Daily screening of the same film for 27 years

[Frank Cox]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainmen...tory-1.6751022

This Bollywood film is so loved, a Mumbai theatre has been screening it daily for 27 years

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has played on a big screen in Mumbai nearly every day since its release in 1995



A family poses for a selfie in front of the Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge poster at Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai. The 1950s-era cinema has played the film nearly every day since its release more than 27 years ago. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)


A crowd stands stand patiently and faithfully at the ticket window, the line spilling around the corner on a Tuesday morning as they wait to hand over a fistful of rupees to get into Mumbai's once-grand Maratha Mandir theatre.

They're not aching to see the latest Bollywood blockbuster.

They're here for a film that premiered 27 years ago, but has such an enduring appeal — along with its leading man, Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan — that it's played at this 1950s-era cinema nearly every day since the movie came out, aside from a brief pandemic-induced pause that shut down all theatres in India.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which translates to "The Big-hearted Will Take The Bride," is a classic love story about a boy who meets a girl, falls in love, and then tries to win over her disapproving father.

It came out in 1995, a few years before 24-year-old Navnath Ghosle was born, and yet he's seen it some 70 times at the Mumbai theatre.

"I really love the movie, especially the songs," he told CBC News in Hindi. "They are amazing."

Navnath Ghosle, 24, has seen Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which premiered before he was born, around 70 times at the Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)


The songs are ringing out even louder this February, as the film's intense and abiding popularity has prompted its production company to re-release it in dozens of cinemas across the country — a gimmick timed around Valentines Day.

At last count, with two days left in its one-week run, the Bollywood classic had earned six million rupees, or more than $97,000. DDLJ + SRK = lasting charm


It's pure economics that propels Maratha Mandir's owners to keep showing the ever-popular 27-year-old film every day at 11:30 a.m., given the crowds it still attracts. But it's also a recognition that the movie has a lasting charm that's hard to fathom for many outside India.

Moviegoers wait in line at the box office of Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre, with a faded poster of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in the background. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)


"DDLJ has its own magic which we can't describe in words," said Preeti Gupta, 25, who was waiting to surprise her friend on her birthday with a trip to see one of their favourite films.

The movie was groundbreaking for its time, she said, and still resonates deeply today because it depicts a young Indian woman choosing her own path and convincing her conservative father to allow her to marry for love, forgoing an arranged marriage.

"One of the main reasons [for its popularity] is its story," Gupta said.

"And Shah Rukh Khan," she added with a giggle. "Shah Rukh Khan rules the heart of all Indian youth."

Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, right, and Kajol are seen on the screen during a screening of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge inside Maratha Mandir theatre on Dec. 11, 2014. At the time, the movie had set a record of completing 1,000 weeks of continuous screening at one cinema, a feat unmatched by any other Bollywood movies. (Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)


The male megastar of the film is one of the first things nearly everyone at the Mumbai theatre brought up when asked why they love DDLJ.

According to Reetu Sarma, 29, the film is "quintessential Bollywood."

"It has the drama, it has the fight, it has the songs, the dances and the disapproving father," she told CBC News. "This movie has it all. Plus, Shah Rukh Khan. So how could it go wrong?"

Reetu Sarma poses for a portrait in front of the poster for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge outside of Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre. (Salimah Shivji/CBC)

[John Eickhof]

I wonder how many prints they wore out? I had a client in Guam years ago that operated a two screen that ran Japanese porno three showings a day and he would BUY two different films for a flat rate and run them a year at a time! He said the film costl was $450 flat! each, they charged tourists $5.00 at the time and he would profit $50-75K per screen yearly! Quite a deal! He also had a deal with tour outfits and busses full of Japanese tourists would be delivered to the place daily!

[Leo Enticknap]

I wonder if they're still playing it on film, or if they started to play a DCP of the same movie when the theater went digital.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

There was a similar longevity of playing two different films at The Chicago Science And Industry Museum. One film was called The Farm, it's image ran normally on a scope screen through an image rotator. Film ran vertically through the projector and it took up an area of three 16mm frames to create a scope image. The other Was called The Circus, and it projected straight on to giant vertical scope sized screen. Both films were 16mm prints but ran on Simplex 35's modified by LaVezzi, way back when their shops were in Elmhurst, IL. Actually had to get spare parts there for these projectors once.

The Circus, which was installed in 1971, just ceased running in Sept of 2022 after running for 5 decades, this is almost twice as long as the film on which this thread is about. I can't find much on The Farm, but the tractors shown in it went obsolete at least 30 years ago. So I will assume that film was pulled in the late 80's or early 90's. I serviced both of these exhibits for Illinois Bell back from about 1985 to 1990. Illinois Bell Telephone used to sponsor them. So, far as I can tell The Circus actually holds the record for longevity of screening. Since it ran about every 30 minutes it likely also holds the record of most showings of any given film. There was a technical article about these exhibits in a magazine, but I can not remember which one it was. Here is a link to a story about it's long illustrious life.