Bollywood duo from DDLJ win BFI on screen couple poll…

December 18 2015

THEY’VE DONE IT – 20 years after appearing on screen together in “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” – (‘The Brave Hearted will get the bride’), Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol have been voted the most romantic screen couple of all time.

They finished top of the pile in the British Film Institute’s (BFI) online poll to find the greatest couples both on the big and small screen.

‘Raj’ and ‘Simran’ from “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge“, also known popularly, as DDLJ, beat off the other choices which included Jesse & Celine from the “Before Sunset” trilogy; Scarlett & Rhett from “Gone with the Wind” and Rick & Ilsa from “Casablanca”.

The film represents the triumph of the cheeky charmer – Raj as he woos the independently-minded and fiesty Simran, whose family largely disapprove. The Hindi-language film has a strong British angle, in that both Raj and Simran are British Asians and meet while inter-railing around Europe. Simran’s family take her to India to be married off to someone else and so Raj follows in hot pursuit and with a plan…

Rhidian Davis, BFI programmer manager, told www.asianculturevulture.com: “Raj and Simran have clearly captured the hearts and minds of audiences around the world and we’re thrilled that they have topped our poll to find the greatest film couple!”

Both Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol were in London promoting their latest film , “Dilwale” (‘Big-hearted‘) just over a fortnight ago. The film has done brisk business in India at its opening, with many filmgoers excited by the prospect of seeing the couple in action together and recreating their special, some would claim unique, chemistry. However, the producers, with Khan, among them, were keen to dispel any idea that “Dilwale” is connected to the 1995 film in any way, despite its title. They are not the only couple in the film (see picture below).

www.asianculturevulture.com interviewed Kajol and asked her about whether she knew about the poll when she was in London to promote Dilwale just over a fortnight ago. The full story is here

She did, but admitted that she had only heard about it when she had arrived in the capital that day.

She said it was “amazing” to be in such exalted film company.

“I’ve seen those films. That is just awesome. I love romantic films – I am a chick,” she added, guffawing.

The two also appeared together on the BBC One evening prime-time show, “The One Show“, talking about their success and reminiscing over ‘DDLJ‘.

The poll was conducted as part of the BFI’s winter season devoted to love, #BFILove which has featured a number of films between October and December and still has some days to run.

‘DDLJ‘ was also the subject of a special screening in November at the BFI. Bollywood studio Yash Raj Films, one of India’s biggest and most successful, hosted the screening at the BFI and along with UK arm of Indian channel B4U, launched a search for a real life Raj and Simran couple and unveiled them at the London Southbank screening. You can read all about that here (http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/ddlj-real-life-raj-and-simran-unveiled-at-screening-oficonic-film-event/)

Davies, who was present at that screening, told us today: “Our 20th anniversary screening of ‘DDLJ‘ at BFI Southbank was an explosion of colourful Bollywood love, and was a highlight of the BFI’s LOVE season.”

There were several Indian and British Asian perspective films that featured including a whole weekend devoted to the work of Bollywood and Tamil film director, Mani Ratnam. Look out for reviews on “Bombay“, “Dil Se” and “OK Kanmani” coming soon.

There were screenings of “My Beautiful Laundrette” and a talk about race and romance on UK TV, with “Bend It Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha, and TV “Jewel in the Crown” star Art Malik participating. (See here for that)

‘DDLJ‘ scored highly in the UK regional breakdowns – coming top in London, East of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Yorkshire.

There was also a TV poll in which newcomers Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) from fantasy adventure “Outlander” (2014), from Amazon Prime’s VOD service, took top spot.

Ross (Aidan Turner) and Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) from BBC1’s “Poldark” (2015) topping the British vote.

The poll was conducted as part of the BFI’s major UK-wide season dedicated to romance on the big and small screen – BFI LOVE in partnership with Plusnet.

Overall Film Top 10
1. DDLJ – Raj and Simran
2. Before Trilogy – Jesse and Celine
3. Gone With the Wind – Scarlett and Rhett
4. Casablanca – Rick and Ilsa
5. True Romance – Clarence and Alabama
6. The Princess Bride – Buttercup and Westley
7. Brokeback Mountain – Jack and Ennis
8. Twilight – Bella and Edward
9. When Harry Met Sally… – Harry and Sally
10. Star Wars – Han and Leia

UK Only Film Top 10
1. DDLJ – Raj and Simran
2. Before Trilogy – Jesse and Celine
3. Casablanca – Rick and Ilsa
4. True Romance – Clarence and Alabama
5. Gone with the Wind – Scarlett and Rhett
6. The Princess Bride – Buttercup and Westley
7. Brief Encounter – Laura and Alec
8. When Harry Met Sally… – Harry and Sally
9. Brokeback Mountain – Jack and Ennis
10. Star Wars – Han and Leia

If you want to tell us what you think of the poll results, please go to our FACEBOOK page.

For details of the BFI Love season: http://www.bfi.org.uk/love

For the full story from the BFI see here http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/greatest-screen-couples-all-time-unveiled