Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge: The more you watch, the more you fall in love; with SRK and his blush and dimples, Kajol and her innocence, Amrish Puri and the headstrong values, Anupam Kher and his care for his son, Farida Jalal and her motherly love, Chutki (Pooja Ruparel) and her sweet sissy manners etc. Even after 2 decades the film has the same lingering effect on every single person. It is part of our lives in such a tight way that for many it’s not just a movie, it’s bigger than that. Such is the love for the film, which taught us to ‘Come, Fall in love’.
For a thousand weeks the film has witnessed the passage of time. Millions of other films have come and gone, but this Raj-Simran fairy tale love story has withstood all; always remaining in the favourites of the young and old. As DDLJ completes 1000 weeks relive DDLJ, fall in love yet again and be a part of the history.
So here’s our top 10 DDLJ moments which have entered the lives of the Mango People.
Excited about all these things again!
- Towel Dance-
Much before Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor did the towel dance; we have Kajol dancing in towel. The entry sequence of Raj while Simran sings Mere Khwaabon Mein Jo Aaye… is still cheered with loud whistles. A typical Yash Raj style, the first song is dedicated to the lead actress dancing her way into the hearts of audiences. We all have done this towel + rain dance once in our life! (Especially Girls)
- EURAIL and the trip-
A true DDLJ and YRF fan dreams of taking a tour on the Eurail. Raj and Simran are real ordinary people living the reel extraordinary life. The scene where Raj drops Simran, just when everyone was enjoying their dance and later plays a prank while saying sorry ‘seriously’; or the station scene when Simran’s blouse tears off; the Al pacino, Al kamino, Al kutto dialogue to the Swiss police; or the Zara sa jhoom loon main… . You can’t name one favourite of the entire trip, but surely you learnt that unless and until you hate someone and have cute nok-jhok, you can’t really fall in love.
- Mandolin Music–
The instrument and the tune, Raj keeps on playing throughout is pure magic. The instrumental Tujhe Dekha Toh Ye Jaana Sanam… creates goose bumps. Either you have played the instrument or have dreamt of playing it, because DDLJ has it. For Simran, Raj is incomplete without the mandolin (remember she imagines him playing that while coming back home) and the music binds them both.
- Bade Bade Deshon Mein …
Iconic film, iconic dialogues. One liner that still brings a smile on to faces of the people. “Bade Bade deshon mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai, Senorita”, completely mesmerizes people till date. Filmfare poll on completing 100 years of cinema was a proof where the most popular dialogue was won by this favourite from DDLJ. 2 decades after Raj said this to Simran, the original as well as reframed version is used in conversations among youth.
- Father-Son Chemistry-
Anupam Kher as the Mr. Cool Daddy to Raj is one of his best performances. Pops laughs off the failure of his son by kidding that he is the first in family to reach till here and asks him to celebrate it. And who can forget how hard we all tried to memorize their greeting style. O potchi, O koka, O bobi, O lola!
- Palat technique-
Wanna know whether your crush likes you? Shah Rukh gave you the perfect way, the palat technique. The ‘picturization’ of the whole scene starting from the point Raj confesses his love to Simran and then jokes saying he was fooling till the point “Raj agar yeh tujhse pyaar karti hai to yeh palat ke dekhegi…Palat…Palat and Simran turns.
- Jinxed SRK-
“Ab iske baad koi gadabad nahi ho sakti”, Raj says it and the gadbad starts. You just want him not to say the line again. All of us have that one person in our circle of close friends who has had umpteen numbers of such Oops moments, but still he/she never ceases to break the record of being jinxed. One ends up laughing at these scenes irrespective of the fact you do know the joke and have seen it thousands of time.
- Karwa Chauth-
Yash Raj can be easily credited to making Indians swoon over not so famous festivals and giving them a twist. DDLJ did it to Karwa Chauth, Dil toh Pagal Hai to Valentine’s Day and Veer Zaara to Lohri. The terrace where we get to know that even Raj has kept fast for Simran and the way they feed each other lovingly was totally an oh-so-cute scene at that time. Since then many films and TV shows have shown the male partners fasting for their beloved ones.
- Mehendi Laga ke Rakhna-
Mehendi Ceremony in a marriage function and dancing to this song is a tradition now. The Punjabi beats and bhangra – gidda dancing see no barriers whether it’s a Bengali or Rajasthani or Gujrati getting married. For India, this song is the only song for Mehendi day celebrations. And for the SRK fans you were seeing him for the first time in traditional Indian attire (because earlier he was the dreaded villain, never dancing to such tunes).
10. Jaa Simran Jaa, Jeeley apni Zindagi
If you have a friend named Simran, then cheers! You have used this dialogue to the fullest. Apt situation arises and you shoot this one from DDLJ and make the moment special. All the Simran’s in this nation either love the way it just suits them or hate the fact that they have to bear it. But surely Simran’s cannot run away from this one. The climax does wonders with this last dialogue!
Even on listing our favourite 10 there is lots to this iconic phenomenon called DDLJ. The cool yet traditional aspect along with soulful melodies paving way for the story ahead, the characters and the actors, the foot tapping numbers, the simple fashion trends etc. Boman Irani said that he used to watch the same film more than once, once for its costumes, once for its choreography and so on. But for a film like DDLJ watching it even 1000 times is less.
With celebrations in full force, the entire cast of DDLJ is set to visit the sets of Comedy Nights with Kapil for a great episode in the 12th December weekend. Along with it 6pm and 9pm shows of Maratha Mandir have been booked by Yash Raj Films for special screening where the best Bollywood Jodi of SRK and Kajol will take to the stage after 20 years as Raj-Simran.
Most importantly watch the film on 12th December 2014 at 8pm on Sony Max to enjoy the legacy. (You might get a chance to get a free copy of Aditya Chopra DDLJ book by taking part in the contest playing along.)
