Ten years ago, 23-year-old Aditya Chopra, fresh from assisting his father on Lamhe and Darr, narrated to him the subject of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. "By the end, I had tears in my eyes,'' says Yash Chopra with typical over-the-top flourish. But then Chopra, 73 in age but 23 in spirit, has lots to get emotional about. This week, the movie celebrates 500 weeks of uninterrupted run in Mumbai's Maratha Mandir and has been re-released commercially for a fresh audience that can see what the fuss was all about.

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A still from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

It's the simplicity, says Chopra senior. Since then the bookish, Sydenham College-educated Aditya has gone on to become one of Bollywood's biggest producers; Shah Rukh Khan, who was till then the reigning anti-hero, has become the ultimate romantic icon and Kajol, even after her semi-retirement, remains the good Indian girl who can mix and match Euro Rail freedom with sarson-da-khet sensibility. The film also launched the career of Karan Johar, who was an assistant and extra (Shah Rukh's friend Pochy), as well as sundry others, most prominently Mandira Bedi, the demure moonstruck wannabe fiancee, who has now become the strapless, strapping diva of cricket. Many elements of DDLJ became staples in later films: the boy and girl don't run away, the girl's mother and boy's father are buddies, not distant parents, rituals are used to show romance as well as family values, and the diaspora became a full-fledged market.

DDLJ's south Mumbai view of the world-an upgraded model of Sooraj Barjatya's more down-at-home and less polished Hum Aapke Hain Koun-held steadfast till the new millennium. But with media excess and credit-card consumption, DDLJ's materialistic gloss seems all too accessible and the virginal innocence of its lovers seems old-fashioned. Now a character like Kajol's, who would agree to marry a man without meeting him, would be pilloried, not praised. "You know," says Chopra senior, "no one says I love you even once in DDLJ." Hmmm. That's not what they call action these days.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

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Yashwant Singh's portrayal of Gandhi is marvelous

DELHI The showman of the Indian theatre is back. Aamir Raza Husain chooses the Indian freedom struggle as the backdrop this time. With his trademark grandiose sets in 1947 Live, Husain creates an amazing ambience, otherwise, as he asks, "Who will come to see theatre in the open by buying tickets of Rs 2,000 when they can watch a film in air-conditioned halls?"

On an elevated platform that can seat 700-odd people, the play opens with Nehru's famous "Tryst with destiny" address. Husain then appears as a narrator, giving the play a touch of a docu-drama. But Husain's world of freedom struggle is devoid of female characters. Even a personality like B.R. Ambedkar is conspicuous by his absence. The exclusion is deliberate. Explains Husain, "Give me a single female personality of that era who can match up to Gandhi or Mountbatten." As for Ambedkar, "Excuse me, what is Ambedkar's contribution in the freedom struggle?"

Leaving aside Husain's political-historical views, from an artistic point of view, Vidyarthi's music is engrossing, while Yashwant Singh as Gandhi has done a marvellous job. The play is on till June 5 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium premises.

-By Sheokesh Mishra

BANGALORE Remember the battle ships in the movies on whose decks countless soldiers, slaves and pirates were sacrificed and the vessels so sacred that their guardians went down with them? E. Studio, a style boutique, pays tribute to the stories and legends behind ships in the form of a month-long exhibition, "On the High Seas". Models of famous ships-like Santa Maria, on which Columbus set sail to America-are on display till May 25 with associated interesting stories, legends and anecdotes.

-By Nirmala Ravindran

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MAIN AISA HI HOON Director: Harry Baweja Cast: Ajay Devgan, Sushmita Sen, Esha Deol and Anupam Kher

Quick. What's the easiest way to get acclaim in Hollywood? If you are a male actor, play someone abnormal. If you are a woman, play a monster-literally or metaphorically. Some movies manage to mine both stereotypes successfully, like I Am Sam, one of the worst pieces of Hollywood hokum possible. Why Harry Baweja decided to adapt it (a polite term for a virtual rip-off) will remain one of life's mysteries. Perhaps it was to display Ajay Devgan's acting chops or his cleaned-up teeth. Both are worthy of praise but at the cost of many tortuous tear-jerking scenes and silly songs.

Sushmita Sen flies as a cold-hearted working woman, while Esha Deol wears immaculate bronze make-up and every fashion trend all at once, even while in the throes of fatal drug-induced depression. Go watch the original.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

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Jayarama and Vanashree

MUSIC Legends of India 2005 presents a fiesta featuring recitals by Guru Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao (Kuchipudi); L. Subramanium and Kavita Krishnamurthy; Indian Ocean (classical fusion) and others. A good mix of gharanas, fusion, Hindustani and Carnatic classical. At Delhi's Kamani Auditorium, May 20-22, 6.30 p.m.

WORKSHOP "Summer Extravaganza" has workshops from puppetry (by Varun Narain) to craft cartooning (by Rakesh Dayal). In May and June at Centre for Creative Expressions, S-186, GK II, Delhi. Call 9810099235.

STORE The new "high-concept lifestyle store" at D-15, Defence Colony in Delhi, Aurum retails brands such as Fendi and Rolf Benz.

PLAY Judgement, a monologue by Barry Collins, takes off from an incident in 1944, when the German Army abandoned a monastery in Poland, leaving captured Soviet officers inside. Two stayed alive by eating their companions. Directed and performed by Rehaan Engineer. On May 20-22 at NCPA, Mumbai.

Total Devotion

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Samarpanam Sa Re Ga Ma; Rs 800

While M.S. Subbulakshmi felt she was interpreting music, her audience felt she was creating it. Herein lay her talent.

Samarpanam, a two-volume set of four CDs each, is a tribute to Subbulakshmi's talent, a collector's item. The first volume has 59 bhajans of Meera and Surdas, among others. You can experience the religiosity of her persona and the meditative bhakti in her voice in this volume. What is missing is the date when the raga was recorded. This is a serious lapse because it helps a serious listener in understanding the musical progression of the artist.

The second volume has 33 classical recitals based on Carnatic ragas. Though many listeners may not understand the kritis and ragas, it is once again the voice that shines through.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

Bifocal Point

DELHI The ethnographic flashbulbs once again turn on the transgender community. But this time it is a reversal: the photographs are taken by people of the community themselves. "Kaaya: Beyond Gender" features the lives of 18 transsexuals.

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Kaaya features transsexuals

Over the years, the community has become an important postcard of the urban encounter. A bit similar to the vaulted monuments that try and survive among carton-like houses. But the lens never got so personal, making the exhibition better than all other quasi-tourist impulses of sensitisation. In one snap, Bobby reveals her augmented breasts saying, "This is a strange photograph but it was one of the happiest moments in my life.... I always wanted to be a woman." Others are about more perfunctory and non-hush hush scenes from transgender life.

All the photographs are described by those in them. Some say theirs is not a museum-like world, occasionally kept in focus by coffee-table lensmen and floating camera-crew. Theirs is a thriving community kept marginalised by those who consider heterosexuality to be the final frontier. On view till May 23 at Sidhartha Hall, Max Mueller Bhawan, 3 Kasturba Gandhi Marg.

-By Anshul Avijit

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