As the landmark film completes 25 years, we take you through some exciting trivia and secrets regarding its making.

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25 years of DDLJ: Remembering the iconic film that redefined romance in Bollywood forever; 50 lesser-known facts & rare pics

The romantic drama, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, was released on 20 October 1995

Team CE

Updated:30th Apr, 2020 at 1:26 PM

Aditya Chopra named Shah Rukh Khan's character Raj after Raj Kapoor. Also, SRK's full name in the movie is Rajnath, after Rishi Kapoor's name in Bobby..

Himani Shivpuri was scripted to be in the last scene of the movie, but her husband died during the making of the movie, which made her unable to participate.

Shah Rukh Khan's friends in the film, Karan Johar and Arjun Sablok, both later went on to become successful directors.

One of the most popular tracks 'Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna' of 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' was originally thought to be a part of another movie.

Popular filmmaker Karan Johar made his acting debut with 'DDLJ'.

Kajol's sister in the movie Pooja Ruparel went on to become a famous Television actress.

International Techno song 'Doop' (Sidney Berlin Ragtime Band Extended Version) by the European band Doop is played in the movie.

One of the most popular tracks 'Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna' of 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' was originally thought to be a part of another movie.

Shah Rukh Khan dropped Kajol at the end of 'Rukh Jaa O Dil Deewane, following director Aditya Chopra's instruction. The director did not tell Kajol about it to capture her reaction.

The role of Raj Malhotra was first offered to Saif Ali Khan. Since it was turned down by him, the makers approached Shah Rukh for it.

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise was considered for the role of Raj Malhotra initially

As of 13 April 2007, the film's initial theatrical release lasted 600 weeks - more than 11 years - a world record.

The scene where Kajol wakes up in a hotel room and gets worried about the last night, Aditya found it really a tough task to shoot it. The reason? Read on

The moment SRK would open his shirt to show a lipstick-marked chest, Kajol would burst out laughing. The scene was finally okayed after many retakes. Also, the lipstick marks were made by Kajol.

A film with the same title ' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' was released in 1980.

The title of the film was suggested by Kirron Kher, wife of Anupam Kher. Anupam played Shah Rukh Khan's father in the movie.

The film marked the debut of TV actress and host Mandira Bedi.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge played at the Maratha Mandir theatre for 1009 weeks in Mumbai uninterrupted.

'Mere Khwaboon Mein Jo Aaye' was the first song to be recorded. Aditya Chopra rejected 24 verses by Anand Bakshi before approving this one.

SRK first thought he was too old and not “typically” good-looking enough to pull it off. But he eventually accepted after Yash Chopra told him he’d never be a big star if he didn’t do a romcom.

Shah Rukh thought the character of Raj was a pansy. His exact words (back in 1994) were, “It’s a role of a wimp. I feel like a wimp. I feel like a pansy.”

Shah Rukh insisted on a little action in the film, even though Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra weren’t fans of action sequences. SRK, it seems, used to say that DDLJ was a hit because of his advice.

After watching the film, Shah Rukh told Yash Chopra that this film is his Deewar – the one that’s going to make him.

The classic “aao, aao” scene with SRK and Amrish Puri feeding pigeons is apparently completely impromptu.

The dance steps with the table cloth in Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane was done in one take – Shah Rukh got it right the first time.

Kajol was hesitant about doing Mere Khwabon because she didn’t like the idea of wearing a towel throughout. But they assured her they would shoot it tastefully, and she was pleased with the end result

Kajol’s iconic white skirt in Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye was cut on set. Manish Malhotra and his team cut it because Adi Chopra thought it was initially too long. It eventually became quite a bit short

Aditya Chopra wrote DDLJ in the span of 3 to 4 weeks. Karan Johar revealed that every day, Adi would discuss the film and its core concept with him and ask for his inputs.

The team didn’t actually think that they had created something amazing (I know, WTF, right?). Kajol thought the movie was “same old, same old,” and that it was a 'nice movie without anything new'.

Anupam Kher actually asked Aditya Chopra why he gave the bigger role to Amrish Puri, saying he wanted to play it instead. Adi said no.

DDLJ was Karan Johar’s training ground. “I never went to film school. I never assisted on anything else. My only training ground to becoming a film director was DDLJ.”

Uday Chopra and Karan Johar cut the making of DDLJ. They were locked in an edit room for days getting this done. The making was aired in Doordashan - a first for Indian cinema.

Farah Khan only choreographed the song Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane, because she couldn’t go to Europe to be with the team and choreograph the other songs. Why? Her schedule was already booked by Nana Patekar

Kajol's all green mehndi attire became a huge hit, just like the song, and was in demand after the release. Interestingly, at her own wedding with Ajay Devgan, Kajol wore a green Maharashtrian sari.

Yash Chopra wanted Milind Gunaji for Parmeet Sethi's role. But Milind refused to shave off his beard. This made Yash opt for another actor.

Sooraj Barjatya watches DDLJ almost every week, and especially before starting a new film.

Included among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Schneider.

SRK's famous leather jacket was bought by Uday Chopra from a Harley- Davidson store in Bakersfield, California, for $400.

SRK treasures his Harley- Davidson jacket. The cool dude jacket was a take off on Tom Cruise who wore one in Top Gun. Incidentally, Salman Khan wore a similar looking jacket in Maine Pyar Kiya.

HMV's executive director Harish Dayani estimates that one in three households in India owns the DDLJ soundtrack.

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.

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.

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.

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol promised Karan Johar on the set of this film to work in his directorial debut film 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (1998).

The first Indian movie with a Dolby sound mix.

This is the first and only film in the history of Bollywood with a credit of 'title suggested by'.

Uday Chopra (the younger brother of director Aditya Chopra) is seen riding a bicycle, passing by Kajol, in the song 'Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna.'

Leeroy song 'Bounce Floor' sampled the song ' Tujhe Dekha'

To commemorate the 24th anniversary, Kajol recreated her famous pose from DDLJ’s poster where she was seen reading a book while Shah Rukh Khan sat beside her with a guitar in his hand.

Sharing the photo, the actor wrote, “Still got the specs & still reading in weird places even after 24 years. #24YearsOfDDLJ.”

Here are few more snapshots from the film for the nostalgia...

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