Bollywood’s iconic film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) starring super-hit Jodi Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol, is back on the big screen in Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir after an eight-months break because of a coronavirus outbreak. The Maharashtra government has allowed cinemas to start operations from November 5 with 50 percent capacity. The Aditya Chopra blockbuster is being screened in Maratha Mandir, the cinema hall where the film had a record-breaking 1,274-week run. DDLJ is the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema which ran for over 20 years in Maratha Mandir theatre of Mumbai.
“As cinemas have been permitted to re-open in Mumbai, Yash Raj Films is thrilled to bring the longest-running film in the history of Indian Cinema, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, back to the silver screen at Maratha Mandir, Mumbai,” said Rohan Malhotra, Vice President Distribution, Yash Raj Films.
“The film has just completed 25 years and audiences can bank on the film to entertain themselves in these uncertain times by transporting them to the world of Raj and Simran,” Malhotra added.
Manoj Desai, the executive director of Maratha Mandir and G-7 single screens told Bombay Times: “The day the cinema halls open in Mumbai, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ will be back in the matinee show. It was always the first show of the day and that tradition will continue; we had to discontinue it only because of the COVID19 pandemic. When the film was released 25 years ago, I remember Maratha Mandir ran to packed houses for each show for months. That was the magic of a beautiful story, a fresh on-screen pair, great music, superb performances and fabulous locales. It had such an aspirational value for the audience. People loved it, some even remembered dialogues by heart in just a few weeks of the film’s release”.
ÝThe romantic drama was made at a budget of Rs 4 crore, emerged a blockbuster, collecting Rs 102.50 crore worldwide upon release in 1995.
To mark the 25 years of its release, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is being re-released in countries like Germany, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US, the UK, Canada, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Estonia and Finland among others.