Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge represented the cosmic confluence of a lot of young talent that came together fortuitously. A 24 year old director cast a 29 year old rising actor and a 21 year old actress of some note in a film that represented the lives of innumerable Indians who had left the homeland and gone off to foreign shores. The film did not just show them in their foreign milieu but looked into their hearts, minds, morals and then also showed them back in the homeland. In a sense it integrated the reality of NRI life with the reality of life in India. The picture was an idealized one and showed that among the affluent as well as the middle class while the outer trappings were very modern the mentality was very traditional.
Raj Malhotra (Shahrukh Khan) is the only son of a rich business man (Anupam Kher) and seems a wastrel type of fellow, but scratch below the surface and he is a true blue "Hindustani"! Simran (Kajol) is one of two daughters of Chaudhary Baldev Singh, dresses in Western garb but again is a true blue traditional girl. On a tour of Europe the two meet and fall in love, but Simran has been engaged since childhood to the son of Baldev Singh's friend in India. She obeys her father and is taken back to India for the wedding. Raj follows on her heels. But Raj will not do the hackneyed thing of eloping with her - he has his own unique style and tries to win her by winning the hearts and minds of her family. The very traditional nature of the story resonated with the older generation among Indians and NRIs alike, while breaking from the tradition of eloping, and the charm and charisma of the protagonists appealed to the younger set. This made the movie into a huge blockbuster and one of the longest running films in Hindi cinema. In addition it made the careers of Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Aditya Chopra.
I like this film for its freshness and feel good feel, it never ceases to yank me out of the doldrums. It did set a bad trend in cinema because on its heels followed countless films with similar locales, characters, story lines. But isn't imitation the best form of flattery? The acting by the lead pair is amazing. Raj will charm a bird out of a tree, and Simran is the dream of every young man. Both SRK and Kajol did complete justice to these extremely well written roles and deserve all the kudos they got! Some moments of note - Raj grabbing beer from the store, telling Simran what kind of girl he is looking for, exchanging photos is Europe, on the bridge telling Simran he has fallen in love with her, telling his father that Simran is engaged to be married - in fact all but the last 15 minutes are excellently acted. Kajol telling her mother about the man of her dreams, hating Raj in Europe, telling him she she is engaged to be married, interacting with her mother upon her return from Europe - Kajol too hit the right note in each and every minute of the film except the last 15 minutes! Others are competent, Farida Jalal is of note as the mother and Anupam Kher as the father.
The music is outstanding, every song is a gem. Of particular note is the picturization of Na Jaane mere dil ko - the blend of fantasy and reality was a first and has often been copied since then. The song Tujhe Dekha to is outstanding and Mehndi Laga ke Rakhna is a perennial favorite. But I personally love the cheeky Ruk Jaa o Dil Deewane.
The movie does have some hackneyed moments - the last 15 minutes leave much to be desired, not in the ending itself but how every one got to that point. Amrish Puri is OTT at times as the angry father, but you can take all of this as there is so much that pleases so much!
This is a film that truly deserves the label of Evergreen - it is ever fresh and ever pleasing.
Raj Malhotra (Shahrukh Khan) is the only son of a rich business man (Anupam Kher) and seems a wastrel type of fellow, but scratch below the surface and he is a true blue "Hindustani"! Simran (Kajol) is one of two daughters of Chaudhary Baldev Singh, dresses in Western garb but again is a true blue traditional girl. On a tour of Europe the two meet and fall in love, but Simran has been engaged since childhood to the son of Baldev Singh's friend in India. She obeys her father and is taken back to India for the wedding. Raj follows on her heels. But Raj will not do the hackneyed thing of eloping with her - he has his own unique style and tries to win her by winning the hearts and minds of her family. The very traditional nature of the story resonated with the older generation among Indians and NRIs alike, while breaking from the tradition of eloping, and the charm and charisma of the protagonists appealed to the younger set. This made the movie into a huge blockbuster and one of the longest running films in Hindi cinema. In addition it made the careers of Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Aditya Chopra.
I like this film for its freshness and feel good feel, it never ceases to yank me out of the doldrums. It did set a bad trend in cinema because on its heels followed countless films with similar locales, characters, story lines. But isn't imitation the best form of flattery? The acting by the lead pair is amazing. Raj will charm a bird out of a tree, and Simran is the dream of every young man. Both SRK and Kajol did complete justice to these extremely well written roles and deserve all the kudos they got! Some moments of note - Raj grabbing beer from the store, telling Simran what kind of girl he is looking for, exchanging photos is Europe, on the bridge telling Simran he has fallen in love with her, telling his father that Simran is engaged to be married - in fact all but the last 15 minutes are excellently acted. Kajol telling her mother about the man of her dreams, hating Raj in Europe, telling him she she is engaged to be married, interacting with her mother upon her return from Europe - Kajol too hit the right note in each and every minute of the film except the last 15 minutes! Others are competent, Farida Jalal is of note as the mother and Anupam Kher as the father.
The music is outstanding, every song is a gem. Of particular note is the picturization of Na Jaane mere dil ko - the blend of fantasy and reality was a first and has often been copied since then. The song Tujhe Dekha to is outstanding and Mehndi Laga ke Rakhna is a perennial favorite. But I personally love the cheeky Ruk Jaa o Dil Deewane.
The movie does have some hackneyed moments - the last 15 minutes leave much to be desired, not in the ending itself but how every one got to that point. Amrish Puri is OTT at times as the angry father, but you can take all of this as there is so much that pleases so much!
This is a film that truly deserves the label of Evergreen - it is ever fresh and ever pleasing.