All That You Didn't Know About Raj, Simran And DDLJ!

On Friday, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol celebrated the 1000-week run of DDLJ. The time is right to bring you 10 facts that you didn't know about this film:

1.  Kajol wasn't too kicked about the role when it was offered to her. She couldn't relate to Simran because she was diametrically different from her in her younger days. She didn't even know how to act shy and blush. These were then taught to her by the 24-year-old Aditya Chopra, who was directing his first film, after assisting his father Yash Chopra for seven years.

2, The reason Shah Rukh Khan’s flamboyant and cheeky character was seen carrying a mandolin in the film is simply because Adi (as Aditya Chopra is known in the industry) is a huge Raj Kapoor fan and he knew that most of the iconic RK songs were heavy on mandolin. And so, as a tribute to the filmmaker who inspired him, Aditya insisted that Raj (remind yourself that SRK's name in DDLJ was Raj) despite wearing his jackets and glasses on a Harley Davidson- still carries a mandolin.

3. Adi and his father had differences. While Adi was cool showing his Simran with a bottle of liquor, Sr. Chopra was conservative and didn't want her to be seen with the bottle. Shah Rukh shuttled between the father and the son to get them on the same page- but in vain.  Adi stuck to his guns, saying he would like to learn from his mistakes rather than live under his fathers shadow.

4. Shah Rukh's favourite line from DDLJ is: Raj, agar yeh ladki tujhse pyar kadti hai toh yeh mudke zaroor dekhegi. Palat. Palat.

5. Kajol was perennially scolded by Shah Rukh during the filming. She was just not serious at work. She would laugh and make faces almost each time she had a scene with Shah Rukh.

6. Pamela Chopra recorded a scratch of the song Ghar Aaja Pardesi. And Jatin-Lalit, the music composers of the film, thought of getting Lata Mangeshkar for the song. But when they heard the scratch for the second time, they decided that they should go with Pamela's voice. 
 

7. Adi  didn't want Salman Khan/ Aamir Khan as his hero because they had done romantic roles in Maine Pyaar Kiya and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Shah Rukh was his first choice to play Raj;  he felt he was very similar in real life to Raj.  But Shah Rukh declined the offer. Adi decided to cast Saif,  but meanwhile Shah Rukh suddenly sprung up to give his nod of consent.

8. Adi dreamt of making DDLJ in English as his fifth or sixth film with Tom Cruise and Kajol in the lead but circumstances drove him to make it as his first in Hindi. 

9.  Kirron Kher suggested the name of the movie as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and not the director (Aditya Chopra) or producer (Yash Chopra)

10. Adi lent his jacket to Shah Rukh for a scene but later insisted on having it back. Shah Rukh is still asking for the jacket, but Adi is in no mood to relent.