Exclusive | Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge bids adieu!

As much as I didn't want to believe this piece of news, it is actually true. An official statement from Yash Raj Films has confirmed that after a historic 1000 week run, 20 years later, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge made its final curtain call at the iconic Maratha Mandir this morning. As we write and edit this post, the last group has already left Maratha Mandir after watching the very last show.

Post the 1000 week celebrations at the theater in December 2014, the theatre had requested Yash Raj Films to change the show timings for DDLJ. Instead of the 11:30 am show, they were keen on shifting it to a morning slot at 9:15 am, as it was difficult for the cinema to accommodate multiple new releases every week with just 3 regular shows. Of course, YRF obliged from 13th Feb 2015. However, while the theatre management was happy to continue the film for as long as it continued to draw in the audiences, owing to logistical issues of their staff having to work at inordinately long hours in order to accommodate an additional early morning show, it was mutually decided to end the film's historic & record breaking run *cries*.

We got in touch with Mr.Manoj Desai, managing director - Maratha Mandir, who also confirmed the news. "While it is surely a sad moment for us to part away with this record breaking film, we had to be practical and understand that it had run its course. Moreover, I wanted to make sure that new films get the four main shows of the day, which wasn't possible earlier, as Dilwale Dulhania... had occupied the 11:30am slot. For us, the main criteria was to see the film break multiple records at Maratha Mandir, which it ultimately did and ended up going places. With the 1000 week run and Valentine's Day over, we thought this was the perfect time for us to take the plunge. The tickets were extremely cheap and since most channels would air the film almost twice a week, very few people would make it to the theatres. Both the parties mutually agreed to end the run, and from tomorrow, I'll have two shows each for the new films - Badlapur and Monsoon."

After playing for 1009 uninterrupted weeks, the film's unprecedented performance has come to an end at the Maratha Mandir. The film played out one last time at the 9:15 AM show today. As a fan, it will surely be sad moment, as watching the film at this iconic venue had its own charm. Also, it is a little disappointing that all this happened all of a sudden (otherwise, Team Dancebee would have booked the tickets for this iconic last show).  But despite all the disappointment and shock, this endearing film with one of the most charming romantic couples will continue to live in our hearts forever.

Much love,

The Dancebee