Arguably the most beloved romantic Hindi film.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Who would have imagined a cowbell would become one of the greatest symbols of romantic love ever seen in a Hindi film. But it did, in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ), the Aditya Chopra directed and Yash Chopra produced blockbuster starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, which opened in theaters on October 20, 1995, and has never stopped running since then.
On December 12th, the film will complete 1,000 continuous weeks of being on a screen in India, the longest span ever for a Bollywood film. The film continues to play at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai. The management of the theatre recently issued a statement that it has no intentions of pulling it down.
It’s not known how many people attend nowadays the screening of DDLJ at the Maratha theatre, but the film earned over Rs. 106 crore in India and Rs. 16 crore overseas, and was the biggest box office hit of the year 1995.
A new trailer to commemorate DDLJ’s upcoming 1,000-week run was released on YouTube and got more than half a million hits in a day’s time.
The trailer brings back fond memories of the film, with clips of some memorable dialogues from the film, lilting music score playing in the background, and highlights of the romance, drama and clash between lead actors.
Kajol looks heartbreakingly beautiful and makes one wonder once again for the 1000th time as to why the hell did she have to quit films so early on in her career for the sake of marriage. Looking at Shah Rukh Khan, and his ooze of charisma, reminds critics as to why he is regarded as the King of Romance even now in Bollywood.
DDLJ is one of only two Hindi films in the “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” list along with Mother India. It was also placed 12th on the British Film Institute’s list of the top Indian films of all time.
The title of DDLJ was actually given by Kirron Kher, who plays Kajol’s mother in the film. Kher was actually given credit for it in the film’s credit roll – perhaps the only Indian film to ever give a ‘title credit’ to an individual for a film.
It remains to be seen if many theaters all over India will release DDLJ for a limited time, for a new generation of film goers to enjoy it on the large screen. The film is well worth a visit, even if one has watched it half a dozen times before. If for nothing else, the songs in the film are worth every penny spent on a ticket to watch it all over again.
And for fans of SRK, it’s homage time again. No film of his has, and perhaps never will, quite equal the impact and charisma of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. But hey, there is no actress like Kajol out there anymore to make another DDLJ happen.