After it was reported that Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that has been running at Maratha Mandir for the past 20 years will finally end its run, a huge debate had sparked among the audiences. An epic tale of romance, DDLJ had revolutionised love and has maintained a strong connect with the audiences ever since it released back in 1995. With Raj and Simran still being two of the most iconic characters on screen, a huge public outcry was expected and the expected happened.
With reports of the film's 1009 week run finally coming to an end, the Maratha Mandir phone did not stop ringing from the time the news stormed all media platforms. "Our phones have kept ringing from then. People have been calling and telling us, requesting us not to remove the show. They want to watch it even now. My team has been flooded with phone calls after Yash Raj called the film off the theatre", confirmed Manoj Desai, managing director of the Maratha Mandir.
Although according to an official statement released by the Yash Raj Films, the film had its last show screening on Thursday, Manoj Desai cleared that the film will run for one more week before taking a final call. "It is nothing like that. We have been inundated with calls and hence, we decided to screen the film for one more week. We may increase the shows for next 10 weeks because we have been getting a lot of responses from the audience."
But the final call will be taken only after Aditya Chopra, who's out of the country is back. "Aditya Chopra is not in the country right now and he will be back on Tuesday. So we will all sit for a discussion and decide what needs to be done. But for now, the film will run for one more week. On Friday morning too, we had the show and it got a tremendous response"
With the word of mouth spreading about the film being screened on Friday too, crowd gathered in front of Maratha Mandir to get their tickets. "Today, there was a footfall of about 300 people for the show. People were clapping, singing and whistling throughout the show", Desai said.
"While leaving the theatre, they spoke to the manager and told him, 'Yeh film ko mat nikalo. Hum logo ne bohut baar dekhi hai aur abhi bhi bohut baar dekhenge'. They don't want it to end", he added. In the press release issued by YRF, the timing seemed to be the major bone of contention between the two parties. "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 inordinately long hours to accommodate an additional early morning show, it was mutually decided to end the films historic & record breaking run", the press release said.
But with the public outcry over the decision, Desai has decided to extend the film's run and put it in its usual time slot. "Instead of the 9.15 show, we are having the 11.30 show from Friday. It was the usual time slot given to the film", he said. adding that, "since this is the first day after the announcement, people are not quite aware of the movie being screened on Friday. Now that people know it, we are expecting a huge audience turnout for the next one week", Desai said.
Although there have been no official confirmation on whether the film will have another 10 week run, Desai tells us it will be mutually decided upon. "When we took the call to screen the film for 1000 weeks, that too was a mutual decision. Today, also whatever the decisions be, it will be mutual. I don't want to stop running the film. I am pushing for another 10 weeks run but it can only be officially confirmed after we meet Aditya Chopra". But will the movie be withdrawn from theatres after 10 more weeks? "No, if you ask me, I want to run the film for as long as I can. Even now, we have kept the prices of the tickets same. It's still Rs 15, 17 and 20", Desai signed off.
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