Age of innocence

Every period seems like an age of innocence when viewed in retrospect. This is being increasingly brought home to me these last few days as Shahrukh Khan, the incredibly popular Bollywood actor that most Jordanians can relate to via the Arabic dubbed movies, recently celebrated 20 years of his first blockbuster film. 

The remarkable thing about this picture is that it is still running in an outdated cinema hall in India, uninterrupted for the last 1,000 weeks! It has been playing at its usual matinee time slot of 11:30 in the morning ever since it was first screened there in October 1995. 

Called “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”, which translates into “Brave-heart will win the bride”, it had one of the longest titles that anybody had ever heard of. No wonder it immediately got shortened to DDLJ within the first few days of its release. 

Starring Kajol as the demure Simran, opposite the flamboyant Raj, played by Shahrukh, it was a simple love story, set partly in Europe and UK, and after the intermission, in India. The young couple was both modern as well as traditional and did not want to get married without the permission and blessings of their parents. The girl was engaged to somebody else, who was chosen by her father, so the boy had to somehow convince the patriarch, that he was the right one for her. 

Now that I think about it, there was nothing particularly unusual about the storyline. Scores of films, both before and after, were made on a similar theme. But, unpredictably it struck a chord with the viewing public. The freshness was in the manner in which this old subject was approached, and then presented. The phenomenal on-screen chemistry that the innocent looking lead actors shared, helped. Everything about the film appealed to the audience. The casting was flawless and everybody played his or her part to perfection. The songs, which are an integral part of any Indian movie, were sensational. The comedy, the tragedy, the dance steps, the action scenes and some particular dialogues too, became instant hits. People could not stop seeing this picture. Over and over again! 

I was living in Dubai those days and the theatre in which the film was playing, was located in the downtown. To make matters worse, there was a traffic signal just before the turning to the entrance, which was mostly malfunctioning. However hard I tried to synchronise the entire outing: from hurrying back from work, feeding the baby, organising a babysitter, rustling up dinner, we would invariably get stuck at that red light. By the time we bought the tickets and sprinted into the darkened hall, we would catch the tail end of the opening sequence, where the girl’s father is feeding the pigeons on Trafalgar Square. 

My spouse would throw a tantrum and refuse to see the rest of the film and a scene within a scene would be created instantly in the aisle, much to the amusement of the other onlookers. 

Watching the 20-year milestone celebrations of the film, these memories from two decades ago, rushed back. 

“How much you fought with me over this movie,” I reminisced. 

“Correction! You stamped my foot,” my husband said. 

“Because you wanted to consult a divorce lawyer,” I reminded. 

“And you rushed to buy a shotgun,” he recalled. 

“Did I? Where is it?” I asked.

“You should have bought it,” he grinned. 

“And shot the lawyer,” I agreed.