Raj Malhotra and Simran Singh [Shahrukh Khan and Kajol respectively] are young first generation British Indians brought up and living in London. Raj is the only child of wealthy Dharamvir Malhotra [Anupam Kher], who spoils his son excessively. Raj is a free-wheeling party boy, who is the first student at his tertiary institution to fail, something which is announced at his would-be graduation ceremony. Simran is the elder daughter of convenience store owner Chaudhry Baldev Singh [Amrish Puri], who is a very conservative and typical Indian man whose only dream is to one day go back to his native Punjab. One day Raj tricks Baldev into selling him some beer after hours, making him very mad. Baldev is proud that he has managed to bring up his two daughters in a very traditional way; they respect his conservative outlook. Simran constantly dreams of her Prince Charming, a stranger who comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet, and writes about him in her diary. However, a letter comes from Ajit, Baldevs best friend in India saying that his son, Kuljeet [Parmeet Sethi], and Baldevs daughter, Simran, should marry each other, in accordance with a promise the two fathers had made to each other when their children were infants. Because of her "Prince Charming," Simran is a bit concerned. She has never seen Kuljeet before, but agrees to marry him out of respect for her father. However, before the wedding, she begs her father to allow her to go on a trip to Europe with her friends, her last chance to see the world before her marriage to a complete stranger and relocation to India. Even though he is generally very strict, Baldev relents and allows her to go, on the condition that she promises never to betray his trust. During the trip, Simran bumps into Raj, who is also on a trip to Europe with some friends. After some initial misadventures, mainly due to disrespectful behaviour on the part of Raj, he falls in love with Simran. Only at their moment of parting at the railway station in London does Simran realize that she too has fallen in love with Raj. Simran goes home and tells her mother [Farida Jalal] that she has fallen in love with someone else and cannot go through with her wedding to Kuljeet. Baldev overhears their conversation, and is furious that Simran broke her promise that she would never betray his trust. He is adamant that she will marry Kuljeet as planned, and they will leave for India as soon as possible. Even though Simran does not want to marry Kuljeet, her family returns to Punjab. As it turns out, Kuljeet is an arrogant alpha male who takes pride in being a shikari [hunter] and boasts to his macho friends that he will engage in marital infidelity. Simrans mother tries to spare her daughters feelings, but cannot stand up to her domineering husband. Raj, however, does not give up so easily. He follows Simran to Punjab, meets her privately, and assures her that he will save her from the arranged marriage, and marry her with the consent of her father. As such, he refuses to elope with Simran because he wants her family to endorse their marriage, even though Simrans mother tries to force her savings into his hand so that he can elope and look after Simran. Raj befriends Kuljeet and pretends to be a friend of the family. He helps with the wedding preparations and soon gains everyones friendship and love. At the same time, Kuljeets sister, Preeti [Mandira Bedi], falls in love with Raj, and things become complicated when Rajs father suddenly appears in India. By now, even Simrans father Baldev has been won over by Raj. He knows that Raj is the boy from the beer incident, but he has forgiven Raj for that incident thinking it was an innocent mistake [which it pretty much was]. However, everything comes crashing down when Baldev sees a photograph of Raj and Simran together when they were on their trip across Europe. He exposes Rajs true identity in front of everybody, slaps him, and angrily tells him to leave immediately, as Simran will marry Kuljeet regardless of what anybody thinks. As Raj leaves and is sitting at the railway station ready to leave Punjab, Kuljeet and his friends follow him and nearly beat him senseless with sticks for his deception. However, when Rajs father tries to intervene and Kuljeet and his friends beat him as well, Raj flies into a rage and single-handedly beats Kuljeet and his friends with a stick he has wrestled from Kuljeets group. Baldev then stops Raj and tells him and his father to go on their way. Raj and his father accordingly board a train out of the village. However, as the train begins to pull out of the station, Simran tries to follow, and is stopped by Baldev. She begs him to let her go, and he eventually comes to his senses and realizes that no one loves his daughter as much as Raj does. He tells Simran to join Raj on the train, which she enthusiastically does.

See also

*List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Jatin Lalit, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi and voice rendered by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, and Udit Narayan.

Track #	Song	Singer[s]	Duration
1	Ghar Aaja Pardesi	Manpreet, Pamela Chopra	7:29
2	Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye	Lata Mangeshkar	4:17
3	Rukh Jaa O Dil Deewane	Udit Narayan	5:14
4	Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main	Asha Bhonsle, Abhijeet Bhattacharya	5:51
5	Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna	Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan	5:47
6	Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jaana Sanam	Lata Mangeshkar, Kumar Sanu	5:02
7	Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna	Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan	4:50

Filmfare awards

= * 1996 Filmfare Best Movie Award: Yash Chopra * 1996 Filmfare Best Director Award: Aditya Chopra * 1996 Filmfare Best Actor Award: Shahrukh Khan * 1996 Filmfare Best Actress Award: Kajol * 1996 Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Farida Jalal * 1996 Filmfare Best Comedian Award: Anupam Kher * 1996 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award: Anand Bakshi, Tujhe Dekha * 1996 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Aditya Chopra * 1996 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award: Aditya Chopra, Javed Siddiqi * 1996 Filmfare Best Male Playback Award: Udit Narayan, Mehndi Lagake Rakhna

National film awards

= * 1995 National Film Award for Best Popular Film Rajat Kamal [Silver Medal].