Little Known Facts About Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ)

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released in 1995 and became the longest-running Bollywood movie in Indian cinema history. There are some interesting facts about DDLJ that not many of us know. Let us find out.

Kajol’s iconic white skirt in Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye was cut on set. Manish Malhotra and his team cut it because Adi Chopra thought it was initially too long. It eventually became quite a bit shorter than they expected, but they went with it!

Apparently, one of the most popular scenes where Shah Rukh Khan and Amrish Puri fed the pigeons was completely impromptu.

Aditya Chopra wrote DDLJ in the span of three to four weeks (whoa!). According to Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra had the film clearly conceptualised in his head, which is why he was able to jot it down quickly.

The dance steps with the table cloth in Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane was done in one take – Shah Rukh got it right the first time!

According to Pamela Chopra, Anupam Kher’s character was actually based on Yashji – she say he was that kind of parent to his boys, preferring to be their friend instead of their dad.

The movie, till date, holds an unbeaten record in the history of Indian cinema of  running for 1,000 weeks and 7,000 days at the box office!

The team didn’t actually think that they had created something amazing (I know, WTF, right?). Kajol thought the movie was “same old, same old,” and that it was a nice movie without anything new or different about it. Adi Chopra even said back then, “My film is not different. I’m making the most commercial, cliche movie ever made. I’m making the oldest story in the book.” There was even a discussion (in good humor) about how trade journalists would react to his direction, and all he said was, “As long as the taporis clap when the song comes, I’m happy.”

Shah Rukh thought the character of Raj was a pansy! His exact words (back in 1994) were, “It’s a role of a wimp. I feel like a wimp. I feel like a pansy.”

The film ran into a spot of trouble while shooting the song Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam in Haryana. They apparently had permission from the Panchayat to shoot on that little plot of land, but the local residents didn’t think that was enough and literally asked, “how dare you do this on our land?” Shah Rukh eventually intervened and spoke in his Haryanvi accent, and while all the discussions were happening, they quickly set up the shot.