Kajol’s sister in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Chutki, is all grown up now. See pics

You wouldn’t be able to recognise Pooja Ruparel now. The actor, who played Chutki, the sister of Kajol’s character in the hit film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, has since appeared in X: Past Is Present and the Hindi remake of the television series 24.

Pooja, in a 2020 interview, had said that she was surprised people remember her character, because she was convinced they’d only remember Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol from the film.

Pooja had previously worked with Shah Rukh in King Uncle, and told Bollywood Hungama that ‘there was no audition, per se’ for DDLJ. She also belongs to a film family, and said that she grew up around actors; her uncle is veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha, which makes Sonakshi Sinha her cousin.

Pooja is now a stand-up comic. She said that she was tired of answering questions about Shah Rukh, and thought that a career change would be a good idea. “You need people to make you laugh. Women always want to marry a guy who is funny. But why not be the funny one? Why is the responsibility of being funny on the man? So this is how stand-up happened. I also dabbled in doing voiceovers. I am also a qualified corporate trainer. I have done my masters in industrial psychology,” she said.

She continued, “I just didn’t think that I was going to get back into films. I was of the opinion that you need to sleep with producers to bag a part. I also lost my father at a young age and so I had the outlook that I’ll just get a job and work and earn money. But that didn’t work out as wherever I went, everyone would like ‘Batao Shah Rukh Khan kaisa hai (What’s Shah Rukh Khan like)’. And I was like ‘He bhagwan (Oh God)’! And this was the time when the stand-up comedy scene was just starting out in India.”

Also read: When Shah Rukh Khan gave tour of his school, was reminded how he ‘broke Modern School kids’ teeth’

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, directed by Aditya Chopra, is one of the biggest hits in Hindi cinema. The film also featured Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher, Mandira Bedi, Parmeet Sethi, and others. It told the story of a wayward man who falls in love with a rebellious young woman, on a trip to Europe.