Champ

On May 13, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) completed 500 weeks at Maratha Mandir, a film theatre in India’s film city Mumbai, where it has been running everyday since it was first released in 1995!

I remember watching this movie with my buddy Amit. And I remember how we persuaded three pretty gals to “sell” their tickets to us.

Getting cinema ticket for a Shah Rukh Khan’s super hit film in the first week of its release, that too in a theatre located in Delhi’s main business district Cannought Place, is an impossible task.

But trust Saurabh-Amit combo to work.

Amit managed to convince three pretty gals, who were waiting for two more friends to join them, that they are missing the best part of the movie. And they should get in the theatre immediately and offcourse instead of wasting the ticket, they can always sell those tickets to us.

Amit’s magic worked and the gals agreed. However, Amit, who had seen the movie on the first day itself, knew that once inside the hall gals will know that film was yet to start. So, once we got our tickets, we decided to give them a slip. (Cinema halls are really huge in Delhi and once inside dark theatre, it is really easy to get lost…and if someone has the intention to do so, it is a cakewalk.)

Lost in the crowd we sat in a quite corner. As Amit had already seen the film, he knew exactly when it will be interval and we, in pursuit to avoid the gals, walked out of the theatre just before the interval and entered again seconds after the screening re-started.

And as soon as the film ended, we walked out of the hall. After walking a few steps, we realised we had not payed the gals for the tickets. First we had a hearty laugh…than mischievous thoughts passed the mind of not paying them at all…but fresh from SRK’s movie and totally charmed by mischievous but dependable Raj, we decided to walk back to cinema theatre and pay the gals. However, gals were not there. Unable to find them, and we decided to use that money and bought ice-creams.

However, there was more in store for us. As soon as payed for the ice-cream, those gals re-appeared. This time, with those friends in the toe on who’s ticked me and Amit had watched the film.

Panic gripped us.

Fortunately, we had some money in our pocket… our examination fee! We paid the gals and offered the ice-cream…but they obliviously furious at us, refused. We treid telling them…common Senoritas…bade-bade Sharon main aise choti-choti batein to hoti raheti hai….(Such small things keeps happening in the big cities…a famous dialogue from DDLJ). But, they just took the money and went away.

We never bumped into those gals again…but if ever they read this…there is an invitation to watch the movie with us…for the old times sake… .