No, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is not a love story. It’s a story of dozens of heartbreaks that we chose to ignore. Under the covers of a love story, it is the silent story of broken hearts that do not even get the recognition they deserved. And, the reason was – the makers tricked us by overplaying a happy ending that masked the stories of these broken hearts.
Just for a moment, you stop waving at the lovebirds and you will see the multiple hearts that were broken and left behind. The movie celebrates love so much without even realizing what happened to Preeti or Kuljeet or Lajjo was so unjustified. In name of love, how the makers celebrated the sacrifices of others made us fail to realize how Raj & Simran were selfish and self-centred. How they weren’t the romantic heroes we needed but rather selfish and self-centred, who were ready to tear people hearts down just for their sake!
I wonder how no one ever wants to talk about Kuljeet and Preeti. How no one wants to talk about how the two had the rawest deal in this pigeon-feeding, mandolin-strumming love story!
Many label Kuljeet as an entitled Punjabi munda, who is born in Punjabi rich family. It is quite disturbing how they label his entitlement as his flaw while cheering for another entitled brat – Raj – whose entitlement has no leaps & bounds.
‘Bro, let me introduce you to my fiancé, so you can run away with her!’(Image: Screengrab of DDLJ)
It is weird how the makers turned Kuljeet into a villain just because he is boisterous. But, so is Raj! Kuljeet is an obnoxious spoilt brat but so is Raj! Atleast one thing that Kuljeet doesn’t indulge in is giving a false impression to an innocent girl of being interested in her. Whereas Raj crosses that limit with Preeti.
Preeti, Kuljeet’s doe-eyed sister, falls for Raj, and Raj does nothing to convey to her that he is in love with someone else.
The most popular song, Mehndi laga ke rakhna, is so problematic. While Preeti is made to believe that Raj is singing for her; Kuljeet is made to feel that’s Simran is performing for him! Both of them are led so that no one comes to know the reality of Raj & Simran.
Raj who shows how righteous he is because he wants Babuji to agree to Simran’s marriage with him forgets how his path of fooling Preeti and Kuljeet is completely wrong and heartless. But how selfishness is served under the cover of love is so disgusting.
Sadly, Kuljeet and Preeti’s folks want to turn this into a double wedding by getting Raj and Preeti married on the same day, And, our HERO, who does everything to stall the rishta, couldn’t say the magic word — NO. At one point, they even ask him, “Beta, tumhe koi aitraaz toh nahin?” and he quips, “Nahin, mujhe kya aitraaz ho sakta hai?” Wasn’t that awful?
While I had a lot of issues with Simran’s intelligence as she falls for the douchebag like Raj. But, what disgusts me the most is how she doesn’t utter a single word when she sees Raj leading Preeti on! Where are the basic rules of sisterhood!
‘Here’s my heart on a platter for you to break it into a million pieces!’ (Image: Screengrab of DDLJ)
How lies, cheating, manipulation is justified by love, makes me wonder how could I admired this movie for such a long time. The only way to comfort yourself is to realize that Simran & Raj were two assh***s who were ready to go to any extreme to be together; who were ready to break any heart for their own; who were so selfish & self-centred that they were ready to cheat and fool innocent souls!
While no one wants to talk about heartbreaks, I am happy that Kuljeet and Preeti had a really narrow escape. While Preeti’s heart was broken into million pieces, she deserves better than a man, who can manipulate others for his selfish interest. In the end, I believe, selfish and self-centred Simran and Raj, deserved each other. What do you think?