Two decades after its release, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayege (DDLJ) still holds a special place in our hearts; there will neither be another RaJ nor another Simran.
The makers of the mother of all rom-coms have rewarded fans for their loyalty: they took to social media to share tidbits of behind-the-scenes footage and candid interviews with the cast.
This three-minute video shows the two reciting famous lines from the movie as well as turning their attention to the question that has bothered millions for twenty years: why didn’t Raj simply pull the chain to stop the train when Simran was running to catch it?
Even the two lead stars, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, have not gotten over the cult classic; the duo recreated the original film’s famous poster for the special occasion.
The most loved on-screen couple will be seen next in Rohit Shetty’sDilwale. Shetty plans to recreate the train scene that formed the climax of DDLJ in the upcoming flick.
With arms wide open, Shah Rukh Khan redefined romance when he starred as Raj in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, but the superstar says he almost said no to the film as he found the role too “girlish”.
Shah Rukh revealed this in the Making of DDLJ documentary, released to mark the 20th anniversary of the film.
Directed by Aditya Chopra, the romance drama also starred Kajol, Mandira Bedi, Anupam Kher, Amrish Puri and Farida Jalal.
The one-hour documentary features unseen footage, behind the scenes shots and interviews of the cast and crew.
Shah Rukh, who was mostly seen in dark action-thrillers like Darr, Baazigar, and Anjaam prior to DDLJ, confessed his apprehensions of starring in a romantic film.
He also shared how, just before starting the film, he was undergoing a low phase due to his sister’s illness.
The documentary chronicles the movie’s inception, with pictures of Chopra’s earlier drafts of the script, its making, release and subsequent legacy.
The special feature is packed with interesting trivia right from Kajol’s reluctance to shoot the popular song Mere Khwabo Mein Jo Aaye in a towel to Shah Rukh’s insistence on adding an action scene in the climax.
It also has a previously unseen video of actress Juhi Chawla making a cameo in the film, which did not make it to the final cut.
DDLJ propelled Shah Rukh and Kajol to global stardom and made ‘Raj’ and ‘Simran’ household names. The movie also gave a platform to filmmaker Karan Johar, choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan, fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who all features in the documentary, to start their individual careers.
The documentary features anecdotes from Johar and Uday Chopra, who were both assistant directors in DDLJ, late Yash Chopra’s wife Pamela, and Kher among others.
The film, which released in 1995, is still running at a Mumbai theatre.
