Opinion At Leicester square, Raj and Simran’s enduring charm

When Aditya Chopra dreamed up the tagline “Come… fall in love” for his directorial debut, did he imagine how enduring the audience’s romance with the film would be? In relationship-speak, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995, DDLJ) turned out to be a “keeper”. And much like how Raj and Simran’s love refused to recognise the constraints of geography, the film’s appeal too crossed borders. The latest tribute to its enduring charms is set to pop up in London’s Leicester Square, where bronze statues of the iconic lovers — a part of the ‘Scenes in the Square’ movie trail — will remind passersby of the city’s role in the film.

This, indeed, is key to why the film captured audiences’ imagination in the first place: With protagonists who were desi-at-heart, born-in-London youngsters, DDLJ gave the classic Bollywood trope of star-crossed lovers a globalised twist. As films like Pardes (1997), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Kal Ho Na Ho (2003) and Salaam Namaste (2005) followed, DDLJ was recognised as the originator of the “NRI film” genre. Released at a time when the Hindi film industry was struggling with a slump, DDLJ showed the potential of the hitherto untapped overseas market.

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Over the years, aspects of the film, particularly its inherently conservative attitude to love, have been criticised. Yet, these have hardly detracted from its classic status. Just saunter into the 11:30 am show at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir movie hall, where DDLJ has been playing for nearly 30 years. The hall may never be full, but the rapt attention with which the audience — many of whom have already watched the film several times before — view the film is the kind of honour filmmakers dream of, especially when Bollywood’s latest attractions are neither inspiring devotion, nor generating much revenue.