This screenwriter was denied co-writing credit for Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge; vowed to never work with YRF again

Suddenly, Honey Irani’s conversation with her mentor and Aditya Chopra’s father Yash Chopra from a few days before started to make sense. “Listen, I’m thinking of not giving Javed Siddiqui the credit for dialogues,” Yash told Honey. The veteran screenwriter and playwright had written the dialogues of seminal films like Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), Muzaffar Ali’s 1980 period musical Umrao Jaan, Abbas-Mustan’s 1993 revenge thriller Baazigar, and Yash Chopra’s 1993 romantic thriller Darr.

In fact, Darr was the film where Javed Siddiqui first worked with both Yash Chopra and co-writer Honey Irani. She was shocked to learn what Yash was planning to. Little did she know that he was also testing the waters. “It’s Adi’s first film, so I’m thinking of giving him the dialogue credit,” he said. When Honey objected and said her heart doesn’t agree and that it’s not fair to Javed, Yash asked her if the latter agreed then why would Honey bother? Honey insisted it wasn’t a nice thing to do.

Yash then abruptly asked Honey how much she wanted as her fees. Honey felt odd because Adi was like a son to her and DDLJ was his first film. Moreover, she and Yash never discussed money so urgently.

It was Yash Chopra and his wife Pamela Chopra who encouraged Honey Irani to pursue screenwriting professionally post her divorce with Javed Akhtar, a formidable screenwriter in his own right. Then came the script of Lamhe, starring Sridevi and Anil Kapoor, followed by Deepak Sareen’s 1993 romantic thriller Aaina, Yash Chopra’s 1993 action drama Parampara, and the biggest hit of them all — Darr.

Their long personal and professional bond crumbled on the day Honey saw her name’s omission on the DDLJ poster. She tried to meet Aditya Chopra and Pamela Chopra, but the meeting never materialized. The next thing she learned was that the Chopra family had rushed to Chennai to attend the film’s trial, without even extending her a courtesy invite.

It was Shah Rukh Khan, the lead actor of DDLJ and Darr, who reassured Honey Irani that her name was there, at least in the print from the Chennai trial show. But just a few days later, Honey received a message from Pamela informing her that her name won’t be part of the credits. “We think you don’t deserve it” was the reason given to her.

Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

That really hurt Honey, who passed on the same information to Shah Rukh. He took it upon himself to meet Aditya Chopra and try convince him. Subsequently, he asked Honey to meet him immediately at a studio he was shooting at. “Honey aunty, I’m really sorry to do this to you. But Adi said, ‘I want to take full credit. Let’s see, what she wants to do, she can do,'” said Shah Rukh.

Honey Irani eventually realized Aditya Chopra had an inferiority complex like Sooraj Barjatya, also an industry kid (son of Raj Kumar Barjatya) and the heir apparent of legacy production house Rajshri Films. Sooraj was given credit for story, screenplay, and dialogue for both his hit directorials till then — Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989) and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994).

Honey felt it was fortunate for her that DDLJ turned out to be a historic hit. Had it not been, the Chopras would’ve conveniently blamed it on Honey’s screenplay later, claiming that she chose to withdraw her name. Given their equation, had Yash Chopra told Honey directly that he wouldn’t give her credit, she’d have relented. But she was hurt she wasn’t even treated with that much grace.

Her close friend, Nishi Prem, who was the editor of leading film magazine Stardust, was her confidante. She chose to write a story on the same, posing the question: Why was Honey Irani offered a fees if the Chopras claim she didn’t co-write the screenplay of DDLJ? That leak really miffed the Chopra family. Post that, there was no communication from either side. Honey vowed to never work with YRF again.

She was asked by well-wishers why she didn’t sue the company. But all said and done, YRF gave her a break. She didn’t want to stoop to their level and give it back to them legally. What felt worse was none of the stars came out in her support. Had Shah Rukh Khan or Kajol put their foot down, the Chopras would’ve listened to them. But Raj and Simran weren’t real-life heroes after all.

Also Read — Honey Irani says people began taking her seriously after she wrote Lamhe: ‘Someone said I’d ghost-write Salim-Javed’s work’

The DDLJ setback didn’t even derail Honey Irani’s career as a screenwriter as she went on to work with the likes of Rahul Rawail (Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, 1997), Rakesh Roshan (Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, Koi… Mil Gaya, and the Krrish franchise) and Kundan Shah (Kya Kehna, 2000), and Mahesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri (Awarapan, 2007). Till date, Honey feels there’s no point talking about that episode in public. She believes history has been kind to her, and everybody knows she’d co-written the screenplay, whether the Chopras like it or not.