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A scene from Bollywood romance \u2018Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge\u2019 starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as the main characters Raj and Simran. \u2014 Screencap from YouTube\/YRF Movies<\/p>\n
The film explores the clash between liberal values of second-generation Indians abroad and the conservative values of their parents.<\/p>\n
Its climax \u2013 when the heroine runs alongside a moving train into her lover\u2019s arms \u2013 still draws whistles, cheers and applause.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the goosebump moment,\u201d Desai said. \u201cThe father letting his daughter go, saying she won\u2019t find a better partner to spend her life with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some fans have made DDLJ part of their lives \u2013 one woman has been coming for 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t charge anything from her \u2013 we pay for the ticket,\u201d Desai said. \u201cWhere will you get a patron like this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Even younger audiences remain captivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our generation today, we often see transactional relationships,\u201d said 23-year-old Omkar Saraf, who hadn\u2019t been born when the film was released.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in this film, the hero crosses all boundaries to win his love with no expectations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have watched it on television, on our mobiles, but the big screen gives us goosebumps.\u201d<\/p>\n
DDLJ has even shaped real love stories for some.<\/p>\n
One couple watched it while dating and invited Desai to their wedding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey went abroad for their honeymoon \u2013 and came back to watch the movie,\u201d Desai said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Cultural monument\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The film\u2019s screening was almost discontinued in 2015, but an uproar meant the fan favourite remained in its daily time slot at the Maratha Mandir, according to the Hindustan Times.<\/p>\n The theatre itself has also changed little, its vintage charm intact with counters serving steaming cups of tea and deep-fried samosa snacks.<\/p>\n Its location near Bombay Central Station adds to its story, as travellers often catch a show before heading to their destinations.<\/p>\n Those include visitors from abroad.<\/p>\n A scene from Bollywood romance \u2018Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge\u2019 starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as the main characters Raj and Simran. \u2014 Screencap from YouTube\/YRF Movies<\/p>\n \u201cThe film is like Romeo and Juliet, with a happy ending,\u201d said Kelly Fernandez, a tourist from Spain who had wanted to see a Bollywood movie.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though we didn\u2019t understand the language, we enjoyed the music, dance and costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n Film critic Baradwaj Rangan sees the film\u2019s endurance as a love letter to an India grappling with old and new values.<\/p>\n \u201cIt represents a certain point in Indian culture, and that is why it is still loved,\u201d Rangan told AFP, saying it \u201cperfectly captured\u201d the friction between two generations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe film has become a kind of cultural monument,\u201d Rangan said. \u201cI think it is going to be playing forever.\u201d \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MUMBAI, Oct 19 \u2014 India\u2019s longest-running film celebrates 30 years in the same cinema on Monday, a Bollywood…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[15924,434,77032,18,117,19,52010,17,79442,12856,3770],"class_list":{"0":"post-132602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bollywood-romance","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-ddlj","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-indian-culture","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-maratha-mandir-theatre","17":"tag-mumbai","18":"tag-shah-rukh-khan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/305048.png\" "\\"A")
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