On what could very well be a long hot summer day, why not step into the air-condition and pass the afternoon enjoying one of the great Bollywood musicals of all time.
The longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema, still screening at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir cinema 30 years after its release, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge—popularly referred to as “DDLJ”—stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as Raj and Simran, two Londoners who fall in love on a European backpacking holiday. But then—as film lovers often are—they are separated when Simran’s disapproving father ships the family off to Punjab, but then reunited when headstrong Raj comes storming after her.
Every inch of the ’Scope frame gets used in the riotously colorful musical numbers, including the infectious, blissed-out “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” in a film that fairly overflows with the exuberance, charisma, and showmanship that Bollywood at its best can offer. The film was rapturously received on its release, becoming one of the highest-grossing Hindi films ever, and winning a then-record 10 Filmfare Awards (for excellence in Hindi cinema). If anything, its legend has only grown since then.