25 years ago, today, Bollywood found its quintessential romantic hero in Shah Rukh Khan. The actor played the role of Raj Malhotra in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge aka DDLJ. After the release of the film, Shah Rukh Khan came to be known as the ‘King of Romance’ in Bollywood and went on to star in several romantic films such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil To Pagal Hai, Dil Se, Mohabbatein and Chalte Chalte, to name a few.
But did you know that Shah Rukh Khan didn’t have the reaction that was expected from him once he heard the script of DDLJ? Of course, he did like the script, but felt that the role was ‘too girlish’ for him. SRK is more of an action kind of a person and didn’t really felt that his role in DDLJ was ‘macho’ enough for him.
WHAT WAS SHAH RUKH KHAN’S REACTION AFTER HEARING DDLJ SCRIPT?
In 2015, when DDLJ had completed 20 years of release, a three-part documentary was released by Yash Raj Films on YouTube. In the documentary, Pamela Chopra, Yash Chopra’s wife, revealed that the biggest ‘No’ for DDLJ came from Shah Rukh Khan himself. She said, “The biggest No came from Shah Rukh Khan himself. He doesn’t want to do just a normal romantic film. He says ‘kya tu mujhe bilkul eida sa bana raha hai’.”
Talking about the same, Shah Rukh Khan revealed that Yash Chopra called him after the script narration and asked ‘you didn’t like the script’? To this, Shah Rukh Khan replied that it was a nice script. But Yash Chopra was convinced because Shah Rukh Khan didn’t smile, laugh or cry after reading the script.
“I think for a day or two they assumed that I didn’t like it. So, Adi (Aditya Chopra) told Yash Ji that please ask him (SRK), I think he hated the script,” says Shah Rukh Khan in the documentary.
SHAH RUKH KHAN FELT HE WAS TOO OLD TO BE A ROMANTIC HERO
Back in 1995, every girl dreamt of meeting her ‘Raj’ someday. Shah Rukh Khan portrayed the character with such finesse that he is lauded for the same even today, 25 years later. SRK and Kajol’s chemistry in DDLJ won hearts across the globe but Shah Rukh Khan initially felt that he was ‘too old’ to be a romantic hero.
He said, “I never wanted to do a romantic role because by the time I joined films I was 26. Normally romantic films meant that you started off when you were in college. And then you work your way up with romance. I thought I was too old to be a romantic hero. I always thought that a romantic hero should be good-looking and have a handsome face. I didn’t think that I was good-looking or handsome. I thought they have to be young and that I wasn’t young enough. So throughout the film I was like ‘what are you guys making me do’.”
Pamela Chopra further says that SRK had to have that ‘little bit of action in the end’ and credits the film’s success to ‘that thoda sa khoon jo usne bahaya tha’. SRK also says that he thought that the film would be complete when it has a bit of action. He further revealed that both Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra hated action.
WHY DID SHAH RUKH KHAN CHOOSE TO DO DDLJ?
Talking about why did he choose to do DDLJ even though he wasn’t looking to do a romantic film, Shah Rukh Khan said, “Yash Ji told me something. He said ‘If you don’t do a love story you will never be a big star. You are a good actor, you work hard’. And I didn’t agree with him. I just did DDLJ because of the belief and love that I had for Adi and Yash Ji. I said okay, if you think I’ll do this but it is a very girlish role. I am not feeling macho and the funny thing was that I didn’t even sweat one day on that film. And if I don’t sweat then I feel I have not worked.”
WATCH THE MAKING OF DDLJ HERE:
SHAH RUKH KHAN RELATES TO THE CHARACTER OF RAJ
I didn’t know I am like Raj. But I would be lying if I say that lot of it is to do with acting. A lot of it has to do with the situations, the lines written. I would never run away with a girl. I would ask her parents, convince them. As a matter of fact a part of my story is from my own story which I told Adi, that I had convinced the parents. He further added that as he played the character of Raj, he discovered that a lot of Raj was a part of him.
“I think 90 per cent of the character of Raj is like me,” Shah Rukh Khan said.
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