Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge arrived on 20 October 1995 with a tagline that told audiences exactly what they were in for: “Come… fall In love, all over again…” 31 years on, the promise still holds. The film runs 190 minutes, mixes comedy, drama and romance, and remains one of the most successful Indian films ever made. It earns an 8.5/10.
Key facts
- Release date: 20 October 1995
- Director and writer: Aditya Chopra (directorial debut)
- Producer: Yash Chopra
- Runtime: 190 minutes
- Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol
- Estimated total gross: ₹102.5 crore (US$10.75 million)
- Awards: 10 Filmfare Awards; National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
- Score: 8.5/10
Trailer, via YRF.
Raj, Simran, and a train that will not wait
The setup is simple and it works. Raj and Simran are British Indians living in London. Simran is shy and reserved, her life dictated by her traditional patriarch father, Baldev. Raj is brash, raised by a wealthy, carefree businessman who encourages his son to enjoy his youth. They meet at the start of a backpacking trip across Europe when a late Simran gets Raj’s help to board a moving train at the last minute.
She ignores his flirting once her friends are back. Then fate keeps throwing their travel groups together until both miss their connecting train to Zurich. Stranded and forced to travel through Europe alone, they open up. Raj shares his nomadic, unsettled view of life. Simran admits she has been betrothed since childhood to Kuljeet, a man from Punjab she has never met. By the end of the journey, she is in love. Raj feels the same, but he declines her invitation to the wedding.
Shah Rukh Khan nearly said no
The casting is the film’s quiet miracle, and it almost did not happen. Aditya Chopra first wanted a story about an Indian and an American, with Tom Cruise as the male lead. Yash Chopra dissuaded him, not wanting a foreign star, and the characters became non-resident Indians instead.
Shah Rukh Khan was not interested at first. He had found success playing villainous roles and did not want a romantic part. Chopra approached Saif Ali Khan, who declined, unsure he could carry a romantic lead. Chopra kept after Shah Rukh Khan through four meetings over several weeks, finally telling him he could never be a superstar unless he became “every woman’s dream man, and every mother’s dream son.”
It landed. Shah Rukh Khan has since thanked Chopra for helping make him a star, and he has noted the similarities between the script and his own relationship with Gauri Khan before their marriage. Salman Khan, his Karan Arjun co-star, also rejected the film and then pushed him to take it, saying he thought it would be very successful. Kajol was the first choice for Simran and agreed quickly. She has said the character was hard for her to relate to; Shah Rukh Khan has said Raj’s personality was very similar to his own.
A father, a promise, and a house full of strangers
The second half moves to Punjab, where Simran’s family goes to finalize the wedding. Kuljeet turns out arrogant and chauvinistic, and Simran endures him out of respect for her father. Then Kuljeet brings home a new friend from London. It is Raj. Kuljeet has no idea Raj came to India to win over Simran’s family rather than elope. Raj embeds himself in the household and charms the relatives with warmth and helpfulness.
That is the engine of the film, and it is a better one than the Europe courtship. The vacation is lovely; the house is where the movie becomes about something. Raj cannot simply take Simran, because Baldev’s word to his friend is the whole architecture of the family. So Raj works on the family instead. Amrish Puri’s Baldev is the wall the film is built against, and Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher and Pooja Ruparel fill out a household that feels lived in rather than assembled.
Chopra named the character Raj, and the mandolin he plays, after the actor Raj Kapoor. Small choices like that are why the film holds. The soundtrack became one of the most popular of the 1990s, and it carries the romance as much as the dialogue does.
The numbers behind the love story
The film was shot in India, London and Switzerland from September 1994 to August 1995, and it paid off. It was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1995, with an estimated total gross of ₹102.5 crore, including ₹89 crore in India and ₹13.50 crore overseas. Adjusted for inflation, it is the second highest-grossing Indian film of the 1990s, behind Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
It won 10 Filmfare Awards, the most for a single film at that time, plus the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Parmeet Sethi plays Kuljeet; Satish Shah, Mandira Bedi, Achala Sachdev, Himani Shivpuri and Karan Johar round out the cast.
What matters most is not the gross. It is that a 190-minute film about a man who refuses to run away with the woman he loves, and instead earns her family one member at a time, became the template for an entire era of Hindi cinema. The Europe half is charming. The Punjab half is the film. 8.5/10
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