Aditya Chopra to adapt 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' into Broadway musical

Mumbai: Filmmaker Aditya Chopra’s ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ is a story that continues to inspire generations and has set a benchmark in the film industry.

Almost 26 years later, Raj and Simran’s eternal romance is now all set to blend together the worlds of theatre and movies as it is going to be adapted into a Broadway musical with Aditya Chopra at the helm.

The director seems to be equal parts nervous and excited as this will be a first for him.

Aditya has always been a fan of blockbuster cinema, how he adapts Bollywood’s most loved romantic saga into a Broadway musical will be worth watching.

To Aditya, this stepping into uncharted territory feels like going back in time when he was 23, at the time of directing the film, and starting all over again.

On the periphery, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ is a story of two people in love but, as one delves deeper, it also comes across as a love story of two different cultures. With the adaptation, the filmmaker aims to bring together two long lost lovers; Indian cinema and the western musical theatre.

Titled, ‘Come...Fall In Love - The DDLJ Musical’, the Broadway musical will be backed by Yash Raj Films. The project will bring Indian and American teams together to paint the tale of love on the broad canvas that theatre is. While the casting is underway, the technical and creative teams have already started brainstorming.

The Broadway musical will feature book and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, the Broadway specialist who`s known for "Legally Blonde" and "Mean Girls" musicals.

The production house has roped in music composer duo Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani to piece together the music of the film while the choreography for the ambitious project will be done by Rob Ashford. Derek McLane will take care of set design.

The musical will be on stage in the Broadway season of 2022 - 2023 with its world premiere at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego in September 2022. The film which released on October 20 1995, had propelled its lead stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol to super stardom.

But, not many know that Aditya Chopra initially wanted to make the film with Tom Cruise as the lead. However, destiny played its cards and the film was made with a fairly new cast and crew, each of whom went on to become bigwigs of the industry.