Forrest Gump. We know it, we love it. Ranked as one of the top 50 greatest films of all time, Forrest Gump is a timeless classic, and now, it’s being reimagined in Laal Singh Chaddha, a Bollywood film starring Aamir Khan.
Robert Zemeckis’ story is brilliantly told by Tom Hanks, who went on to win an Academy Award for his portrayal of Forrest Gump, a man with a low IQ who finds himself in the middle of key historical events.
It’s a film that has remained largely untouched — until now.
Creating reboots or sequels of already successful movies is a challenge, one that so many filmmakers choose to stay away from.
However, if there’s anyone capable of creating a remake of Forrest Gump, it’s Bollywood actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan.
The man behind movies such as Taare Zameen Par and Academy-award nominated Lagaan, fought for the rights of Forrest Gump for close to a decade, and it was all worth it.
“It took us about eight years to secure the rights, and to begin with, I never thought of remaking Forrest Gump; it happened by accident,” Khan said while chatting to The Latch.
“It was a film that I watched in the ’90s, and it stayed with me, and I loved it, and I thought Tom Hanks’ performance was amazing.”
Khan’s right-hand man is actor-turned-screenwriter Atul Kulkarni, who is responsible for getting this project off the ground.
“One night, 14 years ago from now, Atul and I were chatting, and he happened to ask me, ‘what’s your favourite film?'” Khan recalled. “So I said, ‘one of them is Forrest Gump’. Then two weeks later, he calls me up and says, ‘I’ve written a script for you’.”
“I asked him, ‘What have you written?'” Khan continued, “and he said, ‘I’ve written an Indian adaptation of Forrest Gump.”
Surprised by the revelation, Khan said that he “first kind of laughed” at Kulkarni, but Kulkarni was undeterred.
“He then said, ‘No seriously!'” Khan said. “I didn’t take him very seriously, and it was only when I had finally heard the script that I fell in love with it.
“I just couldn’t imagine a film that was so deeply rooted in American culture being translated into Indian culture.”
The film, titled Laal Singh Chaddha, stars Khan himself and was filmed in 200 different locations around India, showcasing the diversity of the country’s people and landscapes.
Laal, who is loveable and innocent, finds himself in unbelievable situations as he attempts to navigate a world that is far too harsh for him.
Khan’s performance and the film itself are brilliant, to say the least, but I didn’t expect anything less.
“I’m not quite sure whether I’ve snapped out of the character,” pondered Khan. “It has affected me in many ways, playing this character.”
Khan said that the biggest challenge he faced while playing Laal was “to bring the innocence he has, because that’s his core quality”.
“Being in my 50s, I realised that the biggest challenge for me would be to unlearn all that I have learnt all these years and to erase all of my experiences,” he explained.
The film, which starts with Laal digging into a box of gol gappe (rather than a box of chocolates), is a heartwarming tale that we’ve all seen before.
However, it’s Khan and Kulkarni’s fresh take that really bring this project to life.
You will laugh, and you will cry, and you will revel at the charm that every Aamir Khan movie brings to the big screen.
Laal Singh Chaddha will hit HOYTS Cinemas around the country on August 11.