My Review Of DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE.

Starring:
                  Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher, Parmeet Sethi, Satish Shah, Himani Shivpuri, Pooja Ruparel, Achala Sachdev, Mandira Bedi, Karan Johar, Anaita Shroff Adajania and Arjun Sablok.

Directed By:
                         Aditya Chopra.

Awards:
                 Winner of several Filmfare Awards which are the biggest Bollywood awards and is being included in many lists too.

Review:
                Okay so Bollywood movies, i really still am a fan of Bollywood movies but the old ones not the modern heavily Western influenced ones but movies like these. I wont be reviewing any Bollywood movie unless i like it or had an impact on me or was important in anyway. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or in English The Big Hearted Will Take The Bride or as i like to call it in short DDLJ is a romantic comedy that made a remarkable impact not only in India but Bollywood lovers throughout the world. It still is considered to be one of the most important Indian movies, people still love it and call it the most romantic Indian movie they have ever seen. It made massive amount of money when was released all over and is said to be one of the highest grossing Indian movies ever. You may not believe this but a theater in Mumbai is still playing this movie continuously from the very first screening in 1992 to this day 2011 which is something great. It also was the second movie ever to win the Big four awards at the Filmfare and the most number too. The music is one of the most popular one with a song still played in Weddings and another one still considered to be the song of love. The beautiful locals of Switzerland shown became a major attraction for tourist, i know it already was but it added to the whole nostalgia. The pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol till date is considered to be the best one after this movie. Exactly this is not all, so many things to talk about and you can understand by this that how much of remarkable impact this had on me and everyone. I normally start a movie with just a one line introduction followed by the Synopsis but look at this, a whole paragraph but still needs more introduction. I think this movie should be the start of my personal list of Indian Must watch movies, isn't it a great idea?

                   So this is the story of Raj and Simran and how they fall in love during a European tour but their family values comes together in between that, still finds a way to win everyone's heart. So Raj and Simran are both young first generation British Indians living in London and are brought up there. Raj is the only child of a wealthy man and is obviously spoiled. Simran on the other hand is the elder daughter of a Store owner and their family, specially her father is a very socially conservative man whose dream is to one day go back to his dearest home. Raj once ends up tricking Simran's father in buying bear at closing hour pretending to have a headache which makes her father very angry calling him a disgrace, little does they know that they would have to meet again. So Simran is a grown up girl now and have started dreaming of her Prince charming and writes about him in his diary while her mother tells her not to dream so big. Letter arrives from her father's friend about his interest in marrying his son Kuljeet to Simran as they did made a promise like that when their children were infants. Simran out of respect for her father agrees for it but begs her father to allow her to go on a trip with her friends to Europe which would be her last chance of doing anything like that. Even though being a tough Father he still agrees but remind her not to betray his trust. We then see them meeting in a Train in Europe and through many incidents and some misadventures Raj falls in love with her. While parting at the station in London, simran realizes that too. She tells her mother about everything which her father overhears but still they end up leaving for India for the wedding. Kuljeet turns out to be an arrogant man and Simran and her younger sister both dislike him for taking pride in hunting and his awful friends only. On the other hand Raj doesn't give up and follows Simran to Punjab and privately assures her that they would marry in consent of her father only and is here to win everyone's heart not to break by just taking her with him. Raj somehow ends up in the house pretending to be Kuljeet's friend, he helps up with everything and soon befriends the family but things get pretty shaken up when his father arrives fixing his wedding with Preeti who is Kuljeet's sister mistaken her for Simran. Now i don't want to give up the ending or things that builds up towards it so i should stop right here.



                   Indian Movies have so much music, cheesy dialogs and story lines and quite predictable plots. I wont say this movies doesn't have a predictable plot i mean this isn't Inception for God sake but obviously it has things that makes it quite different from many clichéd Indian romantic movies. Made in beautiful locations you would love the scenes in Europe and yes Punjab too. Yash Chopra who is a very well known director launched his son Aditya Chopra as a director through this movie who by the way did a remarkable job with this one. This movie in that era or time was the most different of any romantic comedy or drama ever made. It started the whole modern Indian Rom coms, it literally revolutionized the Indian cinema making it far more appealing to the world. I have seen this movie literally a thousand times and will still love to see it again and again. There are quite a few other movies that have that quality for me to watch them again and most of them has Shahrukh Khan in it while few of them does are quite heavy and just one time watch but this one flawlessly stands as my all time favorite Romantic comedy or drama movie of all time from Bollywood.

                  Trust me when i say this that it is not silly at all in anyway, i love the way love grows in them during the trip where the end up losing the train their friends are on and has to spend a day and night together. You would realize how well intentioned and not some cheap movie it is when Raj who is suppose to be a spoil brat shows respects to Simran as an Indian woman when they are alone together in the room. You may see Raj as a annoying guy which he definitely is, he is messed up and has no direction in his life. He doesn't really know anything beside how to impress girls and spend his dad's money like water. He really understands what love is when he falls in love with her and thus finds that direction in his life while respecting his family, her family and their values. Simran is really great figure when it comes to the female lead in Rom com that you miss nowadays, she is beautiful girl with dreams of her prince charming while she as brains too beside a big heart. She respects her father and his feeling and will do anything not to ashame him in front of anyone. This movie has this sense of being both traditional and modern and can be sweet and aggressive at the same time. DDLJ might be clichéd in a way with some minor flaws but it doesn't take away from the whole experience of it.



                   Now the one most important thing in Bollywood movies is Music, songs are not just played in background but are performed too. Most tracks or actually in movies of this time and few of them after wards had situational tracks that were connected to the story and to the plot at that particular time but a new trend have raised now of so called 'Item Numbers' that are just used for some glamorous addition to the movie that i absolutely hate but this movie doesn't have it. The first song is "Ghar Aaja Pardesi" which is a very lovely song you would hear first in the movie in contrast to Simran's dad thinking about his country and then as they return home it is played with different lyrics in contrast to Simran's situation. I love this song as it is a dramatic one. Next up is "Mere Khwabon Mein" which is filmed on Simran telling her mom about that prince charming she is dreaming of while jumping on the bed and dancing outside in rain which by the way is one of my favorite numbers picturised on Kajol. "Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane" is what you would listen Raj singing when they are in a Restaurant in Europe as Simran challenges Raj to play Piano, that is a song that has these funny teasing elements concerning Simran to annoy her. "Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main" is a very spicy as i would call it as Simran gets drunk and is very enjoyable one. Every song that Simran's character sing has been sung by my all time favorite female singer, Lata Mangeshkar. "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko" one again is one of my personal favorite which they both sing after the get parted on the railway station towards their way home. "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" is a song that i heard my entire life in every single weeding ceremony i ever heard of or attended, this was a song that truly became the most played wedding themed song ever. Last up is the most romantic number i have ever seen in a Bollywood movie called "Tujhe Dekha To" which is shot beautifully in Punjab and is indeed my most favorite track of them all. Not just me but i heard about some lists that included tracks of this movie as one of the very best.

                 Kajol and Shahrukh Khan both won acting awards for this movie and i say they both truly deserved it specially Kajol. Good performances from the entire cast and also some nice supporting performances too. Good music, good cinematography and lovely storyline. Few parts of this movie feels like dragging but didn't bothered me much. Indian movies are always very long stretching to about 3 hours which may annoy people but every moment of this movie is interesting, enjoyable and truly lovable. This is a must watch movie for everyone and i include it in my Must Watch Indian movies list. Beautiful, Enjoyable and the best Romantic Comedy Drama you would see.

Grade: A