When a filmmaker's debut as a director is hailed as a cult, it not only makes him one of the most promising voices in the Hindi Cinema but also hangs an albatross around his neck of its name. Farhan Akhtar is that filmmaker and Dil Chahta Hai is that albatross. Even in the case of Ashutosh Gowariker. Lagaan was his third and finest film, and when Swades happened, people wanted to see another Lagaan, but it wasn't, and perhaps that's why it didn't do the numbers the team expected.

The same holds true for Akhtar's second film, Lakshya, which released in the same year as Swades, 2004. The only time Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya seemed similar was the way Akhtar handled the characters. Hrithik Roshan, who played Karan Shergill, echoed the demeanour of Sameer from Dil Chahta Hai, both were amusing to the T, brimming with comical identities. But Lakshya was a story of one man and his journey from his bed to the battlefield. This is where it went completely apart from Akhtar's debut as a director.