The King of romance, Shah Rukh Khan, alongside his co-star Kajol, from their film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge will have their statue at Leicester Square’s ‘Scenes in the Square’ revealed Heart of London Business Alliance.
This will be the first-ever long-term Bollywood statue erected in the UK. The announcement, thus, marks the 25th anniversary of Indian cinema’s most loved film, DDLJ, and also coincides with the big 50th year celebrations of Yash Raj Films.
Mark Williams, Director of Destination Marketing at Heart of London Business Alliance, says: “It’s fantastic to be adding such titans of international cinema to our trail as Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is one of the most successful and important Bollywood films of all time, and it’s exciting to be able to bring to the trail the first film that actually features Leicester Square as a locationâ€.
Written and directed by Aditya Chopra, DDLJ in his debut as a director broke all the box office records. The film is one of the biggest all-time blockbusters in the history of Hindi cinema. It also went on to become the longest-running Hindi film of all time. DDLJ is also the winner of a record-breaking 10 Filmfare Awards and the film literally changed the face of Bollywood globally.
The film was made at a budget of 4 crore and the blockbuster, in 1995, collected 89 crore in India, 13.50 crore in overseas markets. Thus, total collections stood at 102.50 crore worldwide in 1995! In today’s inflation adjusted value, DDLJ’s collection stands at a staggering 455 crore in India and 69 crore in overseas territories, taking the total worldwide collections to a phenomenal 524 crore!
The statue is set to be unveiled in Spring 2021 by the hands of stars Khan and Kajol according to the situation of the pandemic and the availability of both the stars in a special celebratory event.
The statue will join nine other film icons from the past 100 years, eight of which were unveiled in late February and recently granted longer term residency by Westminster Council to remain in Leicester Square until at least July 2023.
In September a statue of Harry Potter also joined the original line up, while visitors can still encounter Laurel & Hardy, Bugs Bunny, Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain, Mary Poppins, Mr. Bean, Paddington and iconic DC Super-Heroes Batman and Wonder Woman.