New Delhi, May 15: 1 Aditya Chopra initially wanted to cast Tom Cruise for the role of Raj Malhotra
2 Kirron Kher came up with the title Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. This is the first film in the history of Bollywood with a credit of ‘title suggested by’
3 The working title of the film was The Braveheart will take the Bride
4 Sooraj Barjatya watches DDLJ almost every week, and especially before starting a new film
5 Aditya Chopra always thought that he would make his debut with Mohabbatein, a story about three sets of lovers and a music teacher. He eventually made that one in 2000
6 SRK’s famous leather jacket was bought by Uday Chopra from a Harley- Davidson store in Bakersfield, California, for $400
7 SRK initially refused the film because he regarded romances as ‘‘pansy stuff.’’ It took Adi four meetings to convince him
8 In case SRK didn’t agree, Adi thought of approaching Saif Ali Khan
9 Initially, Armaan Kohli was supposed to play the role of Simran’s fiance, Kuljeet. Eventually, Parmeet Sethi got the role because he came for the screen test wearing boots, jeans and a waistcoat
10 Mere Khwaboon Mein Jo Aaye was the first song to be recorded. Aditya Chopra rejected 24 verses by Anand Bakshi before giving his nod to this one
11 It was Manish Malhotra’s idea to dress Kajol in a green outfit for Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna. Adi was against it since Punjabi brides traditionally wear red, maroon or pink
12 The famous Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jaana Sanam sequence amidst the yellow sarson flowers was shot in Gurgaon
13 Saroj Khan left the shooting in a huff after a disagreement with Aditya. SRK recommended Farah Khan, who choreographed Ruk Ja
14 In 2001, DDLJ broke the continuous exhibition record of the movie Sholay at Minerva theatre (5 years, 1975-1980)
15 Karan Johar assisted Aditya on the sets, while Uday (his younger brother) was also one of the assistants
16 Besides assisting Adi, Karan Johar also acted in the movie. He played ‘Pochy’, one of SRK’s friends
17 Adi named SRK ‘Raj’ after Raj Kapoor
18 SRK’s full name in the movie is Rajnath, after Rishi Kapoor’s name in Bobby
19 In the scene in which Anupam Kher tells SRK about the (non) accomplishments of his forefathers in academics, he actually recited names of his real, not- so-academically successful uncles
20 The film was mired in two major controversies after its release. Honey Irani and Javed Siddiqui said that they hadn’t been given credit for screenplay and dialogues respectively
21 Adi’s screenplay specifies that Simran is a vegetarian while Raj is willing to eat even a beefburger
22 DDLJ was the first film to have a 30-minute television show on its making. The Making of DDLJ was telecast on Doordarshan
23 HMV’s executive director Harish Dayani estimates that one in three households in India owns the DDLJ soundtrack
24 Adi used to practice his camera angles with Karan Johar posing as Kajol and Uday Chopra as Farida Jalal
25 Mandira Bedi made her film debut with the film

Dus saal baad
Yash Raj Films recently reunited Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol for a photo shoot to bring in the 500 weeks celebration. While the lensman was setting the lights, Kajol was fretting. When SRK asked her the reason, she said, ‘‘Gosh, can you believe it, our movie is 10 years old. My God, we are getting old. Our kids are growing up. It’s so weird.’’ While trying to soothe her, SRK just couldn’t stop laughing. Raj Malhotra lives on.