20 years of Titanic: Director James Cameron reveals why Leonardo DiCaprio had to die in the film

As the film Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, will complete 20 years this December, director James Cameron explains why he had to make some painful decisions.

It has been twenty years, and yet, James Cameron's Titanic continues to live on in people's hearts. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, was a love story, a fictionalised retelling of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, which is considered one of the worst maritime tragedies in history.

Till date, many fans still can't accept the heartbreaking ending of the 1997 film. Jack (Leo) and Rose (Kate) are stranded on a loose board, after the Titanic sinks. Jack makes way for Rose on the board, as there isn't enough space for both. The water is freezing cold, and Jack succumbs to hypothermia, and dies.

In a recent interview, James Cameron answered questions about this ending and said, "Had he lived, the ending of the film would have been meaningless. The film is about death and separation; he had to die. Obviously, it was an artistic choice, the thing was just big enough to hold her, and not big enough to hold him. I think it's all kind of silly, really, that we're having this discussion 20 years later. But it does show that the film was effective in making Jack so endearing to the audience that it hurts them to see him die. Whether it was that, or whether a smoke stack fell on him, he was going down. It's called art, things happen for artistic reasons, not for physics reasons."

Earlier Kate was asked whether there could've been room for two on the board on a Jimmy Kimmel show. "I agree! I think he could have actually fitted on that bit of door. It's been 20 years, and people still get such a kick out of it. It's really quite endearing. And we do laugh about it. We were giggling about it last night. I was like, my god, can you actually believe that people just get so overwhelmed by the Jack and Rose thing."

The film completes 20 years, this December.