The Son Rises In The West

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is now an elaborate stage production. And playing the handsome Kuljit is Kinshuk Sen. While the actor is earning rave reviews for his distinctive take, this is not his first gig. He has already been part of plum acting projects both in the UK and the US, including a Hollywood movie. He also happens to be the son of Euphoria band's frontman Palash Sen

- By Ananya Ghosh

Thirty years after the release of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge—the blockbuster diaspora romance that not only set a new benchmark for commercial cinema in Bollywood, but also turned out to be longest-running film in Indian cinema history—it is back, charming a fresh set of audiences, albeit as a re-imagined Broadway-style stage adaptation.

Come Fall in Love-The DDLJ Musical, directed by the OG Aditya Chopra, had a triumphant run between May 29 and June 21 at England's Manchester Opera House. And among the cast was Kinshuk Sen, whose standout solo performance as the as ‘clowning fiancé Kuljit’ in the ‘raucous number Hot and Independent and Hot’, had found a special mention in The Guardian's review. Interestingly enough, the now 30-year-old, was born the year the Bollywood romance had first hit the theatres. But this is not his first rodeo. He was also part of the San Diego chapter of the YRF musical and worked with Mira Nair on Monsoon Wedding: The Musical, where he aced the role of Varun—the bride’s younger brother— who in the musical is portrayed as unabashedly queer. “The character that did not have too much of a part in the film but really became prominent in the staged musical. My favourite story about Mira will always be how I auditioned for the part. We got on a Zoom call first, only to realise that we were actually in the same city at the time—Delhi. So, I went to her house and actually spoke to her about Varun's role and auditioned. It was one of the easiest audition processes that I've ever been in—she did not pressurise or limit me. She allowed me to play with the character as much as possible,” reveals Kinshuk.