Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Encyclopedia
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge ' onMouseout='HidePop("16778")' href="/topics/English_language">English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra
Aditya Chopra
Aditya Chopra is an Indian film producer, screenwriter and director. He is most known for directing his only three films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , Mohabbatein , and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi...

, and stars Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

. The film tells the story of a young couple who fall in love on a European vacation, and how the boy tries to win over the girl's parents so that she can marry him instead of the boy that her father wants for her.

Earning over 106 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

 (Rs 1.06 billion) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 15 crore overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits ever. It was declared an All Time Blockbuster, and remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema. As of 2011, it was still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was included in the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", which toured the United States in July and August of 2004. Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Indiatimes is the Internet subsidiary of The Times of India Group, under which, some of the largest websites in India - The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times operate....

 Movies
ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the two Hindi films
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...

list (the other being Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...

)
. It was also placed twelfth on the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's list of top Indian films of all time.

Plot

Raj Malhotra and Simran Singh (Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

 respectively) are young first generation British Indian
British Indian
The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...

s brought up and living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Raj is the only child of wealthy widower Dharamvir Malhotra (Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

), who spoils his son excessively. Raj is a free-wheeling party boy, who is the first student at his tertiary institution to fail. Simran is the elder daughter of petrol station/convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

 owner Chaudhry Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

), a very socially conservative Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...

 Indian man whose only dream is to one day go back to his native Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. One day Raj tricks Baldev into selling him some beer after closing time by feigning an urgent need for headache medicine, making him very angry. Baldev angrily denounces Raj as a disgrace to Indians. Baldev is proud that he has managed to raise his daughters in a traditional way. Simran constantly dreams of her Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...

, a stranger who comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet, and writes about him in her diary. Her mother "Lajo" (Farida Jalal
Farida Jalal
- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

) tells her not to get her hopes up.

One day a letter comes from Ajit (Satish Shah
Satish Shah
Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

), Baldev's best friend in India, saying that his son, Kuljeet (Parmeet Sethi
Parmeet Sethi
-Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

), and Baldev's daughter, Simran, should marry each other, in accordance with a promise the two fathers had made to each other when their children were infants. Simran agrees to marry him out of respect for her father, but before the wedding, she begs her father to allow her to go on a trip to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 with her female friends; her last chance to see the world before her marriage to a complete stranger and relocation to India. Even though he is very strict, Baldev relents and permits her to go, on the condition that she promises never to betray his trust. He allows Simran to go as she has always respected and obeyed him.

During the trip, Simran meets Raj, who is on the same Eurorail package tour with some of his friends. After some initial misadventures, mainly due to disrespectful and raucous behaviour on the part of Raj, he falls in love with Simran. Only after sometime at their moment of parting at the railway station in London does Simran realize that she too has fallen in love with Raj.

Simran goes home and tells her mother that she loves someone and cannot go through with her wedding to Kuljeet. Baldev overhears their conversation, and is furious that Simran broke her promise that she would never betray his trust. He is adamant that she marries Kuljeet as planned, and that her heartbreak is of her own doing, and they will leave for India as soon as possible.

Even though Simran does not want to marry Kuljeet, her family returns to Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

. As it turns out, Kuljeet is an arrogant alpha male who takes pride in being a hunter and boasts to his macho friends that he will engage in marital infidelity. Lajo tries to spare her daughter's feelings, but cannot stand up to her domineering husband. Both Simran and her sister Chutki are completely unimpressed with Kuljeet and his brash friends.

Raj, however, does not give up. He follows Simran to Punjab at the urging of his bold father, meets her privately, and assures her that he will save her from the arranged marriage, and marry her with the consent of her father. Raj befriends Kuljeet and pretends to be a friend of the family. He helps with the wedding preparations and soon gains everyone's friendship. At the same time, Kuljeet's sister, Preeti (Mandira Bedi
Mandira Bedi
Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

), falls in love with Raj, and things become complicated when Raj's father suddenly appears in India and fixes Raj's marriage to Preeti mistaking her to be the girl his son loves.

During this time, Simran pulls several stunts; she bandages her hand claiming that it has been cut to avoid wearing the engagement ring, and then pretends to faint towards the end of a religious fast so that she does not have to accept the fast-breaking food from Kuljeet. Simran's mom, Lajo catches Simran and Raj feeding each other and realizes that Raj is the boy that Simran met on her trip. She calls them both and gives all her jewelry and belongings and tells Raj to run away with Simran because no one will understand their love. Raj tells Lajo that everything will be fine and that he will only take Simran if her dad Baldev says so.

However, everything comes crashing down when Baldev sees a photograph of Raj and Simran together when they were on their trip across Europe. He exposes Raj's true identity in front of everybody, slaps him, and angrily tells him to leave, as Simran will marry Kuljeet regardless of what anybody thinks. As Raj leaves and is sitting at the railway station, Kuljeet and his friends follow him and nearly beat him senseless with sticks for his deception. When they also attack his father, Raj flies into a rage and single-handedly beats Kuljeet and his friends. Baldev and Ajit arrive, stop Raj, and tell him and his father to go on their way. Raj and his father board a train out of the village. However, as the train begins to pull out of the station, all the females in the family arrive. Simran tries to follow, and is stopped by Baldev. She begs him to let her go, and he eventually comes to his senses and realizes that no one will ever love his daughter as much as Raj does. He tells Simran to join Raj on the train, and she enthusiastically does so.

Cast

  • Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

     as Raj Malhotra
  • Kajol
    Kajol
    Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

     as Simran "Simi" Singh
  • Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

     as Chaudhary Baldev Singh
  • Farida Jalal
    Farida Jalal
    - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

     as Lajwanti "Lajo" Singh
  • Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

     as Dharamvir Malhotra
  • Parmeet Sethi
    Parmeet Sethi
    -Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

     as Kuljeet Singh
  • Satish Shah
    Satish Shah
    Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

     as Ajit Singh
  • Himani Shivpuri
    Himani Shivpuri
    Himani Shivpuri, is Indian, film, theatre and television actress, who is most known for her role in Sooraj R. Barjatya's film Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! , and as 'Devki Bhojai' in TV serial Humrahi .- Biography :...

     as Kammo Kaur
  • Pooja Ruparel as Rajeshwari "Chutki" Singh
  • Achala Sachdev
    Achala Sachdev
    Achala Sachdev is an Indian film actress who started her career as a child. She later became known for mother and grandmother roles in Hindi films...

     as Simran's grandmother
  • Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

     as Preeti Singh
  • Karan Johar
    Karan Johar
    Karan Johar is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Television host. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and the...

     as Rocky
  • Anaita Shroff Adajania
    Anaita Shroff Adajania
    Anaita Shroff Adajania is a fashion stylist and costume designer. She is the Fashion Director for Vogue magazine. The owner of the Style Cell company, Adajania has been noted for her design work on several Bollywood films including Dhoom 2, Being Cyrus, Everybody Says I'm Fine!, and Love Aaj...

     as Sheena
  • Arjun Sablok
    Arjun Sablok
    Arjun Sablok is an Indian film director. He is currently one of the film directors working under the Yashraj Films banner.Before his foray into film directing he made brief appearances in two of director Yash Chopra's films Vijay and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge .He made his directorial debut with...

     as Roby

Development

Successful filmmaker Yash Chopra
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...

 decided to launch his son Aditya, who had been working with him in assistant director and producer roles, as a director with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. He had faith in Aditya and gave him the complete freedom to make his film the way he wanted. He gave guidance, but did not interfere. Aditya kept the faith his father had in him and made a film according to his own tastes and sensibilities.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, along with films such as Kal Ho Na Ho, Salaam Namaste
Salaam Namaste
The film has seven songs composed by the duo Vishal-Shekhar. The music of the film released on 10 August 2005. The music includes four songs and two remixes.-External links:*...

and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, has been produced with the large and rich South Asian diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

 in the West as its target. Making a film for the diaspora market is seen as a surer moneymaking bet than for the desi
Desi
Desi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...

 market. Director Aditya Chopra originally wanted to cast Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

 for the role of Raj, as he wanted it to be an Indo-American affair. He was later dissuaded by his father, producer Yash Chopra, who didn't want to make it with a foreign star. Instead they went with the theme of non-resident Indians
Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...

 (NRIs), and the film became the first Hindi film blockbuster to feature NRIs. Aditya Chopra then asked Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 to play the lead in the film. Khan was not really interested because of the romantic nature of the film. Chopra eventually convinced him to do it, and Khan has since then expressed his gratitude to Chopra for making him a star.

Filming of the European trip scenes was done mainly in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, including Saanen
Saanen
Saanen is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district.-Geography:Saanen has an area of . Of this area, 52.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 33.6% is forested...

 for the train station and bridge scenes, Montbovon for the churches, and Gstaad
Gstaad
Gstaad is a village in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland. Part of the municipality of Saanen, Gstaad is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world....

 for a song. There were also numerous scenes shot in England, and India. Saroj Khan
Saroj Khan
Nirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal popularly known as Saroj Khan is one of the most prominent Indian dance choreographers in Hindi cinema...

 was the choreographer, but after several disputes with Chopra, she was replaced by Farah Khan
Farah Khan
Farah Khan is an Indian film director and choreographer. She is best known for her choreographical work in numerous Bollywood films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films. Khan has since become a noted Hindi film director as well...

 near the end of the shoot. Farah choreographed "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane". Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra is considered to be India's leading and most successful fashion designer.Manish Malhotra has designed for many leading actresses in Bollywood. He is known for his different style and his ability to envision a 'look' for the character. He is known for designing the costumes for...

 was in charge of costume design, with help from Karan Johar
Karan Johar
Karan Johar is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Television host. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and the...

. Sharmishta Roy was the art director.

After filming was complete, Chopra decided to make a Hollywood-style documentary of the film making process, which had never been done before in India. Karan Johar and Chopra's brother Uday were put in change. On 18 October, The Making of DDLJ was aired on Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...

, the national channel. This created much excitement for the film, which debuted two days later.

Themes

Films like this that are designed to appeal to the diaspora have stories involving foreign locations, but not just for item numbers. The characters are themselves diaspora, and tend to be able to move around with ease between India and the West. This film puts forward the usual conservative agenda of family, courtship and marriage, but it proposes that Indian family values are portable assets that can be upheld regardless of country of residence. In fact, Raj (who was brought up in London) is the "good guy" of the story, whereas Kuljeet (raised in India) is seen as the "bad guy". This is a reversal of sorts from typical Indian films, which usually portray Indians as being morally better than Westerners.

The story also aims to capture the struggle between traditional family values and the newer value of individualism. Though Raj an Simran want to be together, regardless of her father's plans for her, Raj tries to win over the father rather than simply elope with her.

Reception

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge opened to full houses and rave reviews all over the world. Earning over 106 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

 (Rs 1.06 billion) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 15 crore overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time. Adjusted for inflation, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is believed to be among the top five highest grossing Hindi films of all time. Its adjusted gross is approximately 293 crore.

Tom Vick reviewed the film for Allmovie and said, "An immensely likeable movie, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge performs the rarely achieved feat of stretching a predictable plot over three hours and making every minute enjoyable." When DDLJ toured the United States in 2004 as part of the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", Charles Taylor reviewed the film for Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

, saying "It's a flawed, contradictory movie -- aggressive and tender, stiff and graceful, clichéd and fresh, sophisticated and naive, traditional and modern. It's also, I think, a classic."

Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a noted author, journalist and film critic. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a movie reviewer with NDTV and India Today.-Career:...

 included the film in her list of "The 20 Best Hindi Films Ever Made", writing, "Perhaps the innocence of Raj and Simran’s romance in which they can spend the night together without sex because Raj, the bratish NRI understands the importance of an Indian woman’s honor. Perhaps it’s the way in which the film artfully reaffirms the patriarchal status quo and works for all constituencies – the NRI and the local viewer. Or perhaps it’s the magic of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol who created a template for modern love, which was hip and cool but resolutely Indian." She also calls the film a milestone that shaped Hindi cinema through the 1990s.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was ranked amongst Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Indiatimes is the Internet subsidiary of The Times of India Group, under which, some of the largest websites in India - The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times operate....

 Movies
list of the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the two Hindi films
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...

list (the other being Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...

)
. It was also placed twelfth on the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's list of top Indian films of all time.

Legacy

In 2001, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge overtook Sholay
Sholay
Sholay is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It is considered among the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema. Released on 15 August 1975, it stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and...

as the longest-running film in Indian cinema.
In February 2009, the film set a record by completing 700 weeks of continuous play in a Mumbai theatre. On 20 October 2009 the movie completed 15 years of non-stop running. As of 2011, it is still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai. Producer Yash Chopra decided to organise a celebration in February 2011, when the film completed 800 weeks of running, and Manoj Desai, owner of the theatre has no plans to discontinue the screening of the film. There are often people in the audience that have seen the film 50 times or more, but still clap, cheer, mouth the dialog, and sing along with the songs, raising comparisons with Hollywood's longest running film The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...

. People keep coming back not just to see the film, but to be a part of an experience. In early 2011, a theatre strike threatened the films uninterrupted showing streak. Producer Yash Chopra contacted theatre owners to try and ensure that the film would continue. He wants the film to go for at least 1000 weeks.

Audiences appreciated the duo of Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

 so much that they went on to work together in several other successful films including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a Hindi romantic comedy film, released in India and the United Kingdom on 16 October 1998. The film was written and directed by the debuting Karan Johar and stars the popular on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in their fourth movie together...

(1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), and My Name Is Khan
My Name is Khan
My Name Is Khan ; commonly referred to as MNIK, is a 2010 Bollywood film directed by Karan Johar, with a screenplay by Shibani Bathija, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan, and starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, who reunite after nine years...

(2010), and are often refered to as Indian cinema's most loved on-screen couple.

In 2010, Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films is an Indian Entertainment company set up by Yash Chopra, an Indian film director and producer who is considered an entertainment mogul in India.-Initial years:...

 signed an agreement with Indian and Swiss tour companies to provide what is called "YRF Enchanted Journey" that will allow people visiting Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 to view sites and filming locations from famous Yash Raj films including DDLJ.

Filmfare Awards

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is tied for second place for the most number of Filmfare awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...

 going to a single film with 10. It was also only the second film to win the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress), after Guide
Guide (film)
Guide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...

in 1966.
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Movie Award
    Filmfare Best Movie Award
    The Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years...

    : Yash Chopra
    Yash Chopra
    Yash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Director Award
    Filmfare Best Director Award
    The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in the Hindi film Industry. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year.-Superlatives:...

    : Aditya Chopra
    Aditya Chopra
    Aditya Chopra is an Indian film producer, screenwriter and director. He is most known for directing his only three films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , Mohabbatein , and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

    : Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Actress Award
    Filmfare Best Actress Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954.-Superlatives:...

    : Kajol
    Kajol
    Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
    The Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

    : Farida Jalal
    Farida Jalal
    - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Comedian Award
    Filmfare Best Comedian Award
    The Filmfare Best Comedian Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a comic role....

    : Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...

    : Anand Bakshi
    Anand Bakshi
    Anand Bakshi was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.-Early days:Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 10...

    , "Tujhe Dekha To"
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award
    Filmfare Best Screenplay Award
    The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.-Superlatives:Most AwardsSalim-Javed - 3Basu Chatterjee - 2Mani Ratnam - 2Vijay Tendulkar - 2Rajkumar Hirani - 2...

    : Aditya Chopra
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award
    Filmfare Best Dialogue Award
    The Filmfare Best Dialogue Award is given by the Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Here is a list of the award winners since 1958 and the films for which they won.-Superlatives:Most AwardsGulzar - 4...

    : Aditya Chopra, Javed Siddiqi
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    The Filmfare Best Male Playback Award is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song....

    : Udit Narayan
    Udit Narayan
    -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

    , "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna"

Nominations
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

    : Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Music Director Award
    Filmfare Best Music Director Award
    The Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad was the first recipient of this award for his song "Tu Ganga Ki Mauj"...

    : Jatin Lalit
    Jatin Lalit
    Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    The Filmfare Best Male Playback Award is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song....

    : Kumar Sanu
    Kumar Sanu
    Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

    , "Tujhe Dekha To"
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...

    : Anand Bakshi, "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna" (nominated twice in this category)

National Film Awards

  • 1996 National Film Award for Best Popular Film
    National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
    The National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment winners:1981 to 1984 and 1992, 1986 & 1977 No Award was given....

     Rajat Kamal (Silver Medal)

Star Screen Awards

  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Film: Yash Chopra
  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Director: Aditya Chopra
  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Actor: Shahrukh Khan

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Jatin Lalit
Jatin Lalit
Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,...

, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.-Early days:Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 10...

 and voice rendered by Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

, Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

, Abhijeet, and Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

. Anand Bakshi won his third Filmfare Best Lyricist award after 14 years. Bhasker Gupta wrote for All Music that the soundtrack was the best of Jatin Lalit's career, and calls it the beginning of the fifth wave in Indian cinema soundtracks.

The soundtrack was listed by Planet Bollywood as number 6 on their list of 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks, and was judged the top Hindi soundtrack of all time by on-line voters on the BBC Asian Network. The wedding song "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" from the film became an all-time hit, and is played in weddings across the South Asian diaspora to this day.
Track # Song Singer(s) Duration
1 "Ghar Aaja Pardesi" Manpreet Kaur, Pamela Chopra 7:29
2 "Mere Khwabon Mein" Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

4:17
3 "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane" Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

5:14
4 "Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main" Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, Abhijeet Bhattacharya
5:51
5 "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko" Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan 5:49
6 "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan 4:50
7 "Tujhe Dekha To" Lata Mangeshkar, Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

5:02

Further reading

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge ' onMouseout='HidePop("35272")' href="/topics/English_language">English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra
Aditya Chopra
Aditya Chopra is an Indian film producer, screenwriter and director. He is most known for directing his only three films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , Mohabbatein , and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi...

, and stars Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

. The film tells the story of a young couple who fall in love on a European vacation, and how the boy tries to win over the girl's parents so that she can marry him instead of the boy that her father wants for her.

Earning over 106 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

 (Rs 1.06 billion) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 15 crore overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits ever. It was declared an All Time Blockbuster, and remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema. As of 2011, it was still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was included in the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", which toured the United States in July and August of 2004. Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Indiatimes is the Internet subsidiary of The Times of India Group, under which, some of the largest websites in India - The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times operate....

 Movies
ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the two Hindi films
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...

list (the other being Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...

)
. It was also placed twelfth on the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's list of top Indian films of all time.

Plot

Raj Malhotra and Simran Singh (Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

 respectively) are young first generation British Indian
British Indian
The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...

s brought up and living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Raj is the only child of wealthy widower Dharamvir Malhotra (Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

), who spoils his son excessively. Raj is a free-wheeling party boy, who is the first student at his tertiary institution to fail. Simran is the elder daughter of petrol station/convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

 owner Chaudhry Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

), a very socially conservative Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...

 Indian man whose only dream is to one day go back to his native Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. One day Raj tricks Baldev into selling him some beer after closing time by feigning an urgent need for headache medicine, making him very angry. Baldev angrily denounces Raj as a disgrace to Indians. Baldev is proud that he has managed to raise his daughters in a traditional way. Simran constantly dreams of her Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...

, a stranger who comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet, and writes about him in her diary. Her mother "Lajo" (Farida Jalal
Farida Jalal
- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

) tells her not to get her hopes up.

One day a letter comes from Ajit (Satish Shah
Satish Shah
Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

), Baldev's best friend in India, saying that his son, Kuljeet (Parmeet Sethi
Parmeet Sethi
-Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

), and Baldev's daughter, Simran, should marry each other, in accordance with a promise the two fathers had made to each other when their children were infants. Simran agrees to marry him out of respect for her father, but before the wedding, she begs her father to allow her to go on a trip to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 with her female friends; her last chance to see the world before her marriage to a complete stranger and relocation to India. Even though he is very strict, Baldev relents and permits her to go, on the condition that she promises never to betray his trust. He allows Simran to go as she has always respected and obeyed him.

During the trip, Simran meets Raj, who is on the same Eurorail package tour with some of his friends. After some initial misadventures, mainly due to disrespectful and raucous behaviour on the part of Raj, he falls in love with Simran. Only after sometime at their moment of parting at the railway station in London does Simran realize that she too has fallen in love with Raj.

Simran goes home and tells her mother that she loves someone and cannot go through with her wedding to Kuljeet. Baldev overhears their conversation, and is furious that Simran broke her promise that she would never betray his trust. He is adamant that she marries Kuljeet as planned, and that her heartbreak is of her own doing, and they will leave for India as soon as possible.

Even though Simran does not want to marry Kuljeet, her family returns to Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

. As it turns out, Kuljeet is an arrogant alpha male who takes pride in being a hunter and boasts to his macho friends that he will engage in marital infidelity. Lajo tries to spare her daughter's feelings, but cannot stand up to her domineering husband. Both Simran and her sister Chutki are completely unimpressed with Kuljeet and his brash friends.

Raj, however, does not give up. He follows Simran to Punjab at the urging of his bold father, meets her privately, and assures her that he will save her from the arranged marriage, and marry her with the consent of her father. Raj befriends Kuljeet and pretends to be a friend of the family. He helps with the wedding preparations and soon gains everyone's friendship. At the same time, Kuljeet's sister, Preeti (Mandira Bedi
Mandira Bedi
Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

), falls in love with Raj, and things become complicated when Raj's father suddenly appears in India and fixes Raj's marriage to Preeti mistaking her to be the girl his son loves.

During this time, Simran pulls several stunts; she bandages her hand claiming that it has been cut to avoid wearing the engagement ring, and then pretends to faint towards the end of a religious fast so that she does not have to accept the fast-breaking food from Kuljeet. Simran's mom, Lajo catches Simran and Raj feeding each other and realizes that Raj is the boy that Simran met on her trip. She calls them both and gives all her jewelry and belongings and tells Raj to run away with Simran because no one will understand their love. Raj tells Lajo that everything will be fine and that he will only take Simran if her dad Baldev says so.

However, everything comes crashing down when Baldev sees a photograph of Raj and Simran together when they were on their trip across Europe. He exposes Raj's true identity in front of everybody, slaps him, and angrily tells him to leave, as Simran will marry Kuljeet regardless of what anybody thinks. As Raj leaves and is sitting at the railway station, Kuljeet and his friends follow him and nearly beat him senseless with sticks for his deception. When they also attack his father, Raj flies into a rage and single-handedly beats Kuljeet and his friends. Baldev and Ajit arrive, stop Raj, and tell him and his father to go on their way. Raj and his father board a train out of the village. However, as the train begins to pull out of the station, all the females in the family arrive. Simran tries to follow, and is stopped by Baldev. She begs him to let her go, and he eventually comes to his senses and realizes that no one will ever love his daughter as much as Raj does. He tells Simran to join Raj on the train, and she enthusiastically does so.

Cast

  • Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

     as Raj Malhotra
  • Kajol
    Kajol
    Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

     as Simran "Simi" Singh
  • Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

     as Chaudhary Baldev Singh
  • Farida Jalal
    Farida Jalal
    - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

     as Lajwanti "Lajo" Singh
  • Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

     as Dharamvir Malhotra
  • Parmeet Sethi
    Parmeet Sethi
    -Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

     as Kuljeet Singh
  • Satish Shah
    Satish Shah
    Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

     as Ajit Singh
  • Himani Shivpuri
    Himani Shivpuri
    Himani Shivpuri, is Indian, film, theatre and television actress, who is most known for her role in Sooraj R. Barjatya's film Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! , and as 'Devki Bhojai' in TV serial Humrahi .- Biography :...

     as Kammo Kaur
  • Pooja Ruparel as Rajeshwari "Chutki" Singh
  • Achala Sachdev
    Achala Sachdev
    Achala Sachdev is an Indian film actress who started her career as a child. She later became known for mother and grandmother roles in Hindi films...

     as Simran's grandmother
  • Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

     as Preeti Singh
  • Karan Johar
    Karan Johar
    Karan Johar is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Television host. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and the...

     as Rocky
  • Anaita Shroff Adajania
    Anaita Shroff Adajania
    Anaita Shroff Adajania is a fashion stylist and costume designer. She is the Fashion Director for Vogue magazine. The owner of the Style Cell company, Adajania has been noted for her design work on several Bollywood films including Dhoom 2, Being Cyrus, Everybody Says I'm Fine!, and Love Aaj...

     as Sheena
  • Arjun Sablok
    Arjun Sablok
    Arjun Sablok is an Indian film director. He is currently one of the film directors working under the Yashraj Films banner.Before his foray into film directing he made brief appearances in two of director Yash Chopra's films Vijay and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge .He made his directorial debut with...

     as Roby

Development

Successful filmmaker Yash Chopra
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...

 decided to launch his son Aditya, who had been working with him in assistant director and producer roles, as a director with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. He had faith in Aditya and gave him the complete freedom to make his film the way he wanted. He gave guidance, but did not interfere. Aditya kept the faith his father had in him and made a film according to his own tastes and sensibilities.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, along with films such as Kal Ho Na Ho, Salaam Namaste
Salaam Namaste
The film has seven songs composed by the duo Vishal-Shekhar. The music of the film released on 10 August 2005. The music includes four songs and two remixes.-External links:*...

and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, has been produced with the large and rich South Asian diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

 in the West as its target. Making a film for the diaspora market is seen as a surer moneymaking bet than for the desi
Desi
Desi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...

 market. Director Aditya Chopra originally wanted to cast Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

 for the role of Raj, as he wanted it to be an Indo-American affair. He was later dissuaded by his father, producer Yash Chopra, who didn't want to make it with a foreign star. Instead they went with the theme of non-resident Indians
Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...

 (NRIs), and the film became the first Hindi film blockbuster to feature NRIs. Aditya Chopra then asked Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 to play the lead in the film. Khan was not really interested because of the romantic nature of the film. Chopra eventually convinced him to do it, and Khan has since then expressed his gratitude to Chopra for making him a star.

Filming of the European trip scenes was done mainly in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, including Saanen
Saanen
Saanen is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district.-Geography:Saanen has an area of . Of this area, 52.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 33.6% is forested...

 for the train station and bridge scenes, Montbovon for the churches, and Gstaad
Gstaad
Gstaad is a village in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland. Part of the municipality of Saanen, Gstaad is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world....

 for a song. There were also numerous scenes shot in England, and India. Saroj Khan
Saroj Khan
Nirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal popularly known as Saroj Khan is one of the most prominent Indian dance choreographers in Hindi cinema...

 was the choreographer, but after several disputes with Chopra, she was replaced by Farah Khan
Farah Khan
Farah Khan is an Indian film director and choreographer. She is best known for her choreographical work in numerous Bollywood films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films. Khan has since become a noted Hindi film director as well...

 near the end of the shoot. Farah choreographed "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane". Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra is considered to be India's leading and most successful fashion designer.Manish Malhotra has designed for many leading actresses in Bollywood. He is known for his different style and his ability to envision a 'look' for the character. He is known for designing the costumes for...

 was in charge of costume design, with help from Karan Johar
Karan Johar
Karan Johar is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Television host. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and the...

. Sharmishta Roy was the art director.

After filming was complete, Chopra decided to make a Hollywood-style documentary of the film making process, which had never been done before in India. Karan Johar and Chopra's brother Uday were put in change. On 18 October, The Making of DDLJ was aired on Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...

, the national channel. This created much excitement for the film, which debuted two days later.

Themes

Films like this that are designed to appeal to the diaspora have stories involving foreign locations, but not just for item numbers. The characters are themselves diaspora, and tend to be able to move around with ease between India and the West. This film puts forward the usual conservative agenda of family, courtship and marriage, but it proposes that Indian family values are portable assets that can be upheld regardless of country of residence. In fact, Raj (who was brought up in London) is the "good guy" of the story, whereas Kuljeet (raised in India) is seen as the "bad guy". This is a reversal of sorts from typical Indian films, which usually portray Indians as being morally better than Westerners.

The story also aims to capture the struggle between traditional family values and the newer value of individualism. Though Raj an Simran want to be together, regardless of her father's plans for her, Raj tries to win over the father rather than simply elope with her.

Reception

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge opened to full houses and rave reviews all over the world. Earning over 106 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

 (Rs 1.06 billion) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 15 crore overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time. Adjusted for inflation, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is believed to be among the top five highest grossing Hindi films of all time. Its adjusted gross is approximately 293 crore.

Tom Vick reviewed the film for Allmovie and said, "An immensely likeable movie, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge performs the rarely achieved feat of stretching a predictable plot over three hours and making every minute enjoyable." When DDLJ toured the United States in 2004 as part of the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", Charles Taylor reviewed the film for Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

, saying "It's a flawed, contradictory movie -- aggressive and tender, stiff and graceful, clichéd and fresh, sophisticated and naive, traditional and modern. It's also, I think, a classic."

Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a noted author, journalist and film critic. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a movie reviewer with NDTV and India Today.-Career:...

 included the film in her list of "The 20 Best Hindi Films Ever Made", writing, "Perhaps the innocence of Raj and Simran’s romance in which they can spend the night together without sex because Raj, the bratish NRI understands the importance of an Indian woman’s honor. Perhaps it’s the way in which the film artfully reaffirms the patriarchal status quo and works for all constituencies – the NRI and the local viewer. Or perhaps it’s the magic of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol who created a template for modern love, which was hip and cool but resolutely Indian." She also calls the film a milestone that shaped Hindi cinema through the 1990s.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was ranked amongst Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Indiatimes is the Internet subsidiary of The Times of India Group, under which, some of the largest websites in India - The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times operate....

 Movies
list of the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the two Hindi films
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...

list (the other being Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...

)
. It was also placed twelfth on the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's list of top Indian films of all time.

Legacy

In 2001, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge overtook Sholay
Sholay
Sholay is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It is considered among the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema. Released on 15 August 1975, it stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and...

as the longest-running film in Indian cinema.
In February 2009, the film set a record by completing 700 weeks of continuous play in a Mumbai theatre. On 20 October 2009 the movie completed 15 years of non-stop running. As of 2011, it is still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai. Producer Yash Chopra decided to organise a celebration in February 2011, when the film completed 800 weeks of running, and Manoj Desai, owner of the theatre has no plans to discontinue the screening of the film. There are often people in the audience that have seen the film 50 times or more, but still clap, cheer, mouth the dialog, and sing along with the songs, raising comparisons with Hollywood's longest running film The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...

. People keep coming back not just to see the film, but to be a part of an experience. In early 2011, a theatre strike threatened the films uninterrupted showing streak. Producer Yash Chopra contacted theatre owners to try and ensure that the film would continue. He wants the film to go for at least 1000 weeks.

Audiences appreciated the duo of Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

 so much that they went on to work together in several other successful films including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a Hindi romantic comedy film, released in India and the United Kingdom on 16 October 1998. The film was written and directed by the debuting Karan Johar and stars the popular on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in their fourth movie together...

(1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), and My Name Is Khan
My Name is Khan
My Name Is Khan ; commonly referred to as MNIK, is a 2010 Bollywood film directed by Karan Johar, with a screenplay by Shibani Bathija, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan, and starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, who reunite after nine years...

(2010), and are often refered to as Indian cinema's most loved on-screen couple.

In 2010, Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films is an Indian Entertainment company set up by Yash Chopra, an Indian film director and producer who is considered an entertainment mogul in India.-Initial years:...

 signed an agreement with Indian and Swiss tour companies to provide what is called "YRF Enchanted Journey" that will allow people visiting Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 to view sites and filming locations from famous Yash Raj films including DDLJ.

Filmfare Awards

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is tied for second place for the most number of Filmfare awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...

 going to a single film with 10. It was also only the second film to win the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress), after Guide
Guide (film)
Guide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...

in 1966.
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Movie Award
    Filmfare Best Movie Award
    The Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years...

    : Yash Chopra
    Yash Chopra
    Yash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Director Award
    Filmfare Best Director Award
    The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in the Hindi film Industry. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year.-Superlatives:...

    : Aditya Chopra
    Aditya Chopra
    Aditya Chopra is an Indian film producer, screenwriter and director. He is most known for directing his only three films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , Mohabbatein , and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

    : Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Actress Award
    Filmfare Best Actress Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954.-Superlatives:...

    : Kajol
    Kajol
    Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
    The Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

    : Farida Jalal
    Farida Jalal
    - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Comedian Award
    Filmfare Best Comedian Award
    The Filmfare Best Comedian Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a comic role....

    : Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...

    : Anand Bakshi
    Anand Bakshi
    Anand Bakshi was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.-Early days:Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 10...

    , "Tujhe Dekha To"
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award
    Filmfare Best Screenplay Award
    The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.-Superlatives:Most AwardsSalim-Javed - 3Basu Chatterjee - 2Mani Ratnam - 2Vijay Tendulkar - 2Rajkumar Hirani - 2...

    : Aditya Chopra
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award
    Filmfare Best Dialogue Award
    The Filmfare Best Dialogue Award is given by the Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Here is a list of the award winners since 1958 and the films for which they won.-Superlatives:Most AwardsGulzar - 4...

    : Aditya Chopra, Javed Siddiqi
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    The Filmfare Best Male Playback Award is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song....

    : Udit Narayan
    Udit Narayan
    -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

    , "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna"

Nominations
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

    : Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Music Director Award
    Filmfare Best Music Director Award
    The Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad was the first recipient of this award for his song "Tu Ganga Ki Mauj"...

    : Jatin Lalit
    Jatin Lalit
    Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    The Filmfare Best Male Playback Award is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song....

    : Kumar Sanu
    Kumar Sanu
    Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

    , "Tujhe Dekha To"
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...

    : Anand Bakshi, "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna" (nominated twice in this category)

National Film Awards

  • 1996 National Film Award for Best Popular Film
    National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
    The National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment winners:1981 to 1984 and 1992, 1986 & 1977 No Award was given....

     Rajat Kamal (Silver Medal)

Star Screen Awards

  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Film: Yash Chopra
  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Director: Aditya Chopra
  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Actor: Shahrukh Khan

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Jatin Lalit
Jatin Lalit
Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,...

, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.-Early days:Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 10...

 and voice rendered by Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

, Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

, Abhijeet, and Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

. Anand Bakshi won his third Filmfare Best Lyricist award after 14 years. Bhasker Gupta wrote for All Music that the soundtrack was the best of Jatin Lalit's career, and calls it the beginning of the fifth wave in Indian cinema soundtracks.

The soundtrack was listed by Planet Bollywood as number 6 on their list of 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks, and was judged the top Hindi soundtrack of all time by on-line voters on the BBC Asian Network. The wedding song "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" from the film became an all-time hit, and is played in weddings across the South Asian diaspora to this day.
Track # Song Singer(s) Duration
1 "Ghar Aaja Pardesi" Manpreet Kaur, Pamela Chopra 7:29
2 "Mere Khwabon Mein" Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

4:17
3 "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane" Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

5:14
4 "Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main" Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, Abhijeet Bhattacharya
5:51
5 "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko" Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan 5:49
6 "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan 4:50
7 "Tujhe Dekha To" Lata Mangeshkar, Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

5:02

Further reading

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge ' onMouseout='HidePop("62383")' href="/topics/English_language">English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 language film released on 20 October 1995. A romantic comedy, the film marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra
Aditya Chopra
Aditya Chopra is an Indian film producer, screenwriter and director. He is most known for directing his only three films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , Mohabbatein , and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi...

, and stars Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

. The film tells the story of a young couple who fall in love on a European vacation, and how the boy tries to win over the girl's parents so that she can marry him instead of the boy that her father wants for her.

Earning over 106 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

 (Rs 1.06 billion) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 15 crore overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits ever. It was declared an All Time Blockbuster, and remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema. As of 2011, it was still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was included in the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", which toured the United States in July and August of 2004. Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Indiatimes is the Internet subsidiary of The Times of India Group, under which, some of the largest websites in India - The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times operate....

 Movies
ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the two Hindi films
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...

list (the other being Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...

)
. It was also placed twelfth on the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's list of top Indian films of all time.

Plot

Raj Malhotra and Simran Singh (Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

 respectively) are young first generation British Indian
British Indian
The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...

s brought up and living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Raj is the only child of wealthy widower Dharamvir Malhotra (Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

), who spoils his son excessively. Raj is a free-wheeling party boy, who is the first student at his tertiary institution to fail. Simran is the elder daughter of petrol station/convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

 owner Chaudhry Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

), a very socially conservative Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...

 Indian man whose only dream is to one day go back to his native Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. One day Raj tricks Baldev into selling him some beer after closing time by feigning an urgent need for headache medicine, making him very angry. Baldev angrily denounces Raj as a disgrace to Indians. Baldev is proud that he has managed to raise his daughters in a traditional way. Simran constantly dreams of her Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...

, a stranger who comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet, and writes about him in her diary. Her mother "Lajo" (Farida Jalal
Farida Jalal
- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

) tells her not to get her hopes up.

One day a letter comes from Ajit (Satish Shah
Satish Shah
Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

), Baldev's best friend in India, saying that his son, Kuljeet (Parmeet Sethi
Parmeet Sethi
-Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

), and Baldev's daughter, Simran, should marry each other, in accordance with a promise the two fathers had made to each other when their children were infants. Simran agrees to marry him out of respect for her father, but before the wedding, she begs her father to allow her to go on a trip to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 with her female friends; her last chance to see the world before her marriage to a complete stranger and relocation to India. Even though he is very strict, Baldev relents and permits her to go, on the condition that she promises never to betray his trust. He allows Simran to go as she has always respected and obeyed him.

During the trip, Simran meets Raj, who is on the same Eurorail package tour with some of his friends. After some initial misadventures, mainly due to disrespectful and raucous behaviour on the part of Raj, he falls in love with Simran. Only after sometime at their moment of parting at the railway station in London does Simran realize that she too has fallen in love with Raj.

Simran goes home and tells her mother that she loves someone and cannot go through with her wedding to Kuljeet. Baldev overhears their conversation, and is furious that Simran broke her promise that she would never betray his trust. He is adamant that she marries Kuljeet as planned, and that her heartbreak is of her own doing, and they will leave for India as soon as possible.

Even though Simran does not want to marry Kuljeet, her family returns to Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

. As it turns out, Kuljeet is an arrogant alpha male who takes pride in being a hunter and boasts to his macho friends that he will engage in marital infidelity. Lajo tries to spare her daughter's feelings, but cannot stand up to her domineering husband. Both Simran and her sister Chutki are completely unimpressed with Kuljeet and his brash friends.

Raj, however, does not give up. He follows Simran to Punjab at the urging of his bold father, meets her privately, and assures her that he will save her from the arranged marriage, and marry her with the consent of her father. Raj befriends Kuljeet and pretends to be a friend of the family. He helps with the wedding preparations and soon gains everyone's friendship. At the same time, Kuljeet's sister, Preeti (Mandira Bedi
Mandira Bedi
Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

), falls in love with Raj, and things become complicated when Raj's father suddenly appears in India and fixes Raj's marriage to Preeti mistaking her to be the girl his son loves.

During this time, Simran pulls several stunts; she bandages her hand claiming that it has been cut to avoid wearing the engagement ring, and then pretends to faint towards the end of a religious fast so that she does not have to accept the fast-breaking food from Kuljeet. Simran's mom, Lajo catches Simran and Raj feeding each other and realizes that Raj is the boy that Simran met on her trip. She calls them both and gives all her jewelry and belongings and tells Raj to run away with Simran because no one will understand their love. Raj tells Lajo that everything will be fine and that he will only take Simran if her dad Baldev says so.

However, everything comes crashing down when Baldev sees a photograph of Raj and Simran together when they were on their trip across Europe. He exposes Raj's true identity in front of everybody, slaps him, and angrily tells him to leave, as Simran will marry Kuljeet regardless of what anybody thinks. As Raj leaves and is sitting at the railway station, Kuljeet and his friends follow him and nearly beat him senseless with sticks for his deception. When they also attack his father, Raj flies into a rage and single-handedly beats Kuljeet and his friends. Baldev and Ajit arrive, stop Raj, and tell him and his father to go on their way. Raj and his father board a train out of the village. However, as the train begins to pull out of the station, all the females in the family arrive. Simran tries to follow, and is stopped by Baldev. She begs him to let her go, and he eventually comes to his senses and realizes that no one will ever love his daughter as much as Raj does. He tells Simran to join Raj on the train, and she enthusiastically does so.

Cast

  • Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

     as Raj Malhotra
  • Kajol
    Kajol
    Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

     as Simran "Simi" Singh
  • Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

     as Chaudhary Baldev Singh
  • Farida Jalal
    Farida Jalal
    - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

     as Lajwanti "Lajo" Singh
  • Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

     as Dharamvir Malhotra
  • Parmeet Sethi
    Parmeet Sethi
    -Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

     as Kuljeet Singh
  • Satish Shah
    Satish Shah
    Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

     as Ajit Singh
  • Himani Shivpuri
    Himani Shivpuri
    Himani Shivpuri, is Indian, film, theatre and television actress, who is most known for her role in Sooraj R. Barjatya's film Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! , and as 'Devki Bhojai' in TV serial Humrahi .- Biography :...

     as Kammo Kaur
  • Pooja Ruparel as Rajeshwari "Chutki" Singh
  • Achala Sachdev
    Achala Sachdev
    Achala Sachdev is an Indian film actress who started her career as a child. She later became known for mother and grandmother roles in Hindi films...

     as Simran's grandmother
  • Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

     as Preeti Singh
  • Karan Johar
    Karan Johar
    Karan Johar is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Television host. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and the...

     as Rocky
  • Anaita Shroff Adajania
    Anaita Shroff Adajania
    Anaita Shroff Adajania is a fashion stylist and costume designer. She is the Fashion Director for Vogue magazine. The owner of the Style Cell company, Adajania has been noted for her design work on several Bollywood films including Dhoom 2, Being Cyrus, Everybody Says I'm Fine!, and Love Aaj...

     as Sheena
  • Arjun Sablok
    Arjun Sablok
    Arjun Sablok is an Indian film director. He is currently one of the film directors working under the Yashraj Films banner.Before his foray into film directing he made brief appearances in two of director Yash Chopra's films Vijay and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge .He made his directorial debut with...

     as Roby

Development

Successful filmmaker Yash Chopra
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...

 decided to launch his son Aditya, who had been working with him in assistant director and producer roles, as a director with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. He had faith in Aditya and gave him the complete freedom to make his film the way he wanted. He gave guidance, but did not interfere. Aditya kept the faith his father had in him and made a film according to his own tastes and sensibilities.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, along with films such as Kal Ho Na Ho, Salaam Namaste
Salaam Namaste
The film has seven songs composed by the duo Vishal-Shekhar. The music of the film released on 10 August 2005. The music includes four songs and two remixes.-External links:*...

and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, has been produced with the large and rich South Asian diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

 in the West as its target. Making a film for the diaspora market is seen as a surer moneymaking bet than for the desi
Desi
Desi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...

 market. Director Aditya Chopra originally wanted to cast Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

 for the role of Raj, as he wanted it to be an Indo-American affair. He was later dissuaded by his father, producer Yash Chopra, who didn't want to make it with a foreign star. Instead they went with the theme of non-resident Indians
Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...

 (NRIs), and the film became the first Hindi film blockbuster to feature NRIs. Aditya Chopra then asked Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 to play the lead in the film. Khan was not really interested because of the romantic nature of the film. Chopra eventually convinced him to do it, and Khan has since then expressed his gratitude to Chopra for making him a star.

Filming of the European trip scenes was done mainly in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, including Saanen
Saanen
Saanen is a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district.-Geography:Saanen has an area of . Of this area, 52.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 33.6% is forested...

 for the train station and bridge scenes, Montbovon for the churches, and Gstaad
Gstaad
Gstaad is a village in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland. Part of the municipality of Saanen, Gstaad is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world....

 for a song. There were also numerous scenes shot in England, and India. Saroj Khan
Saroj Khan
Nirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal popularly known as Saroj Khan is one of the most prominent Indian dance choreographers in Hindi cinema...

 was the choreographer, but after several disputes with Chopra, she was replaced by Farah Khan
Farah Khan
Farah Khan is an Indian film director and choreographer. She is best known for her choreographical work in numerous Bollywood films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films. Khan has since become a noted Hindi film director as well...

 near the end of the shoot. Farah choreographed "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane". Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra is considered to be India's leading and most successful fashion designer.Manish Malhotra has designed for many leading actresses in Bollywood. He is known for his different style and his ability to envision a 'look' for the character. He is known for designing the costumes for...

 was in charge of costume design, with help from Karan Johar
Karan Johar
Karan Johar is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Television host. He is the son of Hiroo Johar and Yash Johar. He is one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood. He is most known for directing and producing some of Bollywood's highest grossing films in India and the...

. Sharmishta Roy was the art director.

After filming was complete, Chopra decided to make a Hollywood-style documentary of the film making process, which had never been done before in India. Karan Johar and Chopra's brother Uday were put in change. On 18 October, The Making of DDLJ was aired on Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...

, the national channel. This created much excitement for the film, which debuted two days later.

Themes

Films like this that are designed to appeal to the diaspora have stories involving foreign locations, but not just for item numbers. The characters are themselves diaspora, and tend to be able to move around with ease between India and the West. This film puts forward the usual conservative agenda of family, courtship and marriage, but it proposes that Indian family values are portable assets that can be upheld regardless of country of residence. In fact, Raj (who was brought up in London) is the "good guy" of the story, whereas Kuljeet (raised in India) is seen as the "bad guy". This is a reversal of sorts from typical Indian films, which usually portray Indians as being morally better than Westerners.

The story also aims to capture the struggle between traditional family values and the newer value of individualism. Though Raj an Simran want to be together, regardless of her father's plans for her, Raj tries to win over the father rather than simply elope with her.

Reception

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge opened to full houses and rave reviews all over the world. Earning over 106 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....

 (Rs 1.06 billion) in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and 15 crore overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 hit of the year, as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time. Adjusted for inflation, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is believed to be among the top five highest grossing Hindi films of all time. Its adjusted gross is approximately 293 crore.

Tom Vick reviewed the film for Allmovie and said, "An immensely likeable movie, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge performs the rarely achieved feat of stretching a predictable plot over three hours and making every minute enjoyable." When DDLJ toured the United States in 2004 as part of the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", Charles Taylor reviewed the film for Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

, saying "It's a flawed, contradictory movie -- aggressive and tender, stiff and graceful, clichéd and fresh, sophisticated and naive, traditional and modern. It's also, I think, a classic."

Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a noted author, journalist and film critic. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a movie reviewer with NDTV and India Today.-Career:...

 included the film in her list of "The 20 Best Hindi Films Ever Made", writing, "Perhaps the innocence of Raj and Simran’s romance in which they can spend the night together without sex because Raj, the bratish NRI understands the importance of an Indian woman’s honor. Perhaps it’s the way in which the film artfully reaffirms the patriarchal status quo and works for all constituencies – the NRI and the local viewer. Or perhaps it’s the magic of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol who created a template for modern love, which was hip and cool but resolutely Indian." She also calls the film a milestone that shaped Hindi cinema through the 1990s.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was ranked amongst Indiatimes
Indiatimes
Indiatimes is the Internet subsidiary of The Times of India Group, under which, some of the largest websites in India - The Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and Maharashtra Times operate....

 Movies
list of the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was one of the two Hindi films
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...

list (the other being Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...

)
. It was also placed twelfth on the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's list of top Indian films of all time.

Legacy

In 2001, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge overtook Sholay
Sholay
Sholay is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It is considered among the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema. Released on 15 August 1975, it stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and...

as the longest-running film in Indian cinema.
In February 2009, the film set a record by completing 700 weeks of continuous play in a Mumbai theatre. On 20 October 2009 the movie completed 15 years of non-stop running. As of 2011, it is still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai. Producer Yash Chopra decided to organise a celebration in February 2011, when the film completed 800 weeks of running, and Manoj Desai, owner of the theatre has no plans to discontinue the screening of the film. There are often people in the audience that have seen the film 50 times or more, but still clap, cheer, mouth the dialog, and sing along with the songs, raising comparisons with Hollywood's longest running film The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...

. People keep coming back not just to see the film, but to be a part of an experience. In early 2011, a theatre strike threatened the films uninterrupted showing streak. Producer Yash Chopra contacted theatre owners to try and ensure that the film would continue. He wants the film to go for at least 1000 weeks.

Audiences appreciated the duo of Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

 and Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

 so much that they went on to work together in several other successful films including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a Hindi romantic comedy film, released in India and the United Kingdom on 16 October 1998. The film was written and directed by the debuting Karan Johar and stars the popular on-screen pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in their fourth movie together...

(1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), and My Name Is Khan
My Name is Khan
My Name Is Khan ; commonly referred to as MNIK, is a 2010 Bollywood film directed by Karan Johar, with a screenplay by Shibani Bathija, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan, and starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, who reunite after nine years...

(2010), and are often refered to as Indian cinema's most loved on-screen couple.

In 2010, Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films is an Indian Entertainment company set up by Yash Chopra, an Indian film director and producer who is considered an entertainment mogul in India.-Initial years:...

 signed an agreement with Indian and Swiss tour companies to provide what is called "YRF Enchanted Journey" that will allow people visiting Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 to view sites and filming locations from famous Yash Raj films including DDLJ.

Filmfare Awards

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is tied for second place for the most number of Filmfare awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...

 going to a single film with 10. It was also only the second film to win the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress), after Guide
Guide (film)
Guide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...

in 1966.
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Movie Award
    Filmfare Best Movie Award
    The Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years...

    : Yash Chopra
    Yash Chopra
    Yash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, and a highly successful Bollywood producer. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of his highly popular movies...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Director Award
    Filmfare Best Director Award
    The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in the Hindi film Industry. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year.-Superlatives:...

    : Aditya Chopra
    Aditya Chopra
    Aditya Chopra is an Indian film producer, screenwriter and director. He is most known for directing his only three films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge , Mohabbatein , and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

    : Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan
    Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Actress Award
    Filmfare Best Actress Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954.-Superlatives:...

    : Kajol
    Kajol
    Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
    The Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

    : Farida Jalal
    Farida Jalal
    - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Comedian Award
    Filmfare Best Comedian Award
    The Filmfare Best Comedian Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a comic role....

    : Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher
    Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...

    : Anand Bakshi
    Anand Bakshi
    Anand Bakshi was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.-Early days:Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 10...

    , "Tujhe Dekha To"
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award
    Filmfare Best Screenplay Award
    The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.-Superlatives:Most AwardsSalim-Javed - 3Basu Chatterjee - 2Mani Ratnam - 2Vijay Tendulkar - 2Rajkumar Hirani - 2...

    : Aditya Chopra
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award
    Filmfare Best Dialogue Award
    The Filmfare Best Dialogue Award is given by the Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Here is a list of the award winners since 1958 and the films for which they won.-Superlatives:Most AwardsGulzar - 4...

    : Aditya Chopra, Javed Siddiqi
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    The Filmfare Best Male Playback Award is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song....

    : Udit Narayan
    Udit Narayan
    -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

    , "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna"

Nominations
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

    : Amrish Puri
    Amrish Puri
    Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Music Director Award
    Filmfare Best Music Director Award
    The Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad was the first recipient of this award for his song "Tu Ganga Ki Mauj"...

    : Jatin Lalit
    Jatin Lalit
    Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,...

  • 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    Filmfare Best Male Playback Award
    The Filmfare Best Male Playback Award is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song....

    : Kumar Sanu
    Kumar Sanu
    Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

    , "Tujhe Dekha To"
  • 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    Filmfare Best Lyricist Award
    The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...

    : Anand Bakshi, "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna" (nominated twice in this category)

National Film Awards

  • 1996 National Film Award for Best Popular Film
    National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
    The National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment winners:1981 to 1984 and 1992, 1986 & 1977 No Award was given....

     Rajat Kamal (Silver Medal)

Star Screen Awards

  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Film: Yash Chopra
  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Director: Aditya Chopra
  • 1996 Star Screen Award for Best Actor: Shahrukh Khan

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Jatin Lalit
Jatin Lalit
Jatin-Lalit are a Bollywood film composer duo consisting of Jatin Pandit and his younger brother Lalit. They have written the scores for films such as Khiladi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,...

, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.-Early days:Anand Bakshi was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died 1940, when he was 10...

 and voice rendered by Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

, Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

, Abhijeet, and Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

. Anand Bakshi won his third Filmfare Best Lyricist award after 14 years. Bhasker Gupta wrote for All Music that the soundtrack was the best of Jatin Lalit's career, and calls it the beginning of the fifth wave in Indian cinema soundtracks.

The soundtrack was listed by Planet Bollywood as number 6 on their list of 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks, and was judged the top Hindi soundtrack of all time by on-line voters on the BBC Asian Network. The wedding song "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" from the film became an all-time hit, and is played in weddings across the South Asian diaspora to this day.
Track # Song Singer(s) Duration
1 "Ghar Aaja Pardesi" Manpreet Kaur, Pamela Chopra 7:29
2 "Mere Khwabon Mein" Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...

4:17
3 "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane" Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...

5:14
4 "Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main" Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

, Abhijeet Bhattacharya
5:51
5 "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko" Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan 5:49
6 "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan 4:50
7 "Tujhe Dekha To" Lata Mangeshkar, Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009....

5:02

External links

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