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Before Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Veer Zaara and many other classics, it was Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that cemented Shah Rukh Khan's position as the King of Romance. Almost three decades after its release, DDLJ remains legendary as one the greatest cinematic love stories of all time and also the longest-running film in Indian cinema history, thanks to its ongoing Maratha Mandir stint. You can’t imagine anyone except SRK and Kajol playing the iconic on-screen couple Raj and Simran. But, did you know Shah Rukh wasn’t Aditya Chopra’s first choice for Raj?
Meet one of the richest and highest-paid actors in the world, who was Aditya Chopra’s first choice to play Raj in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge:
Aditya Chopra originally wanted DDLJ to be a love story between an American man and an Indian woman. The filmmaker’s OG choice to play the male lead in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was Tom Cruise, one of the richest actors in the world right now with a colossal net worth exceeding $600 million (approximately Rs 4979.76 crore), according to News18 and Celebrity Net Worth. However, Yash Chopra shut down the casting choice of an international star in his son’s directorial debut. Instead, the legendary filmmaker advised Aditya to make the lead couple Non-Resident Indians.
As one of the highest-paid stars in the world, the Top Gun: Maverick star had reportedly asked for a huge signing amount to star in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which at that time wasn’t feasible for YRF Studios. A year after DDLJ’s release, Tom Cruise starred in two blockbuster films himself, Mission: Impossible and Jerry Maguire. While the former movie led to a massive box-office-winning franchise, the latter film scored an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for Tom Cruise.
According to India Today and Times of India, Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan were also approached to play the role of Raj in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which both of them declined. When it came to Shah Rukh Khan, Aditya Chopra and SRK went back and forth in four meetings for several weeks over DDLJ as SRK felt he had found success playing villain roles while Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was an out-and-out romantic film, according to News18. Eventually, Aditya convinced Shah Rukh to star in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge by telling him he could never be a superstar unless he became “every woman's dream man, and every mother's dream son,” according to Indian Express. Even in The Romantics, SRK recounted why Aditya believed he was the quintessential romantic hero: “He used to always say, “Your eyes have something that cannot be just wasted on action.” The rest is history…
Interestingly, when Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol had appeared on Comedy Nights with Kapil, the actor revealed that it was because of Salman Khan that he starred in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. SRK recalled how he was originally hesitant to play a romantic hero in DDLJ and that it was Salman who persuaded him to take on the role of Raj. Salman, according to Deccan Chronicle, had predicted that Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge would be a blockbuster, and would be an even bigger hit than his own debut film Maine Pyar Kiya.
Shah Rukh Khan made his acting comeback after four years in last year’s Pathaan, an instalment of YRF’s Spy Universe, which went on to enter the Rs 1000 crore club at the global box office. The Jawan star will reprise his role as a spy in Tiger vs. Pathaan, which will also star Salman Khan.
