Come Fall in Love

Manchester once again gets to see it first as The DDLJ Musical invites you to Come Fall In Love at the Opera House in Manchester.  Brought to us by the team behind the sensationally successful Bollywood film - Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge – the world premiere of this new musical delves deeper into the theme of love conquering all by changing up its Bollywood leading male from Raj, a non-resident Indian, to Rog, a white Englishman.  In a story that continually poses the age old question, ‘do opposites attract?’ we are taken on a journey of love across Europe before all crossroads of the story collide in Punjab amidst tradition, celebration, acceptance, and love.  As the beautifully decorated stage curtain rises, we meet Baldev.  Worn down by his experiences of collective culture prejudice in England, his heart sings out for his home country as he feeds the pigeons, wondering if they have ever seen his land.  Momentarily interrupted by a harmless but spoilt, overly confident Rog, Baldev wistfully returns to his nostalgia and we are privy to his thoughts as the stage comes alive with the most spectacular abundance of colour, culture and beauty of Punjab tradition.  This is the first of several jaw dropping moments in this show, and the audience went wild with an unadulterated rush of joy.

As the story develops, we meet graduate philosophy student Simran who has one month to travel around Europe with best friend Cookie before heading to Punjab with her family for her arranged marriage to Kuljit, the son of Ajit, her fathers family friend.  As Simran is dragged to a graduation party by Cookie (because fellow student Ben will be there who she fancies), she experiences her own cute meet as she finds herself holding a flamboyance of Flamingo’s courtesy of the carefree Rog, who promptly abandons her, and she finds herself being arrested!  The day of the Europe trip arrives and Cookie has invited Ben on the girls trip, with his best friend – yep, you guessed it – Rog!  As their travels continue, Simran and Rog are separated from Cookie and Ben, and we discover that perhaps Simran’s interests and idea of what constitutes a good time aren’t so different from her peers after all.  It is more a case that she doesn’t want to fall in love with something she cannot have in her life.  As they say a reluctant goodbye, proceedings move swiftly ahead with the arranged marriage and Rog flies over to Punjab to try and find their happily ever after.  Can love transcend tradition and embrace cultural differences?  Can love provide enough strength to challenge what has always been?  Can love make us take a hard look at ourselves and offer Sev?, a love free from intent or desire?  Of course it can!  The show is called Come Fall In Love, and that’s exactly what we get!

The plot may be effortlessly predictable but that is actually its strength for it offers a freedom, allowing a brilliant humour to shine through, and despite the very real and difficult underlying issues of prejudice and opposing cultures trying to live side by side, it never takes itself too seriously and brings us real people who are instantly connected and relatable through their family units.  Parents trying to provide what they think is best for their children without perhaps listening to what said child wants, parents worrying about their child’s whereabouts, their future, their path in life – Punjabi or British, love is love and parents are parents.  This book and lyrics by Nell Benjamin instinctively understands people.  This was abundantly clear through the sheer amount of animated reactions of recognition, love and laughter from a tapestry of audience members. The show takes us quite literally across the globe, from England to France, Italy to Austria, Switzerland to Punjab! 

And it is executed in a breathtaking showpiece that intertwines the outstanding talent of cast and creatives.  Beautifully designed sketches are projected onto a large screen (designed by Akhila Krishnan) that seamlessly blend with the remarkable set (designed by Derek McLane) in an impressively long song and dance routine of the titular song Come Fall In Love.  Both the music (composed by Vishal Dadlani and Sheykhar Ravjiani) and the choreography (Rob Ashford and Shruti Merchant) showcase a variety of global musical and dance styles, bringing the world together through musical theatre.  It really is a showstopping piece, and just when you thought it couldn’t beguile you anymore, the second act opened with a visually striking reprise, that brought the house down.  The costumes designed by Linda Cho are a work of art and complete the elegance and exuberance that stimulates each and every one of our senses.  Punjabi dress, colour, dance, and culture are celebrated with nothing but joy and pride, and the sense of being seen and rejoiced rang true and free throughout the theatre.  It was a jubilant moment that I felt privileged to have witnessed and experienced.

There are tender moments between mother and daughter, brilliantly humorous moments within family units, those cringey moments in the early relationship stages, poignant moments of reflection, but most of all there is joy.  This culminates in a spectacular finale of Holi Hai, a celebration of the festival of colour, where good triumphs over evil and everyone can become the same and look the same by having vibrant coloured powders splashed across them.  Again, it is such a stunning piece of theatre that is full of positivity, joy, and happiness.  The audience were up on their feet, unable to contain the emotive response and desire to be a part of this love.  Directed by Aditya Chopra, Come Fall In Love has done exactly that.  It has invited the world in to celebrate joy and love through theatre and raised the dopamine levels of everyone there!  The wonderful cast are so at ease with their characters, so invested, that it shines out of them.  Jena Pandya and Ashley Day bring us the star-crossed lovers of Simran and Rog, though theirs is a much happier ending.  They are playful, curious, and spark off each other with a fiery zing that fuels the energy of the show and make it so easy for us to root for their characters.

Irvine Iqbal and Harveen Mann-Neary are theatre gold as Simran’s parents Baldev and Lajjo.  They fuss and fret with fabulous comic timing, yet equally bring us glorious moments of touching emotion, feeding the heart and soul of the show.  Kara Lane and Russell Wilcox offer up their own brand of parenting courtesy of Rog.  They use their separation by placing Rog squarely in the middle of their spats and their fabulous and eccentric comedy skills still allow room to acknowledge the tinge of sadness behind it all, especially for Rog.  Millie O’ Connell and Amonik Melaco bring us the best friends of Cookie and Ben, the epitome of act first, think later, and charge the show with vibrancy and fun.  Ankur Sabharwal and Kinshuk Sen are the family friend Ajit and his son Kuljit, who Simran is to marry.  They are loud, charismatic, full of confidence and a joy to watch.  The entire ensemble work non stop in this fast paced, energetic and joyous show.  And that’s the word.  Joyous.  It’s what I keep returning to because the show leaves you with a feeling of uncomplicated joy.  I recommend that everyone allows themselves the gift to Come Fall In Love. 
       

WE SCORE COME FALL IN LOVE...