MUMBAI: He is an iconic director who has made many blockbusters movies such as ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (DDLJ), ‘Mohabbatein,’ ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi,’ and more.  He is none other than Aditya Chopra, one of the most celebrated directors, who celebrates his 53rd birthday today. Back then, there was a time when Aditya Chopra struggled to convince the iconic star Shah Rukh Khan to play the role in his directorial debut, ‘DDLJ,’ a film that would later become the most phenomenal film.

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In the documentary ‘The Romantics,’ Aditya Chopra recalled about the challenging phase before he began shooting DDLJ. Working as an assistant under his father, the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, on the film ‘Darr,’ which cast Sunny Deol, Juhi Chawla, and Shah Rukh Khan, Aditya and SRK developed a close friendship. DDLJ director, Aditya was so mesmerised with SRK's performance that he envisioned him as the lead in his first film as a director. At that time Khan was still a newcomer, was enthusiastic but desired to act in an action film rather than a romantic drama.

When Aditya, accompanied by his assistant director Karan Johar, approached Khan to narrate the story of DDLJ, Shah Rukh was not interested. He revealed, "It just wasn't the film I wanted to hear," Khan admitted, expressing his rejection to take on a romantic role. Aditya, however, believed in Shah Rukh's potential and commitment, often telling him that his expressive eyes were too valuable to be limited to action roles.

This led to Aditya visiting Khan's film sets constantly over two months, trying to convince him. During one such visit to the set of Khan's film ‘Trimurti,’ an elderly fan expressed her discontent with his frequent on-screen deaths.

Aaditya explained to Khan that in India, a true superstar must connect with a wider audience, becoming every mother's son, every sister's brother, and every college girl's dream.

This heartfelt conversation melted SRK’s heart. Shortly after, he agreed to be cast in ‘DDLJ,’ a decision that would give him a status of "King of Romance" in Hindi Film Industry. The film is praised by the audience till now and its success is a significant chapter in Indian cinema history.

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Credit: times entertainment