Bollywood movie runs 500 weeks in same theater !

This past week, the all time Hindi movie hit Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) has been running for a record breaking 500 weeks in the same theater in Mumbai. The movie theater, the Maratha Mandir that has been showing DDLJ, is located near the state transport bus stand. Since October 1995 the movie has been showing daily at the Maratha Mandir. It is a worlds record for the continuous showing of a single film at one theater. On week ends it still plays to packed houses. The theater has a capacity of 1017 seats.

IMHO the Maratha Mandir is the "Mecca" of Bollywood. Centrally located the theater appeals to the working class. much of the audience on week days is made up of porters from the bus terminal and travelers waiting for their transport. Tickets are reasonable, starting at Rs 20.

"The enthusiastic viewers who've been flocking to the theatre are mostly porters from the nearby Mumbai Central station, where there is a lull in the arrivals and departures of trains during daytime. Says Raja Ghorpade, one of the porters, "My friends and I come to watch this film at least once a week. It is so relaxing and a good 'time pass'. I think we must have watched DDLJ more than 60 times."

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory...ntent_id=10398

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/200...trum/main8.htm

Everyone in the theater knows DDLJ by heart (well who in their right desi mind doesn't?) "Even now, the classic moments, though firmly a part of the audience's consciousness, evoke hysteria. The crowd in the theatre is perfectly aware when Shah Rukh Khan is going to make his rugby-playing entry, but there is still feverish applause as he does. Ditto for Kajol's blissful dancing in the rain to Lata Mangeshkar singing Mere khwabon mein jo aaye. The theatre erupts with ecstatic whistles. Everyone knows the dialogues by heart. Bits like 'Bade bade desho mein chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain (in big countries, little things keep happening)' are met with loud yells of happy recognition. "

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2005/may/05ddlj2.htm

Yes this is Bollywood at its best Bravo for DDLJ !!! Just talking about it makes me want to watch it again, for the 12348561926459 time.


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wow. spare a thought for the projector operator....

Is this a world record?

A great film although it was the one that got my wife started with her facination for SRK, I'm just another bloke in her life these days!!
500 showings amazing!!

Am I right in thinking 'although' is the key word here?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show might well take the credit for that, although I'm having trouble finding any stats on how long it ran in any one theater non-stop. It says here somewhere it ran in Austin, Texas for 22 years (1144 weeks). 500's Certainly an achievement though.

Funny thing is RHPS was a total flop on release.

I found the world recordholder from the Guinness Book website:

Longest First-Run of a Film in One Cinema
Romance in Lushan (China, 1980) first opened at the Jiangxi Movie Circulation and Screening Company in Lushan, China, on July 12, 1980, and has be shown daily four times a day since then.

I thought that DDLJ was the longest running, but I see this movie in China takes the cake (damn those Chinese, they are competing with India in EVERYTHING

Rocky Horror has been playing at a theater for 20 something years, but only on weekends.

DDLJ plays at this theater morning, afternoon, and evening, 7 days a week. Imagine the wear and tear the film print has taken?!?!?! The print must be in tatters.

When I am in Mumbai next year I am going to go for a showing at this theater, just to say I went

.

Sounds like a Mumbai meeting coming up...

wait till fall next year, and I'll join you

in the meantime, where the hell have I put my DDLJ copy??

Didn't it start your fascination for Kajol ?

I got to see it in Mumbai a couple months back only because I had some time to kill before my bus! Thank-you waiter for recommending it to me! It was amazing to see all those people watching a 10 year old movie, laughing at the jokes and cheering at the climax as if for the first time.

King Khan rules!

Though I wish his kingdom did not include my household!

I sympathise with cyberhippie, being in the same boat. My job is to get the film tickets, buy the popcorn and to get the DVDs when they come out.

Theon, you are my Hero Of The Week for actually having seen DDLJ in this theater. Bravo !!!

I hope to do the same on my trip to Mumbai next year !

that is my question - has anybody had this experience recently? I know it's still playing.

Is it still on several times a day? and what was the crowd like?

Also - if you know of any other "special" Bollywood-movie-viewing events in India, please post. (Like the theatre in Jaipur someone mentioned where lights flash around the screen when a song comes on.)