DDLJ Musical ‘Come Fall In Love’ All Set For Broadway On Sept 14

New Delhi: Aditya Chopra’s musical, ‘Come Fall In Love,’ is set to open at The Old Globe, San Diego on September 14. The Broadway-bound musical is an adaptation of the iconic film ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.’

However, there is a twist. Shah Rukh Khan’s Raj is a ‘gora’ in the musical, who falls in love with an Indian girl. To the adverse reaction of SRK being replaced by a white hero, Aditya Chopra said that the idea is to unite different cultures ina growing toxic world, India Today reported.

Producer and director Aditya, in a statement, said, “I first conceived the story of DDLJ (even before it was called DDLJ) as a Hollywood love story of a white American man and an Indian woman. My main motivation at that time was to present Indian culture and values to a global audience. Years later, as I reimagine the story as a Broadway musical, my mainstay is still the same, showcasing Indian culture to a world audience. And the most powerful way to depict a country’s culture and values is to see it from the perspective of someone who does not belong to the same culture. That is the starting point of Come Fall In Love, the story of Indian Simran, her culture and heritage through the eyes of American Roger,” India Today quoted Chopra as saying.

He added that Simran here plays an Indian American who struggles to balance her love for Indian traditions and Roger’s family. Aditya mentioned that he is not directing the iconic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) on Broadway and is simply adapting it. He shared, “I’m not directing DDLJ for Broadway. I’m adapting it as Come Fall In Love to tell the story of how powerful love is in unifying cultures, especially today. In 2022, the notion that DDLJ could be adapted to present a vision of diverse cultures coming together in a story that celebrates love and the power it has to unify everyone, moves me greatly.”

Austin Colby as Roger and Shoba Narayan as Simran play the romantic lead in the musical. “The representation and artistry of India reverberate through every part of this production. ‘Come Fall In Love’ is not only my heartfelt vision of ‘love in every color’, as the musical’s finale puts it, but a celebration of joy, togetherness, and inclusivity in a divisive and growingly toxic world of intolerance. It is also my love letter to India and the Indian heritage we carry with us wherever we may be,” Chopra told India Today.

“In making a new DDLJ for a new moment and a new audience, I’ve departed from some aspects of the film that our fans revere. But I believe that the heart of Come Fall In Love beats with everything that is essential in DDLJ even as it speaks, sings, and dances to this moment, in a different place and time, with hope, optimism, and love,” he added.