Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge--20 years on, 10 lesser known facts!

1. The movie had almost went to another Khan!

Yes, it’s true. Saif Ali Khan had been earlier approached to play Raj Malhotra. However, luckily for Shah Rukh (and not-so-luckily for Saif), the actor refused to do the movie, which then landed in Shah Rukh’s lap. The rest, ladies and gentlemen, is history.

2. Mere Khaabon May Jo Aye 

According to reports, no more than 24 verses of the song Mere Khaabon May Jo Aye were rejected by Aditya Chopra. He finally approved the upbeat song by Anand Bakshi.

3. Shah Rukh Khan– not the confident lover boy we all thought him to be

Shah Rukh Khan was not keen on playing the lover-boy role of Raj Malhotra in the movie, This was due to the fact that he had encountered success early on as a negative character and was associated as a negative character.

4. What’s in a name?  

Shah Rukh’s character wasn’t named Raj Malhotra totally by accident in the movie. Oh no. Director Aditya Chopra had chosen that name in order to pay tribute to the late legendary actor Raj Kapoor. So, now you know!

5. Karan Johar’s debut

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is also remembered fondly by Karan Johar, since the movie marked his on-screen debut. Karan plays Shah Rukh Khan’s friend.

6. Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna

The song Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna was made for some other movie. However, lady luck shined on the cast of DDLJ and quite wisely, they decided to use the song for this movie. Of course, it went on to become a super-hit film.

7. When Kajol was dropped…

Aditya Chopra was a perfectionist back then, and in order to perfectly capture a scene, he didn’t inform Kajol beforehand that she was to be dropped by Shah Rukh in the song Ruk Ja Dil Deewane. As a result, when Shah Rukh dropped Kajol, the reaction was surprising and made the best shot!

8. The poster and the signature

Shah Rukh Khan had signed on the poster of Dil Wale Dulhania Le Jayenge the following message:-

“Thank you for making me the star that I am today.”

Till this day, it is said that Aditya Chopra keeps the framed poster on his wall, in his office.

9. An American DDLJ?

A Hollywood film titled Before Sunrise was released much earlier in 1995 and the movie shared a very similar theme to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

10. DDLJ’s record breaking feat

Yes, the film ran for 1,009 weeks continuously at the Marathi Mandi Cinema in India. Phew, try beating that!