Helmed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut, the 1995 romantic drama Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the leading roles. Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Satish Shah, Achala Sachdev, Anupam Kher, Himani Shivpuri, and Parmeet Sethi rounded off the supoorting cast. The film became a blockbuster and is still regarded as a cult classic.
Milind Gunaji, who has appeared in famous films and shows like Devdas, Virasat, LOC Kargil, Phir Hera Pheri, CID, and Rudra among others, could also have been a part of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. The actor recently revealed that he was offered the role of Kuljeet, with whom Chaudhary Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri) fixes his daughter Simran's (Kajol) marriage. He refused Aditya Chopra because he couldn't shave off his beard as he was stuck with other films at that time.
Talking to the YouTube channel Rajshri Unplugged, Milind said, "I had a chance to do the role that Parmeet Sethi did but I was asked to shave off my beard for that. That was their requirement for the character. But I was stuck in continuity for 2-3 other films and it was all back to back so I couldn’t shave. I had to say no to such a big director. I felt really bad. And later, that film became such a big hit. It’s still counted as one of the greats of all time."
The Aditya Chopra directorial is still being showcased in one of the shows at the iconic single-screen cinema hall Maratha Mandir in Mumbai, even more than 28 years after its release in 1995. This makes Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge the longest-running Bollywood film in theatres.
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