The movie “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” completed 1,000 weeks of successful run at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir theatre. The single screen that came into the limelight after ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ ran for eight years.

To commemorate the 1,000 weeks of romance, a book titled, “Aditya Chopra revives… Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” Published by Yash Raj Films Pvt. Limited. Director Aditya Chopra was just 24 years old when “Dilwale” was released on Diwali on October 20, 1995. One can only realize the creativity exhibited by this young man then.

There are many interesting anecdotes given in his book and I am taking this opportunity to share some of them in my article.

“Dilwale” or “DDLJ”

Well, whenever director Aditya Chopra talks about the movie, he calls it as “Dilwale” and not “DLDD”. It’s not that Aditya has any objections or is offended by this, but for him it’s like a nickname that someone has given to his child. It’s just that he’s always referred to the movie as “Dilwale” and keep doing it. It was Kirron Kher who suggested the film’s title.

come fall in love

Love is a unique experience that is felt in many ways by witnessing a delicate fusion of two souls. Love is something one always aspires for and for some these aspirations come true while for others they end up walking out of the woods with a broken heart.

It is possible that in real life your love is forbidden to you or one cannot express it openly in public or otherwise to that special person. But on the big screen one can experience it all. Romance in Cinema provides that dream space.

With “Dilwale” Director Aditya Chopra wanted Raj and Simran to be seen as the lovers that many people would always aspire to be. Hey, I want to be like this Shahrukh man in my love or otherwise. After watching the movie, one must register the thought that every man would love to have Simran in his life while every girl would aspire to have her Raj in her life. Aditya Chopra admired Raj Kapoor so much for his work that Shahrukh (Raj Malhotra) was called as Raj throughout the film.

If we watch this romantic movie not even once did Raj or Simran say “I love you” to each other. On the contrary, it was quite obvious that both of them had fallen in love with each other. In the scene where Simran invites Raj to his wedding, Shahrukh says, “No, I’m not going to your wedding.” When a girl invites you to her wedding, a guy is highly unlikely to turn down her invitation. In fact, it was Raj’s style to convey “I love you” to Simran, therefore I will not be a part of his vibrant wedding celebration.

palat palat palat

The Palat Palat Palat dialogue where we see Shahrukh say this was something director Aditya admits to similarly copying from Clint Eastwood’s 1993 thriller titled In the line of fire. There’s a scene where Eastwood watches his love walk away and then says to himself, “turn around.” The idea was in Aditya’s mind for a long time and while he was writing the scene it came back to him. He liked the idea and decided to use it in his script.

Filming for this was scheduled at King’s Cross station at night and the weather was cold there in London. So, Aditya Chopra, who was wearing the brown jacket, lent the same to Shahrukh, which can be seen in this movie in the “Palace” scenery.

The facts remain

The entire script was written in twelve days. Filming for DDLJ took place over sixty-seven non-consecutive days. The entire film was made on a budget of three crores. For many years, Dilwale was the most successful Indian film abroad. With the proceeds from Dilwale, he enabled the Chopras to purchase land in Andheri West, where the Yash Raj Films studios are located today.

For Director of Photography (DOP), the decided choice was Manmohan Singh (Manji). He shared a close association with Yash Ji and shot most of his movies. He never once made Aditya Chopra, the 24-year-old, feel like he was inexperienced. Today, Manji has stopped shooting movies in Mumbai and is now a leading film director at Punjabi Cinema.

The musical hit “Dilwale” was the good work of the Jatin Lalit duo who provided unforgettable scores. The mahurat shot in this film was the introduction of Simran. Whereas for Amrish Puri’s (Baldev Singh) shop they wanted to shoot in Southhall. However, on the day of the shooting, a large crowd that had come to watch the shooting gathered, making it impossible to complete the shoot. The scene was later filmed at a gas station on a motorway. And I still remember, when I saw the movie for the first time in the theater with my dear friend, people were shouting Shahrukh at his entry into Dilwale..

The movie “Dilwale” set the record at the time for the most Filmfare Awards won by a single film with ten in total. Aditya knew that Bakshi Saab’s words had power and he was a very important person here.

I am positive for all fans of this movie “Dilwale” reading anecdotes covered in this book and then rewatching the movie would be a different experience altogether. Come fall in love When Raj(e) met Simran, love was never the same…