New Delhi: It tugged at the heartstrings of the young, middle-aged and the old alike when it released way back in 1995. Even a thousand weeks after its run at the box office, Shah Rukh Khan-starrer romantic drama “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (DDLJ) continues to be “cherished” by youths, who consider it an “ideal love story”.
When the film, debut-directed by Aditya Chopra, released Oct 20, 1995, it came as a refreshing change as well as a clutter breaking and trend-making entertainer with all ingredients of a Bollywood masala potboiler — love, romance, comedy, action, melodrama, thrills, songs and dance — put together cohesively to tell a story of the victory of true love.
DDLJ has a simple story — a fun loving London-bred Punjabi boy Raj meets an NRI simpleton Simran (Kajol) during an European holiday. Love blossoms between them, but winning over the girl’s conservative family is not a cakewalk for the hero, who then makes every effort to take his ‘dulhania’ (bride) with him.
Such was the film’s effect that most young girls felt love was all about ‘finding their Raj’, boys idolised SRK’s ways of fighting his way to get the love of his life, while the picture perfect family scenes reflected the fun and frolic of a typical Punjabi household — whether it was Amrish Puri’s strict yet loving father’s character, Farida Jalal’s emotional motherly act or Anupam Kher’s goofy portrayal of the boy’s ‘Pops’.
Muskan Agarwal, a 21-year-old, says “everything about the movie rocks”.
SRK and Kajol have worked together in a lot of blockbusters but DDLJ will always be recognized as their best work till date,” Ranjeet said about the film, which won 10 Filmfare Awards, including best film, best actor, best actress and best director at the 1996 edition of the ceremony.
There are many unforgettable aspects of the film — the plush yellow mustard fields, the Swiss cow bell, SRK’s ‘Senorita’ and ‘Bade bade shehron mein choti choti baatein hoti rehti hain” dialogues, Kajol’s pristine white salwar suit and the famous climax, where Kajol runs towards her bruised lover, who’s already aboard a moving train.
Gushes Ria Malhotra, a 26-year-old: “The scene was repeated with SRK and Deepika Padukone in ‘Chennai Express’, but nothing can beat the charm of DDLJ, where a father tells his daughter to go and live her life to the fullest with the love of her life.”
Bureau Report
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