Winston Groom, an American writer, wrote a novel named Forrest Gump in 1986, based on which an American film of the same name was released in 1994. The audience loved the film starring Tom Hanks in lead and also won 6 awards in prestigious awards like Oscar. The story of the original novel and the story of this film were changed considerably. Almost 10 years ago, actor Atul Kulkarni took pen in hand and wrote the Indian version of Forrest Gump. Atul Kulkarni was constantly following up with Aamir to listen to the script, but Aamir did not believe in Atul’s writing skills. Eventually, after Atul’s insistence, Aamir listened to the script and immediately decided to do the project.
It took around 7-8 years to secure the official Hindi remake rights of the film and it was then officially announced in March 2019. After almost 3 years in the making, the Indian Forrest Gump aka Laal Singh Chaddha has been released. After 2016’s ‘Dangal’, Aamir Khan, who has been in search of a hit film, ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, is his career’s first such film which is facing boycott appeal on social media.
Being an official and exact remake of Forrest Gump, every frame of Laal Singh Chaddha’s plot is a xerox copy of Forrest Gump only here it has been Indianized. The journey of the story begins with the childhood of Laal Singh Chaddha (Aamir Khan). From childhood, Laal is a low IQ but equally true and pure-hearted boy. Roopa (Kareena Kapoor) is his first and only close childhood friend. After his mother (Mona Singh), the most important person in Laal’s life is Roopa. Along with low IQ, Laal has a disability in both legs. Laal has a deep love for Roopa which he often confesses to Roopa, but Roopa is very attracted to the glamor world of Mumbai and wants to become a big star. Overcoming his disability, Laal becomes a top sprinter, only with Roopa’s love and mother’s encouragement, till he enters his teenage and later college life. His best running skill is the main reason he later joins the Army. After joining the army, Bala (Naga Chaitanya) becomes his best friend. Now after his mother and Roopa, someone important in Laal’s life is his best friend Bala. Bala has a generational business of making tights and vests. Bala and Laal also decide that after they retire from the army, the two of them will do this business together, but unfortunately, Bala is martyred in the Kargil war. On the other hand, Roopa is also lost in the glamor world of Mumbai. Suddenly Laal’s life is very lonely. The next part of the story is how Laal recovers himself once again and reaches a successful entrepreneur.
Viewers who have seen Forrest Gump will be constantly reminded of Laal Singh Chaddha in almost every frame. Writer Atul Kulkarni has given the background of the political events happening in India just like Forrest Gump. The fast-paced journey of the plot is only till the interval, after the interval point, the pace of the story drops significantly. Whatever scenes Laal and Roopa have together after the interval. Roopa, the character herself, is very confused and wanders in a similar state throughout the film. The screenwriters and the director cannot convince whether Roopa loves Laal at all and if so, why she accepts him so late. The story, which moves along at a great pace and entertainingly till the interval, however, after half the journey, goes awry. In this part of the plot, the character Laal Singh is shown running around India for almost four years with nothing to do and no direction.
The poor music of the film is also a big minus point. Kahani, the only song sung by Mohan Kannan, is exquisite (with beautiful lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya). Notably, the depressing music drags the second half even further. The writer-director duo along with producer Aamir Khan failed to manage the film’s boring length of 2 hours and 45 minutes. The cinematography, background music, and other technical aspects of the film are very good.
What to say about Aamir’s acting? As always, Aamir has been extremely successful in presenting Laal with utmost perfection. Kareena has done a good job but her character is so confused that even Kareena’s beautiful acting is of no use. Bala played by Naga Chaitanya makes the audience fall in love with him. Mona Singh is also good as Aamir’s mother. Mohammad played by Manav Vij is also impressive.
Laal Singh Chaddha could have been a beautiful experiment like Forrest Gump, but it’s a great opportunity missed by both non-writers Atul Kulkarni’s pen not finding direction after the interval (because of the constraints of having to remake the original) and newcomer director Advait Chandan. Disappointing.