The DDLJ Hangover In Bollywood!

It's been 20 years since Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, known the worldover by the amiable acronym DDLJ was released. The allure of the Raj-Simran Shah Rukh-Kajol ) romance refuses to wane.

Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya are directly inspired in their liaison by SRK-Kajol in DDLJ. And they aren't alone. Here's looking at the DDLJ devotees in our films.

1. Bachna Ae Haseenon(2008): In the first section of Siddharth Anand's film about a casanova(Ranbir Kapoor) who gets his comeuppance Minissha Lamba played an unabashed DDLJ fan who believes her Raj' waits to sweep her off her feet. The film subverted DDLJ's idea of a perfect match when Minissha's Raj' turns out to be a nightmare of a suitor .Interestingly Minissha's character Mahi even goes on a Euro-rail journey all on her own in the hope of finding her Raj'.
2. Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai(2002): When Yash Raj Films decided to rip off the Hollywood film My Best Friend's Wedding they made sure that distinct elements from DDLJ crept into the storytelling. Uday Chopra was the goofy oddball messy bestfriendwooing Tulip Joshi away from her perfect fianc Jimmy Sheirgil. Just like Shah Rukh Khan snatched Kajol away from hermangetar Parmeet Sethi in DDLJ and now Varun who sneaks Alia away from her fianc in Humpty Sharma
3. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya(2014): Cut to 10 years after Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai. Wohi dilwale, wohi dulhaniya, wohi shaadi ka ghar. Goofy Suitor Verses Perfect Bridegroom .Sigh. Some things never change. Humpty Sharma is littered with wall-to-wall references to DDLJ. Spot the difference.
4. Jab We Met(2007): Kareena Kapoor's Punjabi household bustling with turbaned Veerjis and meddlesome Chaijis was straight of the second-half of DDLJ. Kareena has in fact acknowledged her debt to DDLJ saying she sought inspiration from one of her idols Kajol while playing Geet, her character in Jab We Met.
5. Queen(2014): So okay. Kangna's journey of self-realization was all her own. But come on ! Can director Vikas Behl in all honesty claim Kangna taking off on her own to travel to Paris and Amsterdam was not inspired by Kajol's Euro-trek in DDLJ?
6. Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani(2013): Very deeply influenced by DDLJ Deepika Padukone travelled to the Himalayas with college friends, one of whom she finally falls in love. Guess which(hint: the hero always wins the heroine). Kajol in DDLJ never threw off her glasses to prove Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai. Deepika tosses off her chashma and her inhibitions as though she had just seen DDLJ after a stiff...umm...Cocktail?
7. Challo Dilli(2011): Ripped off the famous Simran-is-pulled-up-in-the-train-by Raj sequence when Vinay Pathak tries to pull Lara Dutta on board the moving train.And fail. Shah Rukh hona koi asaan baat nahin.
8. London Paris New York(2012): When two good-looking strangers meet while traveling across Europe love is bound to happen.Didn't Raj and Simran provide the blueprint for all cross-country courtships between NRI couples in Europe? AliZafar and Aditi Rao were the new-age SRK and Kajol with sex thrown in for a contemporary touch
9. Chennai Express(2013): DDLJ ended with Shah Rukh pulling Kajol into the speeding train. Chennai Express started with SRKpulling Deepika into the train. This was rail-estate business.
10. Slumdog Millionaire(2007): Trains played a very important part in both DDLJ and Slumdog Millionaire. In fact the Jai honumber on Slumdog was partly shot at the Apta station in Mumbai where SRK-Kjaol's famous train climax was shot.