Filmmaker Aditya Chopra is all set to make his Broadway directorial debut with a Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge musical, Yash Raj Films announced on Twitter on Saturday.
According to a press release issued by the makers, the musical, which is titled Come Fall In Love – The DDLJ Musical, is set to release in Autumn 2022. The cast is yet to be announced, and the music will be produced by Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravijiani.
In 2020, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge completed 25 years, becoming the longest-running Hindi film of all time. The film starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles. Chopra had directed the original movie.
Tony winner Derek McLane, who earlier worked on musicals like Moulin Rouge!, Hairspray Live! and 33 Variations, will design the set of the musical with music supervision by Bill Sherman. Adam Zotovich will executive produce the musical while Rob Ashford, Tony and Emmy winner, will choreograph with associate choreographer Shruti Merchant.
In his note, Chopra recalled his earliest memory of attending a Broadway show back in 1985 when his father Yash Chopra took him and his brother Uday Chopra to their “first musical theatre experience”.
“The lights dimmed, the curtains lifted and what unfolded in the next 3 hours left me speechless and stunned. Now, till then, I was a kid who was an avid movie watcher and what I loved the most was big screen Indian blockbusters. But that day what I saw on stage blew my mind. I couldn’t believe that this kind of spectacle could be created live on stage,” he said.
Chopra said what resonated with him was the fact that musical theatre was so similar to Indian films.
He has been developing this project for the past three years and has roped in talent from several corners of the world to realise his dream, the press release stated.
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“The past 3 years as we have developed this passion project, I have learnt so much from them and discovered the unbelievable talent that the Broadway community has. I feel 23 again, the same age I was when I directed DDLJ. I’m once again a student, each one of my team members is more experienced than me in the world of theatre, I’m the rookie and I’m loving every moment of it. I’m all set to learn, explore, create and enjoy with these wonderful theatre artists and the magical world of Broadway Musicals,” Chopra said.