Main Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher
Release Year: 1995
Country: IN
Run Time: 192 minutes
Plot
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Brave Heart Will Take the Bride) was a huge hit in India, and won all the major Filmfare Awards. It was also the film that catapulted Shahrukh Khan to Bollywood superstardom, and it was the first of several successful pairings of Khan and Kajol. Khan plays Raj, a likeably goofy rich Indian boy, brought up in London, who's had everything handed to him in life. Kajol is Simran, a proper Indian girl who also lives in London. Her stern father (Amrish Puri) has arranged for her to go to back to his sorely missed homeland in Punjab to marry the son of an old friend. Simran persuades the old man to let her go off on a month-long trip to Europe with her girlfriends before she weds. On the trip, Simran meets Raj, and naturally they don't get along at first. He humiliates her with his pranks, and she refuses to loosen up. Then they get stranded together, get drunk together, sing and dance together, and begin to develop feelings for each other. They return to London, each hoping the other will express his/her love. They part, and when Simran's father overhears her telling her mother (Farida Jalal) about Raj, he gets angry and demands that they leave for India immediately. But Raj follows them there, determined to win over Simran's father and take Simran as his bride. He ingratiates himself with the dimwitted groom, Kuljit (Parmeet Sethi), and enters the household as his friend. Things get even more complicated when Kuljit's family mistakenly believes that Raj is interested in the groom's sister, and they begin to plan a double wedding. The film was the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and the hit soundtrack was composed by the writing team Jatin-Lalit. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
The phenomenally popular Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (it played in Indian theaters for five years straight) is, in many ways, a perfect introduction to Bollywood. With a perfectly executed classic Hollywood boy-meets-girl plot, charismatic stars and great songs, it overflows with the specific kind of joy that only great Bollywood movies can produce. The film is dominated by Shah Rukh Khan, who careens through it like a hyperactive Cary Grant, charming everyone in his path and generally showing why he's been one of the most popular Bollywood stars of the past decade. Khan can be hard to take seriously in dramatic efforts like Dil Se and Asoka, but he excels at comedy. His interactions with Amrish Puri as Simran's stern, glowering father, are particularly hilarious. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is also a very picturesque film. In keeping with recent tradition in major Bollywood productions, large chunks of it were shot in the European countryside, against the backdrop of majestic Swiss mountains and quaint villages. Its beauty doesn't end when the action moves to Punjab for the second half, where several scenes take place in a gorgeous field of yellow flowers stretching to the horizon. The many musical numbers, set to irresistibly catchy songs by Jatin Pandit and Lalit Pandit, are inventively staged. 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. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Hindi: दिलवाले दुल्हनिया ले जाएँगे; English: The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), also known as DDLJ, is an Indian film. It premiered on 19 October 1995 and was released nationwide on 20 October 1995. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was directed by Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and Amrish Puri.
Earning over Rs 580 million in India and Rs 175 million overseas, the film became the biggest Bollywood hit of the year,[1] as well as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time.[2] The movie remains the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema. In March 2009, the film set a record by completing 700 weeks of continuous play in Mumbai theatres.[3] On October 20th, 2009 the movie completed 15 years of non-stop running.[4] The film was included in the Cinema India showcase, "The Changing Face of Indian Cinema", which toured the United States in July and August 2004.[5]Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films.[6] It was also listed among the only two Hindi films in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list.
Raj Malhotra and Simran Kaur (Shahrukh Khan and Kajol respectively) are young second generation British Indians brought up and living in London. Raj is the only child of wealthy Dharamvir Malhotra (Anupam Kher), who spoils his son excessively. Simran is the elder daughter of convenience store owner Chaudhry Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri), who is a very conservative and typical Indian man whose only dream is to one day go back to his native country. He is proud that he has managed to bring up his two daughters in a very traditional way. Simran constantly dreams of her Prince Charming, a stranger who comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet, and writes poetry to her.
However, a letter comes from Ajit, Baldev's best friend in India saying that his son, Kuljeet (Parmeet Sethi), and Baldev's daughter, Simran, should marry each other. Because of her "Prince Charming," Simran is a bit concerned. She hasn't even seen Kuljeet before. But she agrees to marry him out of respect for her father. However, before the wedding, she begs her father to allow her to go on a trip to Europe with her friends; her last chance to see the world before her marriage to a complete stranger. Even though he is generally very strict, Baldev relents and allows her to go, on the condition that she promises never to betray his trust.
During the trip, Simran bumps into Raj, who is also on a trip to Europe with some friends. After some initial misadventures, Raj falls in love with Simran. Only at their moment of parting does Simran realizes that she too has fallen in love with Raj.
Simran goes home and tells her mother (Farida Jalal) that she has fallen in love with someone else and cannot go through with her wedding to Kuljeet. Baldev overhears their conversation, however, and is furious that Simran broke her promise that she would never betray his trust. He is adamant that she will marry Kuljeet as planned, and they will leave for India as soon as possible.
Even though Simran does not want to marry Kuljeet (who she has been betrothed to since birth), her family returns to Punjab. As it turns out, Kuljeet is a man who is full of himself and takes pride in being a shikari (hunter). Simran's mother tries to spare her daughter's feelings, but cannot stand up to her domineering husband.
Raj, however, does not give up so easily. He follows Simran to Punjab, meets her privately, and assures her that he will save her from the arranged marriage and get her to marry him with the consent of her father. As such, he refuses to elope with Simran because he wants everyone to be happy with and accept their marriage.
Raj befriends Kuljeet and pretends to be a friend of the family. He helps with the wedding preparations and soon gains everyone's friendship and love. At the same time, Kuljeet's sister, Preeti (Mandira Bedi), falls in love with Raj, and things get more complicated when Raj's father suddenly appears in India. By now, even Simran's father Baldev has been won over by Raj.
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 and angrily tells him to leave immediately, as Simran will marry Kuljeet regardless of what anybody thinks. As Raj leaves, Kuljeet and his friends follow him and nearly beat him senseless with sticks for his deception. However, when Raj's father tries to intervene and Kuljeet and his friends beat him as well, Raj flies into a rage and single-handedly beats Kuljeet and his friends with a stick of his own. Baldev then stops Raj and tells him and his father to go on their way; Raj and his father accordingly board a train out of town. However, as the train begins to pull out of the station, Baldev comes to his senses and realizes that no one loves his daughter as much as Raj does. He tells Simran to join Raj on the train, which she enthusiastically does.
