Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

When Raj meets Simran in Europe, it isn't love at first sight but when Simran moves to India for an arranged marriage, love makes its presence felt.

Director:

Aditya Chopra

Writers:

Aditya Chopra (dialogue), Aditya Chopra (screenplay)

Stars:

Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri

Top Rated Indian Movies #88 | 15 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shah Rukh Khan	...	Raj Malhotra
Kajol	...	Simran Singh
Amrish Puri	...	Chaudhry Baldev Singh
Farida Jalal	...	Lajwanti 'Lajjo' Singh
Anupam Kher	...	Dharamvir Malhotra
Parmeet Sethi	...	Kuljeet
Mandira Bedi	...	Preeti Singh
Satish Shah	...	Ajit Singh
Himani Shivpuri	...	Simran's Aunt
Pooja Ruparel	...	Rajeshwari / Chutki
Achala Sachdev	...	Simran's Grandmother
Damyanti Puri
Lalit Tiwari	...	Simran's Uncle
Hemlata Deepak	...	Simran's friend
Mohit Kumar

Storyline

When Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) and Simran (Kajol) first met on an inter-rail holiday in Europe, it wasn't exactly Love at first sight but when Simran is taken back to India for an arranged marriage, things change. Encouraged by his father Dharamvir (Anupam Kher), Raj decides to fly down from London to not just win his Bride but her whole family and the blessings of her father Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri).

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Plot Keywords:

india | trip | wedding | arranged marriage | switzerland | 

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Taglines:

Come... Fall In Love... All Over Again

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Yash Raj Films

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English Punjabi

Release Date:

20 October 1995 (India)

Also Known As:

The Big-Hearted Will Win the Bride

Filming Locations:

Angel Underground Station, Islington, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

INR40,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$36,785

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yash Raj Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

189 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Yash Chopra approached Armaan Kohli for Parmeet Sethi' s role. But Armaan did not want to play the villain's role. He insisted he play the lead role.

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Goofs

In the scene where Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol are stuck in the train compartment, Kajol's suitcase bursts open and she hurriedly stuffs her clothes back into it. When Shah Rukh sits on the compartment floor, there is clearly nothing behind or underneath him. But in the very next scene, he pulls out Kajol's bra from under him.

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Quotes

[Raj is lying with his head on Simran's legs. She is stroking Raj's head]
Simran Singh: Raj, do you know what day is tomorrow?
Raj Malhotra: [opens his eyes desperately] What is it now?
Simran Singh: Tomorrow is my first Karwa Chaud. I want you to give me my first water after my fast.
Raj Malhotra: Hands off!

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Crazy Credits

The movie had a special credit for suggesting the movie's name and the credit was for Kirron Kher.

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Connections

Referenced in Comedy Nights with Kapil: Happy New Year - Part 3 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane
Written by Anand Bakshi
Composed by Jatin Pandit and Lalit Pandit
Performed by Udit Narayan
Courtesy of Saregama HMV

User Reviews

First mainstream Bollywood film

I'm not going to get too much into reviewing the story of this movie, most of the other reviews are covering that for you. Honestly I don't remember too much the story that well anyways beyond the basics. Besides this is a Bollywood film, you know the melodramatic story of a boy and girl who fall in love against their parents wishes. I'll stick to a more cultural commentary. I remember 1995's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge being a good movie that dealt with second generation Indians living in England. This was a funny film that struck a chord with younger Indians living in Western countries around the world, and it was an obvious smash hit in India as well.

Let me say that every country in the world has something "cool" or "bad ass" about it. But India has often had the most uncool, nerdy stereotypes about it. When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, most of the representation of Indians in Western culture was limited to Apu from The Simpsons. Taxi drivers, convenience store clerks, curry, cow worshipers, more curry, thick English accents, effeminate men and hairy women,... nothing here was ever cool (these stereotypes are still here, yet are finally changing, albeit slowly). What kind of crazy kid wanted to be Indian? If I could have gotten away with passing myself off as a Mexican, I probably would have tried it. But then there was Bollywood, showcasing the beautiful people of India that could dance and sing just as good as anyone on MTV. This was the cool side to India. It made India look beautiful, exotic, young, hip and cultured. One of the biggest audiences for Bollywood flicks outside of India had traditionally been Indian girls. Older audiences obviously watched too, but young Indian women growing up in America have always been keen to Bollywood, many years before the arrival of DDLJ. Bollywood models, gharba dances, since as long as I can remember Indian girls immediately zeroed in on knowing that Bollywood was a cool piece of Indian pop culture that non-Indians didn't have access too or couldn't immediately claim as "theirs". Instead of being impenetrably "foreign", this industry made India look much more "exotic". I suppose it's the better balance to all those National Geographic specials that showed nomads in India eating the most disgusting things imaginable. Like all Indian movies, Bollywood flicks are overacted with dumb plots and idiotic fight scenes, but it involves outrageously beautiful people dancing and singing and that's always going to be cool. Beautiful people can make almost anything look cool. If Apu from The Simpsons has an arranged marriage then from the Western point of view it may look backward, cruel and dorky. If Aishwarya Rai or Hrithik Roshan has an arranged marriage, then it seems much more exotic and cultured,...hey maybe there's something to the concept. Beautiful or well accomplished people can turn previously weirdo things about a country into something cooler then it used to be perceived as. People are damn superficial aren't they? (Bollywood stars all being so fair skinned is a topic for another time) But DDLJ had a cross over appeal that didn't just include Indian girls. It was the first film that I remember being "big" amongst Indians. When I say it was "mainstream" I don't really mean that it fully crossed over into non-Indian audiences (though I know it did), but rather this is was the first Bollywood movie that I remember that was widely talked about and had immense appeal among many different types of Indian American audiences.

Before the release of this film, Bollywood movies seemed to exist in their own little niche of loyal cult followers (usually young Indian women). Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge broke some of the rules and didn't just appeal to Indian girls who wished they could be in a Bollywood movie and marry some hunky fair skinned North Indian guy. No this film had an exposure to a broader audience that seemed to really put Bollywood on the map for Indians that grew up outside of India. Indian guys were into this film, yeah probably because Indian girls were into it, but it was big change from what was going on before. A movie about second generation Indians was automatically going to appeal to every Indian growing up in Europe, Canada, Australia and of course the U.S. This was newer territory and since then Bollywood films have increasingly become more youth targeted in their marketing campaigns. Despite plenty of moments of stupidity (I remember a ridiculous "Yeeeeeeaahhhhhhhh!!" yell by Raj during a game of rugby), this movie was the beginning of a small change in Indian culture. Indian exposure to non-Indians and the dispelling of stereotypes is still very much a work in progress and people are unlikely to mention DDLJ on history papers in the future, but it had a milestone effect in my opinion within the community. The overtly glitzy Hrithik Roshan stuff today in 2006 seems a bit more aimed at pre-teen girls (so it's gone even younger), but DDLJ was the most talked about film in the 90s. 11 years have gone by, Shahrukh Khan is nearly 41 years old, he's basically an "Uncle" today, a status a lot of Gen-X Indian Americans are creeping towards. Of course Bollywood is a silly representation of India, it's like someone in Mumbai watching Rambo and thinking that's America. But for a brief moment in the mid 90s, people were united in talking about this Hindi movie, regardless if they spoke Hindi, Tamil or Malayalam. The movie had a great cast and awesome dance numbers, along with a more humorous angle then previous flicks I had seen. Recommended.