Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

The longest-running film ever. The coming-of-age of Indian cinema’s all-time superstar, Shah Rukh Khan. The template for what we now know as Bollywood cinema. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, playing continuously for twenty years (and counting) in a Mumbai theatre, heralded a new era in Hindi films. Heck, even Barack Obama referenced it in one of his speeches. One of the earliest contemporary Hindi films to focus on Indian residents abroad, DDLJ addressed a newly liberalized nation with its heady cocktail of European locations, flashy cars and gorgeous mansions. It was also – perhaps not quite surprisingly – a conformist film, upholding traditions of premarital chastity and family authority, affirming an essential ‘Indian’ identity in the face of the forces of westernization and liberalization. Critic, author and analyst Anupama Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge: A Modern Classic is a deep dive into the movie, examining the making of it as well as the impact it had on popular culture and Hindi cinema. A loving tribute to an iconic film, this book is the definitive account of a Bollywood – indeed, Indian – phenomenon.