Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Bade Bade desho mein, yeh choti choti baat hoti hi rahti hai
(In such large countries, such small incidents tend to happen.)—Raj to Simran
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge ("The braveheart will take the bride") is a movie directed by Aditya Chopra and released in the year 1995 that started the twin trends of Bollywood pandering to Non-Resident Indians and a romance that does not end with the couple in love running away from their parents (sort of). It starred the hit couple of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol with catchy Anvilicious songs. Like almost all Bollywood movies, it is a love story.
The movie starts with a song that describes the shy and quiet Simran's (Kajol) dream to fall in love with the Prince of her dreams. Her father, Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri), is the owner of a convenience store in Britain and is constantly dreaming of Punjab. He receives word from his childhood friend Amit Singh in Punjab and decides to marry his daughter Simran to his son, Kuljit. Simran begs her father to let her on last trip to see Europe, before she is married and confined to the four walls of a home forever.
On the way, Simran meets Raj (Khan) a happy go lucky Jerk with a Heart of Gold during a tour of Europe. They start out fighting like cats and fall in love during their time together. After returning home, Simran confesses to her mother that she has fallen in love with someone else and she cannot go through with her arranged marriage. Her father Baldev overhears and promptly moves the entire family back to Punjab. Raj figures out that Simran was taken against her will to India and follows her there. He decides that not only will he take his love with him back to Britain but that he will get the permission and approval of her strict father as well. And so the second half of the movie shows the misadventures of Raj as Raj attempts to hide his identity and charms Simran's father and her family in Punjab. It does not help that Baldev is the convenience shop owner that Raj lied to in order to get beer in Britain. Hilarity Ensues.
- Arranged Marriage: Obviously.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Raj and Simran.
- Betty and Veronica: Subverted. "Betty", in this case, Kuljit is shown to be a "Veronica" while "Veronica", in this case, Raj is shown to be a "Betty" at heart.
- Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: After an initial night of drunken misadventure, Simran wakes up half clothed sharing a bed with Raj. Of course, nothing happened that night and this episode is done to illustrate Raj's good character. Again, this is a Shah Rukh Khan movie.
- The Chase: Ends in the first half of the movie.
- Death Glare: Baldev. Oh my god, Baldev. Granted, this is a specialty of Amrish Puri, who is portraying him, but he does this in several scenes, and in one toward the end, he does. not. blink. For a good five minutes mind you.
- Friend to All Living Things: Strangely enough, the cold and stoic Baldev is constantly feeding pigeons while Kuljit is shown to be quite a voracious hunter (implicitly shown as an indication of his bad character).
- Gratuitous English: as spoken by Amit Singh, Kuljit's father. To be fair, he spent his whole life in Punjab so this is just shown for laughs.
- "This is genius...no, this is INDI-genius" (Intended Meaning: An Indian Genius. Literal Meaning: Someone native to an area)
- "I Want" Song: The first song establishes Simran's idealism
- Jerk Jock: Kuljit. He is shown to be a stupid brute who wants to marry Simran only for mercenary reasons and plans to cheat on her almost immediately after marriage.
- Meet Cute: Raj and Simran's first meeting is full of this. Simran is late and the train is about to set off. She runs to catch the moving train and Raj helps her on by clasping her hand. It does not hurt that the movie ends in exactly the same manner.
- Nerds Are Sexy: When Raj sees Simran, she is wearing thick glasses and her hair covers half her face. He is smitten regardless.
- Nice Guys Finish Last: Subverted
- The Power of Love: Plays out in the last scene of the movie when stern Baldev finally lets his daughter follow Raj back to Britain.
- The dialogue goes something like " Go, Simran, Go. Go Back to your Raj. No one can love you like he does."
- Rescue Romance: The whole film is built on this.
- Shout-Out: The movie's title is a shoutout to an old Hindi song, Le Jayenge from Chor Machaaye Shor.
- Slap Slap Kiss: Simran and Raj's relationship. Simran is stubborn and Raj is a Loveable Rogue who repels Simran by acting sometimes like a Jerk though he is there for her where it counts.
- Tempting Fate: When Simran and Raj are stranded in Europe, he keeps muttering to himself "It can't get any worse". Needless to say, it does.
- To wit: Simran and Raj missed their train in Europe. Simran gets caught by the Swiss immigration police because she did not have a passport since she left it in the train that she missed. Raj rescues her then. Then his car breaks down. Then the nearest motel has only one room available so Simran stubbornly sleeps in the Barn. The Barn has a cracked roof and it begins to snow.
- Women Are Wiser: Almost all women are shown in a sympathetic light. Not hard to fathom since the Punjab is portrayed as very patriarchal.
- Wet Sari Scene: This
- You Have Waited Long Enough: Subverted.