Dilwale Dulhania La Jayenge (1995) has one of the world’s
great titles. Roughly translated, it means “The Big-Hearted Will Carry
Away The Bride”, and that’s a perfect summation of the film as a whole.
There’s a big-hearted man, there’s a bride, and he carries her away.
The end. Only the details remain.
The big hearted fellow in question is Raj (Shahrukh Khan). Raj has just flunked out of his London college, but his father (Anupam Kher) sends him on a month long tour of Europe anyway. While on the tour, he meets the prospective bride, Simran (Kajol), and immediately starts behaving like a jerk. (This sort of courtship-through-obnoxiousness is far too common in Bollywood; in the interests of science, I’ve tried it out myself, and the doctors say that I’ll be able to eat solid foods again soon.)
Things change in Switzerland. Simran gets off the train to buy a cowbell, for reasons that are never explained. Thanks to Raj fooling around with the store clerk, they both miss the train, and they’re forced to travel through Switzerland together trying to catch it. Along the way, Raj gets a chance to demonstrate that, deep down, he has a good Indian heart, yadda yadda yadda, and by the time they catch the train again they’re in love.
Of course there’s a problem. Simran has been promised since childhood to Kuljeet (Parmeet Sethi), son of a family friend back in the Punjab, and the time to fulfill that promise is at hand. Normally, Raj would talk to his father, who would talk to Simran’s father, and something would be worked out, but when your potential father-in-law is played by Amrish Puri, it’s a good idea to be cautious. Raj travels to India, planning to carry away his bride.
Having seen Dil and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, though, Raj knows the horrible consequences of marrying without parental approval; he won’t elope. He plans to take Simran away only when her father gives him her hand. Raj works his way into the lives of Simran’s family incognito, hoping to win their hearts before revealing his identity. Naturally things go wrong.
Kajol is sort of wasted here. Simran shows some fine spirit while fighting with Raj, but from the moment the pair fall in love, she becomes passive. To be fair, there isn’t much Simran can actively do in her situation, but still, almost until the very end, all Kajol is expected to do is sit around, be beautiful, and wait to be carried away. I’m sure I’ll be lynched by angry Kajol fans for saying this, but if you only want an actress to look pretty, there are better qualified women in Bollywood. At her best, Kajol is a spectacular actress, but she needs to be given something to do.
Shahrukh fares a bit better. As Raj, he gets to perform comedy, passionate declarations of love, noble and heartfelt speeches, and gets beaten up . . . all stuff he does very well. Still, both actors are young, and neither has come into their full power yet, so they’re both overshadowed by their elders in the supporting cast. Amrish Puri is particularly good; he’s not cuddly, but is still very convincing as a loving, deeply traditional Indian father who believably stands in the way of true love while still remaining sympathetic. Anupam Kher is cuddly as Raj’s indulgent father, and still gets to display a surprising degree of backbone and depth of character in a confrontation with Puri.
I can’t say that DDLJ is my favorite film, but it’s certainly worth watching, especially for SRK-Kajo; completists and people who really love early 90’s Bollywood teen romances.
The big hearted fellow in question is Raj (Shahrukh Khan). Raj has just flunked out of his London college, but his father (Anupam Kher) sends him on a month long tour of Europe anyway. While on the tour, he meets the prospective bride, Simran (Kajol), and immediately starts behaving like a jerk. (This sort of courtship-through-obnoxiousness is far too common in Bollywood; in the interests of science, I’ve tried it out myself, and the doctors say that I’ll be able to eat solid foods again soon.)
Things change in Switzerland. Simran gets off the train to buy a cowbell, for reasons that are never explained. Thanks to Raj fooling around with the store clerk, they both miss the train, and they’re forced to travel through Switzerland together trying to catch it. Along the way, Raj gets a chance to demonstrate that, deep down, he has a good Indian heart, yadda yadda yadda, and by the time they catch the train again they’re in love.
Of course there’s a problem. Simran has been promised since childhood to Kuljeet (Parmeet Sethi), son of a family friend back in the Punjab, and the time to fulfill that promise is at hand. Normally, Raj would talk to his father, who would talk to Simran’s father, and something would be worked out, but when your potential father-in-law is played by Amrish Puri, it’s a good idea to be cautious. Raj travels to India, planning to carry away his bride.
Having seen Dil and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, though, Raj knows the horrible consequences of marrying without parental approval; he won’t elope. He plans to take Simran away only when her father gives him her hand. Raj works his way into the lives of Simran’s family incognito, hoping to win their hearts before revealing his identity. Naturally things go wrong.
Kajol is sort of wasted here. Simran shows some fine spirit while fighting with Raj, but from the moment the pair fall in love, she becomes passive. To be fair, there isn’t much Simran can actively do in her situation, but still, almost until the very end, all Kajol is expected to do is sit around, be beautiful, and wait to be carried away. I’m sure I’ll be lynched by angry Kajol fans for saying this, but if you only want an actress to look pretty, there are better qualified women in Bollywood. At her best, Kajol is a spectacular actress, but she needs to be given something to do.
Shahrukh fares a bit better. As Raj, he gets to perform comedy, passionate declarations of love, noble and heartfelt speeches, and gets beaten up . . . all stuff he does very well. Still, both actors are young, and neither has come into their full power yet, so they’re both overshadowed by their elders in the supporting cast. Amrish Puri is particularly good; he’s not cuddly, but is still very convincing as a loving, deeply traditional Indian father who believably stands in the way of true love while still remaining sympathetic. Anupam Kher is cuddly as Raj’s indulgent father, and still gets to display a surprising degree of backbone and depth of character in a confrontation with Puri.
I can’t say that DDLJ is my favorite film, but it’s certainly worth watching, especially for SRK-Kajo; completists and people who really love early 90’s Bollywood teen romances.
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