I can pretty much number the Bollywood films I’ve watched on one hand. In trying to expand my knowledge and repertoire, I reached out to my good buddy and Bollywood expert Ibraheem “Mark Brown” (Twitter: @The_Anim_Comm). Without hesitation, Ibraheem recommended that I watch the 1995 Bollywood sensation Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (also known as DDLJ, which acronym I’ll use in this article for simplicity’s sake).
Shah Rukh Khan as Raj and Kajol as Simran in DDLJ (© Yash Raj Films)
(Source unknown; used without permission)
Don’t mess with Amrish Puri! (© Yash Rai Films)
The plot centers around Raj and Simran, of course. The families of Raj and Simran respectively are Indian ex-pats living in London. 20 years prior, Simran’s father arranged his daughter’s marriage to his friend’s son–a guy who Simran has never met. Before her arranged marriage happens, Simran gets her father’s permission to take a 30-day train tour of Europe with some of her friends. On the trip she meets good-intentioned goofball Raj and his friends who are doing the same thing. Raj is immediately smitten by Simran, but Simran isn’t so sure about Raj (not to mention that she’s already taken by the dude she’s never met). The duo inevitably fall in love, but Simran is in a horrible dilemma–should she follow her heart and go for Raj or respect her father’s wishes and proceed with the arranged marriage? (You’re going to have to watch it yourself to find out what happens.)
One of my favorite scenes in DDLJ. (© Yash Raj Films)
I heard a famous Hollywood director once state that movie directors’ first films are always their best films (think of John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon or Mike Nichols’ The Graduate as examples). With that being said, I still can’t believe that DDLJ is Aditya Chopra’s first film. Chopra directed DDLJ with so much confidence, beauty, and style–it’s a remarkable achievement for any director, let alone a first-time director.
The film follows many of the conventions that I’ve experienced watching the handful of Bollywood films that I’ve seen. It’s long (run time is 3 hr. 9 min.), the musical numbers are elaborate and often bizarrely out of place (which I believe is part of the charm of it all), and the film’s a bit a hybrid of multiple genres (romantic comedy/screwball comedy/family drama/martial arts movie–really) which can be a bit jarring. Still, even though I’m 22 years late, DDLJ was a delight to experience and I can’t wait for future adventures watching more Bollywood films.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is available for rent and purchase on Apple iTunes (that’s how I watched it).
Source: Wikipedia
Stanford Clark 
“Bollywood expert”? Oh boy, lol! Thanks though!
Anyway, I’m glad you liked this movie and as you said, it’s one of the most famous and important films in Bollywood as well as one of the longest-running ones.
I don’t think it’s safe to say that this is one of Shahrukh Khan’s first films as he did do a good number before this. This was the film that made him a superstar though.
In Bollywood, actors are pretty much typecast to roles. You have your guys who will always be the heroes, the women who will always be the heroines, the women who will always play mother roles, and the guys who will always be the villains. Amrish Puri started acting in the 1970s and from then onwards, he was one of those to be a villain. If you saw in the opening credits of a movie that Amrish Puri was in it, you know that he’s going to be the villain; there’s no doubt about it. It’s only as he got older in life (like when this movie came out) that he got to play more of a father-type role rather than a villain since he’s so old. So yeah it’s a bit odd to see him not be a villain in a movie, but it’s understandable since he’s old now. (Well, he died in 2005).
And yeah many Bollywood films are called “masala” or like a mixture as they mix multiple genres. Since they’re mostly family films, they try to have enough of everything to please everybody: some romance, some action, comedic relief, melodrama, etc.
The music of this film is incredibly popular too; I’d ask you what your fave song in the film is if you remember the names, lol. I love “Mere Khwabon Mein” (the one Kajol sings in the beginning when wrapped in a towel), “Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane” (the one SRK sings after playing the piano in that club place), “Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh” (the one SRK sings to Kajol in the field), “Zara Sa Jhoom Loo Mein” (the one where Kajol is drunk, I think, in Europe), and “Mehndi La Ga Ke Rakhna” (the wedding song they sing on the roof of the house between the boys and the girls).
“Mehndi La Ga Ke Rakhna” is a song that you’ll hear a lot if you go to Indian weddings or weddings where they’ll play Indian music. There’s a genre of Indian songs that become “wedding songs”. And since they’re wedding-themed, they’re usually played at weddings.
Fun fact about that song: When Amrish Puri walks in at the end and everyone thinks he’s gonna be mad, but then starts singing a song to his wife, that song he sings is an old from a film in 1965 that the woman who played the grandmother acted in. So it was a cool fun fact.
There’s a lot more to say, but make sure you check out Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham next!
Great info, Ibraheem! I fixed the incorrect text about SRK first films. I liked all of the music, particularly “Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh” (since that was one of my favorite scenes as well). “Mere Khwabon Mein” was fun, too. I liked how the camera zoomed in on her face at the end of every musical phrase. Seems like that’s a Bollywood technique/tradition, too?
I never really paid attention to the camera shots in that song, but maybe you can spot it more easily than me.
I don’t know about that… 🙂 Still, I was impressed with everything in this film. Thanks again for broadening my cinematic horizons!