DDLJ musical faces flak for casting a white actor to play Shah Rukh Khan’s Raj, chef Vikas Khanna reacts: ‘Let’s not make our kids feel less’

The cast of Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical is officially in rehearsals! These are just some of the cast members of the stage musical adaptation of the beloved hit romantic-comedy film. Get tickets now: https://t.co/79MquqDX5Y pic.twitter.com/mG4pLyJIVK

— The Old Globe (@TheOldGlobe) July 23, 2022

Ausitn Colby had shared on Instagram about being cast as Rog for the musical and had shared how he wishes he can make Shah Rukh Khan proud with his work.

He had written, “A few months ago, I had never heard of the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) or known of it’s global impact. I am in awe of this beautiful love story, celebrating Bollywood film at it’s finest. And now, to have workshopped Come Fall In Love – The DDLJ Musical under the original director, Aditya Chopra, and trusted with the role of Raj (now Rog) to bring Bollywood to Broadway as a reimagined, inclusive cultural experience will undoubtedly be the greatest honor of my career. I hope I make you proud, @iamsrk.”

 

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A post shared by Austin Colby (@austin__colby)

The casting of Raj has not gone well with fans and the musical is facing quite some flack on several social media platforms for changing Raj’s ethnicity. Celebrity chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna too has expressed his disappointment on Twitter.

Raj is our childhood, youth, love & pride.
Many Westerners will never understand what DDLJ means to us.

I just saw HOUSEFULL show of @kiterunnerbway on BROADWAY w all colored cast. It received standing applause.

Let’s not make our kids feel less on our own stage #DDLJMusical pic.twitter.com/VZZZazMd37

— Vikas Khanna (@TheVikasKhanna) August 3, 2022

Other fans too have called out “white washing” of the cast which is originally an all Indian cast in the 1995 superhit film.

Another Twitter user reacted to the casting for Come Fall In love by calling it “horrifying”.

this is beyond HORRIFYING. So broadway is adapting the iconic Bollywood movie, DDLJ into a musical and guess who they cast to play Raj… YES A WHITE MAN pic.twitter.com/2bGqu4GbLc

— ri (@Ad0reeRii) August 1, 2022

The musical is scheduled to debut on Broadway in New York City for the 2022-2023 season.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is considered to be one of the most iconic modern-day romance and is still running at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir, a single screen cinema hall.

Vikas Khanna in an earlier interview with Filmfare had expressed his wish to be able to play Raj one day. He had shared that DDLJ is one of his most favourite films and, “I’d love to play the role of Raj from DDLJ. Having said that, I don’t think anyone can do it better than Shah Rukh Khan.”