When Shah Rukh Khan nearly refused 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'

When Shah Rukh Khan nearly refused 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'

With arms wide open, Shah Rukh Khan redefined romance as Raj in "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", but the superstar says he nearly refused the film as he found the role too "girlish".

Shah Rukh revealed this in the "Making of DDLJ" documentary, released to mark 20th anniversary of the film.

Shah Rukh Khan

Directed by Aditya Chopra, the romance drama also starred Kajol, Mandira Bedi, Anupam Kher, Amrish Puri and Farida Jalal. The one-hour documentary features unseen footages, behind the scenes shots and interviews of the cast and crew.

Shah Rukh, who was mostly seen in dark action-thrillers like "Darr", "Baazigar", "Anjaam" prior to "DDLJ", confessed his apprehensions of starring in a romantic film. He also shared how, just before starting the film, he was undergoing a low phase due to his sister's illness.

The documentary chronicles the movie's inception, with pictures of Chopra's earlier drafts of the script, its making, release and subsequent legacy.

The special feature is packed with interesting trivia right from Kajol's reluctance to shoot the popular song "Mere Khawbo Mein Jo Aaye" in a towel to Shah Rukh's insistence on adding an action scene in the climax. It also has an unseen video of actress Juhi Chawla making cameo in the film, which did not make it to the final cut.

"DDLJ" propelled Shah Rukh and Kajol to global stardom and made Raj and Simran household names. The movie also gave a platform to filmmaker Karan Johar, choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan, fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who all feature in the documentary, to start their individual career.

The documentary features anecdotes from Johar, Uday Chopra, who both were assistant directors in "DDLJ", late Yash Chopra's wife Pamela, Kher among others.

The film, which completed 1,000 weeks on December 12 last year, is still running at a Mumbai theatre.