This Star, Not Shah Rukh Khan, Was First Choice to Play Raj in DDLJ

On this day in 1995, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or DDLJ, the superhit romantic drama, premiered and took the world by storm. The longest-running film in the history of Bollywood has completed 26 years of its release. With DDLJ, debutant director Aditya Chopra gave the cinema lovers the best on-screen pairings of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.

In the movie, while Shah Rukh played the role of Raj, Kajol was seen in the character of Simran. The movie was a blockbuster when it was released and its characters are etched in the memory of Bollywood fans. However, there’s a lesser-known fact about DDLJ that might even shock you.

Shah Rukh Khan, who became the King of romance after the release of DDLJ, wasn’t the first choice for the role of Raj Malhotra. Shocked, right? Yes, the role was initially offered to actor Saif Ali Khan as makers thought that he would fit in the story of the love affair better than anyone. However, he declined the offer made by Aditya Chopra, for he was busy shooting for other films and had date issues. Eventually, Shah Rukh Khan got the opportunity to play the role of Raj in the film and the rest, as they say, is history.

The release of this film increased the popularity of Shah Rukh and Kajol. They are still asked to say deliver dialogues of Raj and Simran whenever they make joint appearances on a stage.

Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir had screened DDLJ every day for 25 years until the Covid-19 induced lockdown forced the theatre to pull down its shutters, last year. The Raj-Simran cult romance is the longest-running Hindi film of all time with a historic 1274-week-run at Maratha Mandir theatre.

All the songs of the film are so melodious that even today people are compelled to dance to their tunes. Without ‘Mehandi Laga Ke Rakhna, Doli Saj Ke Rakhna’, the function of Mehndi on a girl’s wedding seems incomplete. Jatin-Lalit composed the music for the songs, penned by Anand Bakshi. Legends like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu sang the songs.