 "'Technicians ordinary passengers, only artists are remembered: Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol's 'DDLJ' editor Keshav Naidu")
The very mention of “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” evokes the timeless romance of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol under Aditya Chopra’s direction but behind the movie was also a team of talented people, says editor Keshav Naidu.
The contribution of technicians like him, however, largely goes unnoticed, said Naidu, who edited the film and many others for Yash Raj Films.
“Whether it’s the camera person, writer, art director or any other technician, it doesn’t make any difference to their life when a film becomes a hit. They are just ordinary passengers coming and going and working on a film, and getting off.
“Only the actor and director are remembered, the rest of them are forgotten. This thing has been happening since ages. But sometimes a right film can get a technician a lot more work,” Naidu told PTI in an interview.
Released on October 20, 1995, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” redefined romance for an entire generation and became a cultural touchstone in Indian cinema.
The film, which blended traditional Indian values with modern sensibilities, told the story of Raj and Simran, played by Shah Rukh and Kajol.
Its unforgettable music, quotable dialogues, and the chemistry between the lead pair has ensured its place as one of the greatest films ever made in Hindi cinema.
Naidu worked extensively with the late filmmaker Yash Chopra on his movies like “Silsila”, “Mashaal”, “Chandni”, “Lamhe”, “Parampara”, and “Darr”.
The 81-year-old recalled meeting Aditya while assisting Yash Chopra and said he had thoroughly enjoyed working with the then debutant director.
“Mr Chopra had confidence in me that I can carry out the editing work correctly… Any other person would have got the same chance but I was lucky to be his editor for so many films,” he said.
As an editor, Naidu said his aim has always been to fulfil the director’s vision, ensuring that every cut supports the storytelling.
“Adi had worked with Mr Chopra on quite a few films and he had also seen me working with his father. The editing process was more or less the same. Once the footage is sent to me, we put all the shots together because shooting is not done in a linear manner.
“Sometimes the climax is shot first and then when they go abroad, they do all the songs first, all depending on the dates of the artist. It’s only at the last stage we have to put all the things together and we get coherent footage for the whole film.” According to Naidu, the younger Chopra was “a very easy person to work with,” and he was impressed by the clarity and conviction with which he approached filmmaking.
“We developed a great working rapport during DDLJ. He would call me, ‘Naidu sahab’. It was very professional. He had seen me work in all the films that I had edited for Yash Raj up until then. He knew what kind of a person I am and what was the knowledge that I had about film editing.” The runtime of “DDLJ” is three hours and nine minutes, and Naidu said it didn’t require excessive cutting.
“I don’t think they did a lot of extra shooting at all. Yash Raj Films in all their films never used to have too many shots. There are other directors who want to take shots in every angle or have many takes but there was no such thing with Yash ji and Adi. With regards to ‘DDLJ’, nothing went out of range, they didn’t waste a lot of film footage.” What truly made ‘DDLJ’ special, Naidu said, is the unique unfolding of the romance between the lead characters, Raj and Simran.
“‘DDLJ’ was special because it had a special romantic angle, where both of them are not aware that they’re going to fall in love. Like, they suddenly meet because she misses the train. The emotional aspect and the romance has been carried in a very nice way.” The enduring legacy of ‘DDLJ’ was recently highlighted when UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Yash Raj Films studio and was seen listening to the iconic track ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam’, sung by late Lata Mangeshkar and Kumar Sanu.
Naidu reminisced about the magic of that song and said, “The novelty of that song was the way it all came together in a good way.
“Like, Kajol is there in the song and Shah Rukh suddenly appears in the field. She is not even aware that he is coming there, it was a surprise for her, they meet, they embrace, and it was shot really well.” Sadly, “DDLJ” marked his last collaboration with YRF and the Mumbai-born editor said after the film, he decided to work with other directors.
“One has to move on. I had a wonderful experience working with Mr Chopra and Adi. One thing I’ve learnt is that relationships are temporary in this industry, it doesn’t matter how long you work with one another, they (producers) will never call you again.
“I was busy with other things post DDLJ and there was no question of me going there or they calling me because they had other people to work with (as an editor),” he said.
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