". Critical Quarterly. 44 (3). Blackwell Synergy: 88–98. doi:10.1111/1467-8705.00435. The first Bollywood film to enter the UK top 10, Dil Se / Uyire was nevertheless an average in India. Such factors attest to the crucial role of the NRI audience in the commercial fate of Bollywood produce.
  7. 1 2 Kohli-Khandekar, Vanita (2013). The Indian Media Business. Sage Publications. p. 188. ISBN 9788132117889. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  8. Cary Rajinder Sawhney (2006). "Dil Se." British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  9. "Minnoviyam Star Tracks". minnoviyam.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 1999. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Minnoviyam Star Tracks". www.minnoviyam.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 1999. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. 1 2 "Making movies with Mani Ratnam". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Movie > Dil Se – Movies and Locations – Filmapia – Reel Sites. Real Sights". filmapia.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  15. "Dil Se... A Mani Ratnam film". Archived from the original on 9 July 2001. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  16. Gopal & Moorti 2008, p. 166.
  17. Chaudhuri, Shohini (2005). Contemporary world cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-7486-1799-9. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 Boehmer, Elleke; Morton, Stephen (October 2009). Terror and the postcolonial. John Wiley and Sons. p. 350. ISBN 978-1-4051-9154-8. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  19. 1 2 "Weekend Watch: Dil Se". Rediff.com. 21 October 2005. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  20. "Was 'Nayakan' inspired by 'The Godfather'?". Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  21. "Dil Se (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". ITunes Store. 8 July 1998. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  22. "Dil Se – music review by M. Ali Ikram". Planet Bollywood. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  23. "Dil Se – music review by Bhaskar Gupta". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  24. Basu, Anustup (2010). Bollywood in the Age of New Media: The Geo-televisual Aesthetic: The Geo-televisual Aesthetic. Edinburgh University Press. p. 164. ISBN 9780748643233.
  25. "Dil Se Soundtrack". Amazon. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  26. "Dil Se Soundtrack at arrahman.com". arrahman.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  27. "Dil Se Soundtrack". A.R. Rahman Discography. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  28. Sruthy Ganapathy Raman (20 June 2018). "Manisha Koirala on her acting journey: '200 per cent more focussed than ever'". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  29. Sowmya Rajendran (15 August 2017). "25 years since 'Roja': Has the depiction of 'patriotism' on screen changed?". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  30. Anjana Sekhar (16 August 2018). "From fighting for freedom to killing terrorists: The Indian patriot in Tamil cinema". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  31. Sujatha Narayanan (29 November 2016). "Shah Rukh Khan's conquest of the South: DDLJ to Dear Zindagi, how SRK won over fans". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  32. 1 2 Dudrah, Rajinder Kumar (2006). Bollywood: sociology goes to the movies. Sage. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-7619-3461-5. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  33. Meyer, Michael (2009). Word & image in colonial and postcolonial literatures and cultures. Rodopi. p. 230. ISBN 9789042027435. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  34. Deosthalee, Deepa (22 August 1998). "A picture perfect ode to love, Dil Se". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  35. Mohamed, Khalid. "QUITE A DISAPPOINTMENT". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 2 October 1999.
  36. Anupama, Chopra (31 August 1998). "Movie review: Dil Se.., starring Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala". India Today. Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  37. Corliss, Richard (27 October 2010). "Dil Se – 1998". Time. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2012.

Bibliography

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