Who’s Rog?: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (‘DDLJ’) Accused Of “Whitewashing” Broadway Musical Adaptation

Caroline Frost
·3 min read

Fans of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, one of Bollywood’s most enduring films have slammed the decision to cast the main male character as a white man in the upcoming Broadway musical adaptation.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, known as DDLJ, is being adapted for Broadway as Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical.

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When the film was released in 1995, written and directed by Aditya Chopra, it starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as Raj and Simran, a lovestruck young couple who must win over family and friends opposed to their union. The film made a total of $60million worldwide, became the highest-grossing Indian film of 1995 and is still shown in cinemas today.

Chopra will make his stage directing debut with the musical. However, the decision to cast a white man Austin Colby in the title role – and rename him as Rog – has led some critics to accuse the musical producers of “whitewashing.”

Celebrated Indian chef Vikas Khanna tweeted to his 2.2 million followers that he thinks this is a “terrible” decision, which prompted this exchange between him and one half of the musical’s composers Vishal and Shekhar, Vishal Dadlani:

The BBC interviewed one disappointed fan who that “South Asian-American actors would want to be considered and see their culture in a place which historically doesn’t reflect” it, so the casting should support that in a main role.

Paridhi Puri told the BBC that, with any remake, there’s a chance to make it “a better story” and address bits which may not have aged well over time.

Austin Colby said of the decision to cast him in the lead role, “I’m aware what my involvement in this production means to many people and I completely understand its impact. I’m not the Raj that Shah Rukh Khan made us fall in love with, nor will I ever pretend to be. I am excited to fulfil the creative team’s vision for this role and I truly believe in the story and how we are telling it.”

Shah Rukh Khan’s portrayal of Raj in the 1995 film an instant hit and helped establish him as the “King of Romance” for Bollywood, while Raj and Simran became role models for couples who wanted to be together but were facing resistance from their families.

The musical will open on Broadway during the 2022/23 season after a world premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater in September 2022.

The musical’s composers Vishal Dadlani and Sheykhar Ravjiani (known collectively as Vishal and Sheykhar) told Deadline, “We are extremely proud that one of the most-loved Indian films,  DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), is being adapted into the musical Come Fall In Love at The Old Globe San Diego, with all our sights firmly set on Broadway. This is the first time an Indian film is being adapted for Broadway by the original filmmaker himself. This is therefore, also the first time India, our culture, our music, our dance and our wonderful open-heartedness is being represented to the world in this form.”

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