'DDLJ' is Bollywood's favourite mushy movie

Mumbai, Feb 14 (IANS) While actors Priyanka Chopra, Urmila Matondkar, Amrita Rao and Arshad Warsi list "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" (DDLJ) as their favourite romantic flick, Dino Morea chooses the Hollywood classic "Casablanca".

"DDLJ tops the list of my favourite romantic films, followed closely by 'Maine Pyar Kiya', 'Casablanca' and 'Love Story' (the Ryan O' Neal-Ali MacGraw starrer)," Priyanka told IANS.

Dino lists "Casablanca" and "Gone With The Wind". "I like both equally. Not much of a choice between the two. They both exude an old-world romance superbly. The acting is uniformly charming.

About "Notting Hill", he said: "Love the idea of a fan falling in love with a star. Wish it happened with me." Dino also lists "Anari", "Chandni", "Sangam". He added: "Love the first for the Raj Kapoor-Nutan chemisty and 'Chandni' for Yash Chopra's intense romanticism. 'Sangam' was so passionate. No one understood love and passion better than Raj Kapoor. Among recent romantic films, DDLJ tops the list."

Irffan Khan listed "Satyajit Ray's 'Apur Sansar' for its supreme storytelling, the Russian film 'Cranes Are Flying' for its treatment, 'Kadal' in Tamil for its songs, casting and direction, 'Autograph' in Tamil for its narrative simplicity".

He added: "In Hindi, my favourite romantic films are 'Amar Prem' and 'Kati Patang' for the oh-so-charming Rajesh Khanna, 'Pakeezah' for its songs and Meena Kumari, 'Devdas' for Dilip Kumar, 'Guide' for its excellent song picturisations and performances and 'Maqbool' for subjective reasons."

Urmila likes "Gone With The Wind" for its passion, drama, pain and triumph, DDLJ for its innocence and the sheer magic of falling in love.

Amrita Rao, too, puts DDLJ on top "for that whole concept of destined soul mates". She said: "Shah Rukh Khan coming over to India to win over Kajol when she was getting married was so cute and their onscreen chemistry rocked!"

Amrita also liked "Rangeela" because she found roadside romeo Munna's love for the wannabe star Mili enchanting. "Also 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' because it said sometimes we fall in love but the screenplay of destiny has some other plans. Finally, 'Ishq Vishq...' for personal reasons."

She added: "The film 'Maine Pyar Kiya' is one of the most romantic films I've ever seen. The whole idea of Suman (Bhagyashree) coming to live in Prem (Salman)'s house was so touching, innocent and pure."

Sammir Dattani lists "Titanic". "I sang the theme song 'My heart will go on' to my first girlfriend over and over again, also 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' as Sanjay Bhansali is my most favourite director and this films tells you love isn't about self-fulfilment but sacrifice; and DDLJ because I can watch Shah Rukh-Kajol's chemistry forever."

However, filmmaker Sanjay Gupta said: "Girl meets boy and overcomes hurdles never appealed to me. I think the true test of love begins post-marriage or post your 30s. My choice of romantic films isn't your typical love stories. But to me they're all about love...'Pyaasa', 'Guide', 'Tere Mere Sapne', 'Abhimaan', 'Arth' and, of course, my all-time favourite 'Aandhi'."

Amrita Arora said her favourite mush movies was " 'Maine Pyar Kiya' and only 'Maine Pyar Kiya'. Saw it 18-20 times. Still cry whenever I watch it".

Arshad said: "My favourite romantic film is 'DDLJ'. It was fun but not frivolous. I loved the relationship between Shah Rukh and Kajol. I felt their emotions touch me and I wanted them to be together."

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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge