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“ Senorita, Bade bade deshon mein choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai ,” says Raj and the audience is in raptures.
Never mind that most have seen the film several times, they are incessantly hooting and whistling.
In its 17th year and 874th week, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, or DDLJ as it is known, still draws people to Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir, the only theatre still running the film.
Sholay ran for five years at the Minerva theatre, a stone’s throw away, and Dilip Kumar’s Mughal-e-Azam ran for six, but there seems to be no stopping DDLJ.
With only one show a day and running mostly houseful, the theatre management has no plans to take off the film.
“I just bought a new reel of the movie last week. We change the reel every eight or nine months,” said Manoj Desai, Managing Director of Maratha Mandir. With his charming smile, and her mesmerising eyes, Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) and Simran (Kajol) have not just conquered hearts, but are getting people to the theatre. Besides the fans of the film and SRK, DDLJ draws aspiring actors, junior artistes, hopeful film-makers, and courting couples.
Tickets for the 11-30 a.m. show are almost never available.
In black!
Black-marketers do brisk business selling the tickers at double and triple the box-office price.
“Latest releases may be running to empty halls, but it’s a task to get hold of tickets for DDLJ. Seventeen years ago, I bought tickets for this movie in black for Rs 100. Yesterday, I bought them in black for Rs 60,” says Raju Tiwari, a regular at the morning show of DDLJ.
“I have seen this movie 75 times in the theatre,” he says. Balcony tickets for DDLJ is priced at Rs 20.
Old world charm
A draw is also the old world charm of Maratha Mandir, with its winding marble staircase, the dim lighting, and mirror-lined walls.
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