Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (), also known by the initialism DDLJ, is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film written and directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut and produced by his father Yash Chopra. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as Raj and Simran, two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation through Europe with their friends. Raj tries to win over Simran's family so the couple can marry, but Simran's father has long since promised her hand to his friend's son.
The film was shot in India, London, and Switzerland, from September 1994 to August 1995.
With an estimated total gross of 102.5 crore (10.75 million; today's adjusted gross 1,115 crore (116.97 million)), with 89 crore (9.34 million; today's adjusted gross 970 crore (101.76 million)) earned in India and 13.50 crore (1.42 million; today's adjusted gross 147 crore (15.42 million)) in overseas, the film was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1995 and one of the most successful Indian films in history. When adjusted for inflation, it is the second highest-grossing Indian film of the 1990s, behind Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! It won 10 Filmfare Awards—the most for a single film at that time—and the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Its soundtrack album became one of the most popular of the 1990s.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released on 20 October 1995, and received widespread acclaim from critics. Many critics praised the performances of Kajol and Khan as well as their chemistry, and the film's blend of simultaneously promoting strong family values and the following of one's own heart. Its success led other filmmakers to target the non-resident Indian audience, which was deemed more lucrative for them. It spawned many imitations of its story and style and homages to specific scenes. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was one of only three Hindi films in the reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and was placed twelfth on the British Film Institute's list of top Indian films of all time. In 2012, the film was included by critics Rachel Dwyer and Sanam Hasan in the 2012 British Film Institute Sight & Sound 1,000 greatest films of all time. The film is considered to be the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema, as it is still being shown at the Maratha Mandir in Mumbai since its release on 20 October 1995, as of January 2026.
Plot Raj and Simran are British Indians living in London. Simran is a shy, reserved woman whose life is strictly dictated by her traditional patriarch father, Baldev. Raj, by contrast, is a brash young man raised by a wealthy, carefree businessman who encourages his son to enjoy his youth. The two cross paths at the start of a backpacking trip across Europe when a late Simran receives Raj's help to board a moving train at the last minute.
Initially annoyed by Raj's flirtatious behavior, Simran ignores him once she reunites with her friends. However, fate continuously brings their travel groups together until Raj and Simran both accidentally miss their connecting train to Zurich. Forced to travel through Europe alone to catch up with their friends, the two gradually open up to one another. Raj reveals his nomadic, unsettled view of life, while Simran shares that she has been betrothed since childhood to Kuljeet, a man from Punjab whom she has never met. By the end of the journey, Simran falls deeply in love with Raj. Raj realizes he reciprocates her feelings, but heartbroken by the reality of her upcoming arranged marriage, he declines her invitation to the wedding.
A few weeks later, Simran's family relocates to Punjab to finalize the wedding preparations. Simran is immediately repulsed by Kuljeet’s arrogant and chauvinistic behavior, but she quietly endures it out of respect for her father. The situation shifts dramatically when Kuljeet brings home his new friend from London—who is revealed to be Raj. Kuljeet is entirely oblivious to the fact that Raj has traveled to India with the sole purpose of winning over Simran's family rather than eloping. Raj systematically embeds himself within the household, charming Simran's relatives with his warmth and helpful nature. Though Baldev recognizes Raj from a previous encounter at his convenience store in London, he remains initially unaware of the romance.
The wedding date is unexpectedly brought forward to fulfill the final wishes of Simran’s ailing grandmother. Even when Simran's mother discovers the truth and begs the couple to run away, Raj stubbornly refuses, insisting that he will only marry Simran with her father's blessing. The following morning, Baldev uncovers Raj and Simran's secret. Enraged by the deception and determined to protect his family's honor, Baldev violently confronts Raj and orders him to leave the village immediately.
Raj heads to the local railway station, where an enraged Kuljeet and his henchmen ambush him to exact revenge for the betrayal. A brutal fight ensues, but Raj ultimately overpowers the group. Sparing Kuljeet's life, a battered Raj boards the departing train. Meanwhile, Baldev and the family arrive at the platform. Simran desperately begs her father to let her be with the man she loves. Watching the train pull away, Baldev finally relents, realizing that forcing his daughter into marriage with Kuljeet will permanently ruin her happiness. Mirroring their very first encounter, Simran runs along the platform as the train gains speed, and Raj reaches out from the compartment door, pulling her aboard to begin their new life together in London.
Cast
Production
Development After assisting his father, director and producer Yash Chopra, during the making of Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993), Aditya Chopra wrote several of his own scripts, including one he assumed to be his first film, but eventually became his second, Mohabbatein (2000). For three years, he worked on the story that would become Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge before approaching his father to direct it. Yash declined and persuaded Aditya to direct it himself. As they were discussing ideas for the script, Aditya conceived the notion that Raj would seek permission for marriage from Simran's stern father, rather than eloping with her. He then became excited about the possibility of directing the film himself. After his mother, the playback singer Pamela Chopra, agreed that the idea was sound, he decided to make this his directorial debut. Aditya wanted to make a wholesome film that people could watch repeatedly. He wanted to diverge from the typical plot line of the time, in which lovers run away when their parents object, and show that if their love was strong enough, the parents would eventually understand.
In May 1994, Aditya read the first draft of the script to several members of the Yash Raj Films production team assigned to work with him, including a cinematographer, an art director, and a dialogue writer. They were not impressed, but Aditya held fast to his ideas. He was given total editorial control by his father, the producer, and made the film according to his own tastes and sensibilities. Aditya struggled with both the dialogue writer Javed Siddiqui and the lyricist Anand Bakshi to develop words that were "young-sounding". There were personal clashes over writing credits on the final script. Pamela's friend Honey Irani believed she deserved a writing credit that she did not receive, and Siddiqui believed Aditya did not deserve partial credit for the dialogue. After Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, neither of them ever worked with the company again. After approving the script, Yash was consulted about the songs, but mostly left the creative process to his son, and has firmly denied that he was a ghost director on the project. He did not shoot a single frame, and did not even view some portions of the film until it was nearly completed.
Casting Aditya originally wanted the film to be about a relationship between an Indian and an American. He wanted to cast Tom Cruise as the male lead but was dissuaded by Yash, who did not want to use a foreign star. They decided their characters would be non-resident Indians (NRIs). Aditya approached Shah Rukh Khan to play the role of Raj. Shah Rukh was initially not interested due to the romantic nature of the role, having had success playing villainous roles. Aditya approached Saif Ali Khan because he was having problems persuading Shah Rukh. Saif declined, not having confidence in playing romantic roles, causing Aditya to continue pursuing Shah Rukh. Aditya and Shah Rukh had four meetings over several weeks; he finally persuaded Shah Rukh by telling him he could never be a superstar unless he became "every woman's dream man, and every mother's dream son". Since then, Shah Rukh has expressed his gratitude to Aditya for helping to make him a star with this film. Shah Rukh said his Karan Arjun co-star Salman Khan, who also rejected the film, also encouraged him to do the role, saying that he thought the film would be very successful, and thought he was fit for the role. Shah Rukh has also noted the similarities in the film's script to his own relationship with Gauri Khan before their marriage.
Kajol was the first choice to play Simran, to which she quickly agreed. She and Shah Rukh had previously worked together in the successful films Baazigar (1993) and Karan Arjun (1995). Kajol said her character was very difficult for her to relate to, whereas Shah Rukh said Raj's personality was very similar to his own. Aditya chose the name Raj for the character, and the mandolin that he played, based on his admiration for the actor Raj Kapoor. After a successful screen test, Parmeet Sethi was chosen over Armaan Kohli and Milind Gunaji for the role of Kuljeet Singh. In addition to his assistant director Sameer Sharma, Aditya asked for two additional assistants, his younger brother Uday Chopra along with cousin Karan Johar. Johar also played a small role in the film as Raj's friend. Sharmishta Roy was the film's art director and Manish Malhotra was the costume designer. While Malhotra had many new ideas, Aditya wanted to keep the clothing style simple; he did not want it to distract from the story. Despite this, Malhotra was responsible for the idea of Simran wearing a green dress in the song "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna", an unusual colour for a Punjabi bride.
Filming
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was filmed in several 5, 10, and 20-day schedules between September1994 and August1995. The first sequence filmed was for the song "Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko" with Kajol and Shah Rukh in Switzerland. The European journey scenes and songs were mainly filmed in Saanen, Montbovon and Gstaad, Switzerland. Other scenes were shot in England, at locations including Trafalgar Square, King's Cross railway station and Angel Underground station. Cinematographer Manmohan Singh, a regular collaborator with Chopra, shot the song "Tujhe Dekha To", including the iconic mustard fields scenes with Shah Rukh and Kajol in the mustard fields in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the National Capital Region Delhi. The cast faced difficulties while filming the final scene, which shows Simran running to catch the train on which Raj is travelling. The smouldering heat made it difficult to shoot and each time there was a retake, the train took 20 minutes to return.