Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge : Lesser Known facts The Times of India <> Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge's record breaking run at Maratha Mandir comes to an end today V Lakshmi,TNN | Feb 19, 2015 The Times of India <> Mitwa: Obama’s DDLJ moment Srijana Mitra Das,TNN | Jan 28, 2015 The Times of India
The record breaking run
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge released on October 19, 1995, just a couple of weeks before SRK's 30th birthday. The film was a huge hit with the audiences
After the 1000 week celebrations in December 2014, the theatre had requested Yash Raj Films to prepone the DDLJ morning show to 9:15 AM instead of 11:30 AM as it was becoming difficult for the cinema to accommodate multiple new releases every week with just 3 regular shows.
YRF obliged from 13th Feb 2015. However, while the theatre management was happy to continue the film for as long as it continued to draw in the audiences, owing to logistical issues of their staff having to work inordinately long hours to accommodate an additional early morning show, it was mutually decided to end the films historic & record breaking run.
After a historic, uninterrupted 1009-week run, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge made its final curtain call at the iconic Maratha Mandir in the 9:15 AM show on 19 Feb 2015.
The film
The film told a very simple love story of Raj and Simran, played on the silver screen by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol respectively
Shah Rukh Khan played the charming loverboy Raj Malhotra in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Apparently Shah Rukh was not the first choice for the film. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge defined a huge milestone in SRK's career, but it was not actually meant to happen.
Shah Rukh Khan's portrayal of Raj Malhotra's loving ways and humorous mannerisms made him an instant favourite. However there is a reason why SRK's character was named Raj.Apparently Aditya Chopra had named Shah Rukh Khan's character Raj after the famous actor Raj Kapoor, while the title for this movie was suggested by Kirron Kher, wife of Anupam Kher, who plays SRK's father in the film.
The film's title was a phrase in the song "Le jayenge le jayenge, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" from the film Chor Machaye Shor (1974).
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge had many firsts. The film marked the debut of television actress Mandira Bedi. She played the character of Parmeet Sethi's sister. In the film Mandira falls for Shah Rukh Khan, who is actually in love with Kajol. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge also marked the onscreen debut of filmmaker, Karan Johar. His brief stint was to play SRK's friend in the movie.
The making of the film
The character of Raj was first offered to Saif Ali Khan who turned down the role after which Shah Rukh Khan came into the picture.
The music of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was a huge hit. A lot of hard work went in creating those foot tapping numbers. 'Mere Khwaboon Mein Jo Aaye' was the first song to be recorded. And according to IMDB, Aditya Chopra rejected 24 verses by Anand Bakshi before giving a nod to the final one.
While another hit number, 'Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna' that featured Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol was actually made for some other movie. But as destiny had it, the song went on to be one of the biggest hits of DDLJ.
The huge success of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge also established Aditya Chopra as an ace director. To get the best out of his team of actors, Aditya tried out a few tricks too. In the end of the song, 'Rukh Jaa O Dil Deewane,' Shah Rukh Khan drops Kajol. However, Aditya Chopra had not informed Kajol about the same, so as to capture her genuine and candid reaction. Also Aditya Chopra had some trouble filming the sequence where Raj jokes with Simran about the previous night. The reason was that every time Shah Rukh Khan would open his shirt, Kajol would start laughing. The pictures of the lips on Shah Rukh's chest were drawn by Kajol.
Denying Honey Irani credit
The film was mired in a major controversy after its release. Honey Irani and Javed Siddiqui said that they had not been given credit for screenplay and dialogues respectively.
On the official website of YashRajFilms, director Aditya Chopra got someone to ask him about the allegation.
Q: What do you have to say about the controversy over the script of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge... following Honey Irani's statements that she was denied credit?
Aditya Chopra’s reply: “I can answer that question only by saying that ever since I can remember the only thing I ever wanted out of life was to make films... the dream was to make films which were commercially successful and critically acclaimed. But the most important part of the dream was the sense of belonging, the feeling of being part of a group of wonderfully talented people.
“Today after the success and appreciation of my film, I should feel that the dream has come true. But I don't. Because there is a doubt about my honesty, integrity and capabilities. As I told you, I've always believed that one's work should speak for oneself. So, I think I'll have to start all over again from the beginning - try and work harder, try and write a better script, make a better film and hope that it will meet with this kind of success and appreciation again. Hopefully then, there won't be any doubts left. Hopefully then, I'll feel that I belong here. Believe me, that's my honest response to your question... and that's all I will ever say on the subject.”
If DDLJ was a romantic masterpiece, Mr Chopra’s 187-word is a masterpiece of ducking the question—beautifully, even lyrically.India's best-known example of gobbledygook.
Unless Mr Chopra is being gentlemanly--and feels that Mrs Irani did not deserve credit.
However, noted actor-director Farhan Akhtar told Aseem Chhabra The Rediff Movie Special that his mother Honey Irani had written the script for director Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, but was not given credit for her work. The story goes that this affected Akhtar's friendship with Chopra and more so with the director's younger brother Uday. And Akhtar eventually incorporated that break in his friendship with Uday into the plot of Dil Chahta Hai.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset," Farhan Akhtar says. "Not just at Uday, but at all of them. Because these are people I knew for practically all my life. It really upset my Mom for a long time because they were her close friends. But no, it was not an inspiration for Dil Chahta Hai."
Time has healed things, Akhtar says, and he maintains a cordial relationship with the Chopra brothers. "Unfortunately, there are certain things you cannot forget," he adds.
Offending the Christians
(There are pictures from the church sequence on this page.)
‘DDLJ’ had a needless sequence in which Simran wants to go to a church in Interlaken and Raj makes a face and casually keeps munching on a chocolate bar when he hears her plans.
Simran: Wow! What a beautiful church. Chalo andar say dekhtey hain
Raj: Arrey andar say kya dekhtey hain? Church bhi koi dekhney ki cheez hai? Mujhe nahin jana (See picture)
Raj (with unconcealed sarcasm): Yes, it’s really beautiful. Jao tum andar say ja kay dekh lo.
The reluctant Raj is pulled into the church and, upon entering, monkeys about. He makes funny sounds (Hoe-ooow, hurrrrrr, etc), jumps about noisily and spins around noisily. He is basically trying to say, I am too cool to be in a church.
Then ‘Raj mak[es] the usual sign of one wanting to go and relieve himself [urinate],’ writes Planet SRK. (See picture)
He whistles and hisses as he dances his way towards the Bible.
Then he finds Simran’s piety at the altar amusing. He casually fidgets with a bell near the Bible and ruffles through the Bible while she is praying and makes more faces to indicate this.
Finally, in an act of magnanimity towards Lord Jesus, Raj goes to the altar, kneels and addresses the Jesus idol (offscreen) with an irreverent ‘Hi!,’ introduces himself, like a cool-dude, as Raj and clarifies that he is not there for himself.
Considering how parochial YRFilms have been over the decades, concentrating (as in DDLJ) on Malhotra heroes, who belong to the Chopras’ own clan, to the exclusion of the Indian minorities in particular, this scene offended the Christians (as it was obviously meant to), who protested gently and with dignity through press statements.
President Obama, DDLJ and Mitwa
It was possibly the most filmi speech by a US President. Addressing media, students and civil society groups at Delhi's Siri Fort Auditorium in January 2015, Barack Obama started with Shah Rukh and ended with Aamir Khan.
In a talk containing as many cultural references as bilateral plans, President Obama had his audience cheer when he described the "pretty good bhangra" wife Michelle and he displayed on their last stay, pouting he felt "a little hurt" when newspapers described Michelle as a better dancer.
Obama stopped several hearts when he smiled at Michelle and murmured, "Senorita, bade bade deshon mein...", the vintage DDLJ line.
But even as the audience burst into applause, Obama mentioned Shah Rukh Khan again, alongside Milkha Singh and Mary Kom as Indian achievers.
As his speech closed, Aamir Khan's 'Mitwa' from Lagaan burst forth on the hall's speakers, its 'Tu aaja re' lyrics evidently encouraging the students mobbing the Obamas. The enthusiastic response and 'O-ba-ma!' chants could be understood, given the President's blockbuster speech.
Cast
A more precise translation of what Raj says would be, ‘Are churches things worth looking at?’
Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
However, in fairness, maybe this gesticulation was inadvertent.
Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
Shah Rukh Khan Raj Malhotra
Kajol Simran Singh
Parmeet Sethi Kuljeet
Amrish Puri Chaudhry Baldev Singh
Farida Jalal Lajwanti 'Lajjo' Singh
Anupam Kher Dharamvir Malhotra
Satish Shah
Achala Sachdev
Himani Shivpuri
Anaita Shroff
Karan Johar
Mandira Bedi
Preeti Singh
Uday Chopra (cameo)
Crew
Director
Aditya Chopra
Writers
Aditya Chopra ... (screenplay)
Javed Siddiqui ... (dialogue)
Producer
Yash Chopra ...
Cinematography
Manmohan Singh
Editing
Keshav Naidu
Art Direction
Sharmishta Roy
Songs
Music
Jatin Lalit
Lyrics
Anand Bakshi
Playback singers
Abhijeet
Ajay Trivedi ...
Asha Bhosle ...
Kumar Sanu ...
Lata Mangeshkar ...
Manpreet Kaur ...
Pamela Chopra ...
Udit Narayan ...
Choreography
Farah Khan
Saroj Khan
Awards
Filmfare Award for Best Film
1996 · Yash Chopra
Filmfare Award for Best Director
1996 · Aditya Chopra
Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1996 · Shah Rukh Khan
Filmfare Award for Best Actress
1996 · Kajol
Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue
1996 · Aditya Chopra, Javed Siddiqui
Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role
1996 · Anupam Kher
Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay
1996 · Aditya Chopra
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
1996 · Farida Jalal
The award not given
The film's songs broke sales records. HMV's executive director Harish Dayani estimates that one in three households in India owns the DDLJ soundtrack. All of India? Maybe not. But 'one third of households in the Hindi-Urdu belt who own a music player' would be more accurate
"Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam", "Mehandi lagaake rakhna", "Mere khwabon mein jo aaye", "Ho gaya hai tujhko to pyar sajana", "Zaraa sa jhoom loon main" and "Ghar aaja pardesi" were extremely popular. See Hindi-Urdu hit songs: 1996 list
Jatin Lalit, who composed seven melodious and superhit tunes for the film missed out on the music awards though Udit Narayan and Anand Bakshi won many trophies, as did the rest of the film’s crew and cast.
The market rewarded Jatin Lalit, and they became major composers for Hindi-Urdu films.
See also
Indian cinema: 1990-99 <> Hindi-Urdu cinema: 1990-99 <> Hindi-Urdu hit songs: 1996 list
