{"id":168951,"date":"2025-12-05T05:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/168951\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T05:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:24:09","slug":"shah-rukh-khan-and-kajol-unveil-raj-and-simran-statue-at-leicester-square-to-mark-30-years-of-ddlj-say-we-wanted-to-tell-a-story-about-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/168951\/","title":{"rendered":"Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol unveil Raj and Simran statue at Leicester Square to mark 30 years of ‘DDLJ’; say ‘We wanted to tell a story about love…’ |"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shah Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan<\/a> and Kajol celebrated a landmark moment in London as they unveiled a bronze statue of their iconic ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ characters, Raj and Simran, at Leicester Square. The installation commemorates the 30th anniversary of the beloved classic and marks a historic first for Indian cinema in the UK.Shah Rukh Khan pens heartfelt note<\/p>\n

Shah Rukh pens heartfelt note<\/p>\n

Sharing photos from the unveiling, Shah Rukh Khan expressed his delight in a joint social media post with Kajol. \u201cBade Bade Deshon Mein, Aisi Chhoti Chhoti Baatein Hoti Rehti Hain, Senorita! Thrilled to unveil the bronze statue of Raj & Simran at London\u2019s Leicester Square today, celebrating 30 years of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ)!\u201d he wrote. The actor went on to highlight the significance of the honour, adding, \u201cIncredibly delighted that DDLJ is the first Indian film to be honoured with a statue in the Scenes in the Square trail. A big thank you to everyone in the UK for making this possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shah Rukh Khan on the lasting impact of ‘DDLJ’ <\/p>\n

\u201cDDLJ was made with a pure heart. We wanted to tell a story about love, how it can bridge barriers and how the world would be a better place if it had a lot of love in it, and I think this is why ‘DDLJ’ has had a lasting impact for over 30 years now,” said Khan.\u201cPersonally, ‘DDLJ’ is part of my identity, and it is humbling to see film, and Kajol and me, receiving so much love since it was released,\u201d he said.He expressed his gratitude to the Heart of London Business Alliance, behind the cinematic trail at Leicester Square, for celebrating \u2018DDLJ\u2019 and \u201cimmortalising\u201d its lead stars.\u201cSeeing \u2018DDLJ\u2019 become the first Indian film to be honoured in the iconic Scenes in the Square trail is an emotional moment and has brought back so many memories.”I feel immense pride knowing the film has been embraced around the world, and I want to share this moment with the entire cast and crew of \u2018DDLJ\u2019, my friend and director Aditya Chopra and the Yash Raj Films family. This is a moment I will never forget,\u201d added Khan.<\/p>\n

Kajol reacts to the honour<\/p>\n

Kajol, joined by her daughter Nysa and son Yug, posed with Khan in front of the statue as she braved the rain in a green saree.\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to see \u2018Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge\u2019 continue to receive so much love, even 30 years later. Watching the statue being unveiled in London felt like reliving a piece of our history – a story that has truly travelled across generations,\u201d said Kajol.\u201cSeeing it find its rightful place in Leicester Square, a location of such enormous significance to \u2018DDLJ\u2019, makes this moment even more special. For the film to be honoured in this way in the UK \u2013 the first Indian film to receive such recognition \u2013 is something that will forever stay in the hearts and minds of all the \u2018DDLJ\u2019 fans across the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Abou the statue<\/p>\n

Their statue, captured in a dancing pose from the hit song \u2018Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna\u2019, joins the likes of Harry Potter, Bridget Jones, Mary Poppins, and Batman in what is dubbed as an ever-growing celebration of movie magic in a square packed with multiplex cinema screens.<\/p>\n

About the film<\/p>\n

Since its release in 1995, \u2018DDLJ\u2019 has become the longest-running film in Hindi cinema history.It tells the story of Raj and Simran, two non-resident Indians who fall in love during a trip across Europe and India, beginning on a train from King’s Cross station.<\/p>\n

The ‘DDLJ’ impact<\/p>\n

It is a particularly special year for the film, with a musical based on the romance playing to packed houses at Manchester\u2019s Opera House earlier this year. Aditya Chopra reprised his role as director of the English language stage production, \u2018Come Fall In Love \u2013 The DDLJ Musical\u2019, which revolved around the love story of Simran and Roger. The script was a nod to the original as it followed Simran as a young British Indian woman who finds herself engaged to a family friend in India in an arranged marriage. However, the plot thickens when she falls in love with a British man named Roger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol celebrated a landmark moment in London as they unveiled a bronze…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5527,29168,156,16110,109658,409,111,139,69,1481],"class_list":{"0":"post-168951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-bollywood","9":"tag-dilwale-dulhania-le-jayenge","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-kajol","12":"tag-leicester-square","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-shah-rukh-khan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}