When Madhuri Dixit marched up to Aamir Khan and locked lips with him in Dil a collective gasp echoed through the auditorium.

For a girl to cross the taboo line and that too in a bustling college camps was unthinkable. But as producer-director Indra Kumar argues, "I always wondered why it was only right for the hero to grab a girl and kiss, ladki kyun nahin kar sakti?" So in his film not only did he turn the tables, but did it with Bollywood's ice maiden who in later years is reported to have incorporated a no-kiss clause in her contract.

But Indra Kumar remembers that when he narrated the scene to her she did not demur. "Madhuri was always a very obedient actress and a thorough professional. She realised how essential the kiss was to the scene and didn't throw any tantrums," he points out, adding that even Aamir understood that his threat of rape to make Madhuri understand the gravity of the crime she had thoughtlessly accused him of, was an essential plot device. Of course, in good old Hindi cinema tradition, he stops short of the actual act and by doing so wins her lifelong love and devotion.

The film is remembered even two decades later for Anand-Milind's foot-tapping score which included Mujhe neend na aaye, Khambe jaisi khadi hai, Humne ghar chhoda hai, O Priya Priya and Aaj na chhodunga tujhe dum dama dum. Interestingly, the last song was added after the film's release. "I loved the song, but before we could shoot it, we ran out of funds. But, I promised myself that if the film was a hit I'd incorporate it," Indra Kumar reminisces.

To his disappointment, Dil which opened on the same day as Sunny Deol's action-packed Ghayal got off to a slow start. But then the collections started to improve and the film went on to become a super hit.