Trump celebrates 'genius' of Bollywood, remembers 'DDLJ' and 'Sholay'

Using Bollywood to strike a chord with movie-loving Indians, US President Donald Trump on Monday hailed the "genius" of the Hindi film industry and recalled two all-time favourites, "Sholay" and "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (DDLJ). Addressing the 'Namaste Trump' event at the Motera Stadium here, the US president said people "take great joy" in watching Bollywood films and understanding Indian culture through them.

"This is the country that produces nearly 2,000 movies a year from the hub of genius and creativity known as Bollywood," he told the gathering of about 100,000 people packed into the stadium. "All over the planet people take great joy in scenes of bhangra, music and dance, romance and drama, and classic Indian films like 'DDLJ' and 'Sholay'," Trump said, referring to two of the biggest hits in Bollywood history.

While the 1975 multi-starrer "Sholay", labelled a "curry western" by many, is an action-adventure film that has stood the test of time, the 1995 Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol-led "DDLJ" is an out and out romance. "Sholay" director Ramesh Sippy said he was delighted that Trump included the film as a creative piece from India in his speech.

"I feel overwhelmed, humbled that the US president felt this way. I am delighted that 'Sholay' is included in his speech as a creative piece from India. I am thankful to him for having mentioned 'Sholay' after 45 years of the film," Sippy told PTI. Yash Raj Films, the makers of 'DDLJ', posted on Twitter, "DDLJ trumps!"

This is not the first effort by the US president to use popular culture to reach out to Indians. Ahead of his maiden visit to India, Trump shared a video in which his face was superimposed on the hit movie-character Baahubali.

"Look so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA!" Trump tweeted on Saturday alongside the 81-second clip. Before that, Trump praised Ayushmann Khurrana's latest release "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan".

On a tweet complimenting the movie for celebrating a same-sex love story on the celluloid, Trump last week commented "great". Former US president Barack Obama also referenced "DDLJ" during his 2015 visit to India when he quoted Shah Rukh's famous dialogue from the iconic film.

"Last celebration here we celebrated festival of lights in Mumbai. We danced with some children. Unfortunately, we were not able to schedule any dancing in this visit. 'Senorita, bade bade desho mein'... You know what I mean," Obama said while addressing a town hall event in Delhi.