‘DDLJ SHOULD NEVER BE REMADE’

Kajol aka the chirpy Simran from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge gets nostalgic as her iconic 1995 hit completes 1000 weeks

As spirited and lively as her character Simran (inset) in Aditya Chopra’s cult flick, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), 19 years ago, Kajol still can’t stop gushing about the film that completes 1000 weeks since its release in 1995. Over a candid chat, she tells us why she’d never want to see a remake of the blockbuster, and more.

What’s your favourite scene from the film? It’s more about my memories attached to the movie rather than specific scenes. So when I’m watching the movie, it’s like watching flashback after flashback — remembering what actually happened around that time. We had an absolute blast shooting it.

Was Aditya Chopra as quiet a person then as he is now known to be? Ya ... pretty much, Adi has not changed.

Did you ever pull a prank on him? (Laughs) No, we didn’t pull any pranks on anybody. We just chilled, had fun ... we made fun of ourselves, and rather than pulling pranks we had a good time working with each other.

It’s an age of remakes. How about a remake of DDLJ? I think you can never remake a phenomenon.

What happened to Raj and Simran after they boarded the train (in the last scene)? You have to ask Adi.

Have you or Shah Rukh ever thought of asking Aditya about a sequel? Why don’t you ask him ... seriously, that’s a great idea!

Shah Rukh was not as big a star as he is, now. Was it different working with him back then? Not at all. At that time, we were not so concerned about who is big and who is small. In our heads, it was never like that, and it still isn’t. We were all confident people, and none of us were intimidated by anybody. We didn’t think we were less than anybody.

Internet says Tom Cruise was the original choice for SRK’S role. No please! (laughs) Shah Rukh was always the original choice.

Does your hubby Ajay (Devgn) ever get jealous of your and Shah Rukh’s chemistry in DDLJ? Nothing like that. He’s a very secure man.