Rangeela and DDLJ are both one of the biggest hits of 1995 and are considered cult classics even though DDLJ was a much bigger success at the box office.
Rangeela was directed by Ram Gopal Verma who was known for hard hitting films like Siva, Drohi, Gaayam, Raat etc and this was his first into romantic musical genre in a major way. This was also one of the major breakthrough of A.R.Rehman in Bollywood even though he did won accolades for Roja and Bombay but they were dubbed films from Tamil. DDLJ was directed by debutant director Aditya Chopra, son of Yash Chopra. This film made SRK a romantic hero which he is known for today.
Critical Reception
Both the films won a lot of critical acclaim. Rangeela was praised for its story which won a Filmfare for best Story even though there are multiple movies in the past with similar stories that the film takes inspiration from (Mere Hamsafar 1970, Seetamalakshmi 1978, Sitara 1981), performances by Aamir Khan and Urmila Matondkar (considered one of their career best performances), music, choreography and direction. Shekhar Kapoor praised the film saying that it is a modern film that belongs to the 21st century (surprisingly because the film makes a parody on Shekhar Kapoor with a character called Steven Kapoor who has sensibilities of Hollywood but forced to make commercial films in India). Rangeela was an experiment in making grounded, realistic romantic films without melodrama.
On the other hand, DDLJ was a nostalgiac film for the NRI’s (Ghar Aaja Pardesi Tera Desh Bulaye re) and upheld the traditions and morals of India while espousing a modern love story. The film received a lot of praise for its detailed screenplay, music, performances etc. Rakesh Roshan said that he was not aware that Kajol was such a capable actor. After seeing DDLJ he realised that he couldn't do justice to the talent of Kajol in Karan Arjun. DDLJ along with Ham Aapke hai Kaun in 1994 are credited for changing the landscape of Bollywood business (before these two films the highest earning Bollywood film collection was 15 crores in India but these two films earned more than 60 crores nett). Also Raza Murad in an interview pointed out that how these two films signalled an end to the era of villains as these new films had no villains and with the massive success of these films, films with family values were increasingly being made which didn't need a villain.
Collections
Rangeela released in 215 screens across the country and had an opening of 71 lakhs. The film ended up earning 20.22 crores nett collections in India and was the 4th highest grosser of the year earning the tag of Blockbuster at box office India even though Trade Guide and Film Information gave it a verdict of Hit to Superhit. The Footfalls of the film were 1.83 crores. In the overseas the film earned 83.12 lakhs and was the 6th highest grosser overseas.
DDLJ was released in 180 screens all over India (lowest among the top 10 grossers of the year). DDLJ had an opening of 55 lakhs. The film earned 53.5 crores in its original run but due to re releases and exhibition at Maratha Mandir for more than 1000 weeks the collections of the film has crossed 65 crores mark. The original footfalls of the film are 4.9 crores. The film got an All Time Blockbuster verdict on Box office India and Movie Marvel of the Year by Trade Guide and Film Information. In the overseas the film had a record collection of 16.62 crores becoming the highest grosser of the year.
Music
The album of both the films are considered legendary. Initially RGV, Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff were not satisfied with the music of the film but the music grew over time and won Rehman a filmfare award for Best music defeating DDLJ. He also won RD Burman award for best new Musical talent. Asha Bhosle had refused to accept Filmfare awards after 1979 but she was given a special filmfare for the song Tanha Tanha. Veteran lyricist Mehboob write the songs for the film and got two filmfare nominations. Overall a massive musical success with 32 lakhs album sales.
DDLJ is one of the most successful albums of Indian cinema and features on the top 5 of the Best Indian albums of all time. Although it lost the Best music award to Rangeela, Udit Narayan won a filmfare for Mehendi Laga ke Rakhna and Anand Bakshi again and old man writing songs for the film won best lyrics filmfare for Tujhe Dekha to ye Jaana Sanam. DDLJ sold more than 15 million copies of the album and is one of the highest selling albums of all time.
Awards-
Both the films were nominated for 14 filmfares each but DDLJ made a record by winning a record 10 filmfares including the top 4 awards (Best Film, Diector, Actor and Actress). Rangeela won for Best Story, Ahmed Khan won Best Choreography for Hoja Rangeela Re, Best Costume, Best Music, RD Burman Award, Filmfare special award for Asha Bhosle and Best Supporting actor for Jackie Shroff.
DDLJ won for Best Film, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress for Farida Jalal, Best Comedian for Anupam Kher, Best Lyrics for Tujhe Dekha to ye jaana sanam for Anand Bakshi, Best Singer for Udit Narayan, Best Screenplay and Best Dialogues.
DDLJ also won a National Award for Best Film providing wholesome entertainment.
Legacy-
Rangeela was trendsetter for its costumes, choreography and music and had many iconic scenes including the Restaurant scene between Aamir and the waiter. Hollywood film Win a date with Ted Hamilton is similar to Rangeela in its story.
DDLJ has been copied, inspired, replicated and paid homage in so many films so many times. It popularised the sarso ke khet, the NRI culture with extensive shootings in Switzerland and Europe (there are special commemorating points of DDLJ in these countries). Anupama Chopra wrote a separate book on the film and it has been analysed by scholars in May different ways.