We live in amazing times… Not only can many of us boast of
having watched Sholay on the big screen, a lucky bunch of cinema-lovers has
even enjoyed ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ and ‘Chashme Budduur’ at the theatre.
Don’t
even get me started about those who recently watched Gulzar Saab’s ‘Libaas’ at
a recently held film festival. I am writing this piece after coming
face-to-face with the boy I once was, while watching DDLJ in a theater, after a
thousand weeks of its release.
As a shy, under-confident and a chubby-tubby boy, one
doesn’t really know what love is. I was still in the process of growing my
first moustache, and the little I knew about this emotion called love were
basically stories (usually a bunch of lies) that I had heard from friends who
were manlier then, than what I think I have become now. Young lads fighting
each other, over their respective GFs wasn’t a completely unheard of scenario,
especially in a small town like Indore.
Aditya Chopra’s ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,’ was my first
formal introduction to ‘love,’ and to be honest, I still feel the same way
about the feeling almost two decades hence. As the line from the film’s
publicity material goes, After Raj met Simran, love was never the same. The
QSQT & MPK generations of lovers were fading away, and an entire new breed
was waiting for a film that could redefine love for them. DDLJ was just what
this new bunch was waiting for.
Goes without saying that I am a HUGE SRK fanboy, and it’s
slightly unfortunate that of late the only good thing to come out of his films
are the interviews that he gives. Coming back to DDLJ, and the special
screening that Rani took me along for - there were murmurs that SRK might drop
by during the interval, and there was a general sense of electric excitement in
the air at Maratha Mandir. The theatre itself was decked like a ‘dulhania,’ band-baaja-baraat, all in
tow.
The audience comprised of mad-screaming-hyper-charged fans
of DDLJ, SRK and Kajol, alike Rani and moi. As it happens with any film with a loyal
following like this, one had to strain the ears to hear the lines; it actually
seemed like the fans owned the film, not the makers. On cue, the audience would
repeat the lines, clap, whistle and cheer, borrowing energies from each other. There
were two kids sitting in the row ahead of mine, they were dancing to every
song!
It was one crazy experience. And then, somewhere towards the
interval, SRK looks at Kajol and says –
“Main nahin aaoonga…”
I felt sad for Raj and his Simran – That moment reminded me
of all the girls whose marriage invitations that I had politely declined. Or at
least those who I wished would invite me to their weddings, and I would hopefully,
politely decline them. Happy-sad moment it was, and there onwards one doesn’t
think of Raj as a bratty rascal anymore. He is a nice guy after all, just like
all of us. Wink. Before stepping into the theater I wasn’t sure if DDLJ will
still remind me of the boy that I was, way back in 1995.
The DDLJ gen has now made way for the ‘Dev.D’ and the ‘Jab
We Met’ bunch of love-struck teens, but last night I was reminded that I am not
alone. When Raj says, “Palat,” the
grin is still as wide. The ‘chhoti
baatein in bade-bade desh,’ still continue unabashed. The patience to sit
through a three-hour film might have slightly worn out, but the magical moments
of DDLJ still remain, just the way they were, when we first watched it. The
entire theater erupted when Raj drops Simran on the dance floor after ‘Ruk ja o
dil deewane.’
I remember giving up practicing ‘Papa kehte hain,’ on the guitar because playing the DDLJ tune was
much easier, and the girls would gather around me immediately. That’s all it took for an introvert like me,
who was a part of an imaginary group called – ‘United Against Girls,’ to become
the center of their attraction. I owe that to you, SRK! Thanks to Set Max, I
have continued to watch this eternal love story at every given opportunity.
Just that I don’t like it when Simran gets a scolding from her dad for falling
in love.
As a staunch believer in the Yash Raj School of Romance, I
pine for those love stories that have now made way for the 'Gundays' and 'Kill
Dils' of today. Perhaps I am getting way too old for my own good. By the way, SRK
did drop by during the special screening – the wit and
pompous-with-a-self-depreciatory-tinge of humor seems to have developed some
visible cracks. The edginess is missing; perhaps he is ageing too. SRK now
mostly talks about his growing kids and respecting women. Not that it isn’t the right
thing to do; at least not at his age…
For all I know this could be the beginning of my own sweet mid-life-crisis,
or I should attempt to write a new love story that will resonate within the
hearts of an entire generation or more. In an era when there is almost no taboo
left, what will I write that hasn’t been already attempted? I heard that an
enthusiastic filmmaker has bought the adaptation rights for DDLJ. Wonder how
will it turn out – obviously none of my business, that too at this hour…
Just a parting thought: Time is such a strange thing; it
evokes different feelings when measured in different ways. Two decades,
twenty-four months and a thousand weeks. Though they are technically the same
thing, and the same span of time, thousand weeks sounds like the masterstroke
moment of some ace marketing whizkid. These silly outpourings be damned, I did
manage to meet the boy I was, back in 1995 – a hopeless romantic and that still
remains!
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