It was in 1995, that a young director Aditya Chopra gave Hindi cinema its cult hit Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, a film in tune with its times and creating a new genre in the process — the NRI love stories. Actor Shah Rukh Khan as the Indian brat Raj living in London and actor Kajol as the obedient daughter to a culturally rooted father, together became one of the most loved on-screen couple of all times in Bollywood. Now, even as the film completes 27 years of release, the nostalgia around it remains high. In an old interview, a decade after the film’s release, Shah Rukh spoke about what makes the film so loved.
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DDLJ, as known commonly, achieved several feats upon its release. Till date it continues to be the longest running film in theatres in Indian cinema and is amongst the highest grossing Hindi films ever.
In an interview with NDTV, when asked about the reason behind the film’s marathon box office, Shah Rukh said, “I think at that time, what was happening was that films were very action oriented and suddenly you had a film which was very different. In a sense it was very antithesis to what was happening because normally hero-heroine bhaag jaate the ghar se, would forcefully get married.”
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The actor added, “I think this film’s complete progressiveness was this that first time you had a boy and girl who suddenly say that ‘hum maa baap ko samjhayeneg, unse baat karenge and hum mein koi khaami nahi hai. Aur ghar se bhaag jana aur shaadi karna old fashion ho gaya hai’. So, I think, wo baat thi.”
Shah Rukh and Kajol eventually went on to do more films together like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, My Name Is Khan and Dilwale. However, a remake of the cult DDLJ was never even attempted. Back then, in the interview Shah Rukh revealed why the film’s casting and crew became so unique.
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“I think the people who made the film Aadi (Aditya Chopra) and Karan (Johar) was the AD, there were a lot of youngsters, including us,” he said and added in jest, “I am still young. We can still do Dilwale Dulhania Phir Se Le Jaynege!”
The actor resumed on a serious note as he said, “All of us were friends or becoming friends. Some of us knew each other from before that and now after 10 years we are still friends. I think that level of comfort for everyone, not just the hero-heroine was very fresh. Haste khelte kuch ban gaya that and I think that is what makes Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge special. I don’t think we will ever be able to make Dilwale, including us again unless you take that level of friendship and happiness.”
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge also starred Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal, Mandira Bedi, Himani Shipuri and Parmeet Sethi.
