‘LAAL SINGH CHADDHA’ Review: Bollywood’s Love Letter To ‘FORREST GUMP’ and Lives Well Led

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

LAAL SINGH CHADDHA

Rated PG-13, 2 hours 39 minutes

Directed by: Advait Chandan

Starring: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Naga Chaitanya Akkineni, Mona Singh, Manav Vij

It might sound bonkers to remake a beloved, award-winning, box office behemoth such as Robert Zemeckis’ FORREST GUMP. However, director Advait Chandan’s LAAL SINGH CHADDHA, centered on a similar simpleton in India navigating life’s bittersweet challenges, has done so with passion and prowess – and the result is rather spectacular. Chandan, star-producer Aamir Khan and adapting screenwriter Atul Kulkarni have retained the original film’s universalities, showing another country also grappling with its complicated history whilst remaining true to the spirited character-drive of the fictionalized tale. Heartwarming, tender and humorous, this is a beautiful, emotionally bountiful, big screen valentine to its cinematic forbearer and to lives well-led.

Just as Eric Roth’s adaptation of Winston Groom’s novel did, this new spin follows a man as he comes of age, dreaming of one day marrying his childhood girlfriend. It’s a sweet tale, yet these filmmakers tweak the details just enough to give the story a renewed sense of vibrancy and poignancy, righting its predecessor’s wrongs, both great and small. Shifting the wraparound device – setting it on a train where our hero has a captive audience, rather than a bus bench where random travelers come and go – is the first difference. The second change isn’t far behind: a tweak to his signature line, which adds multi-layered, metaphorical significance to the journey. Most importantly, it gives its female characters the respect they’ve earned without punishing them for having their own agency.

Laal (played by Khan in his teen and adult years) was always told by his caring mother (Mona Singh) that he was no different than anyone else. She gets him into a premiere school by cooking and cleaning for the headmaster – not demeaning herself by sleeping with him. Over the years, she shields her simple-minded son from religious persecution and politcal uprisings, equating the unrest to a disease he has to isolate from, finally sending him off to war where he meets his best adult friend Balaraju (Naga Chaitanya Akkineni). Yet Laal dreams of the girl that captured his heart, Rupa (Kareena Kapoor Khan), who came from a troubled household. And she too is caught in a nasty battle, pursuing fame and fortune in an unkind world.

While the 1994 film is considered a pioneering special effects bonanza that seamlessly inserted its titular hero into historical events, the remake pares down many of those gimmicky bells-and-whistles. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a refreshing shift. It relies on a small handful of digital manipulations, altering footage from an award acceptance, making an able-bodied actor (Manav Vij) an amputee, and using de-aging technology, most entertainingly during a rooftop meet-cute with global superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

They trade milestones like Watergate, the Vietnam War and Apple’s corporate rise for India’s first cricket World Cup win, the armed conflict with Pakistan in Kargil and Rupa & Company’s rise to power. Khan’s portrayal of a simple man with simple goals is truly touching, if not too distant from Tom Hanks’. He gives it his own personal signature, exploring new facets in the character. Kareena Kapoor Khan’s performance is heartrending and graceful. She brings nuance and brilliance to her role. Vij, who plays Laal’s foe-turned-friend Brother Mohammed, is a stand-out bringing depth and dimension to his supporting part. His performance is resonant and haunting.

As a way to further establish its own identity, this refurbished adaptation chucks the original’s iconic, best-selling soundtrack full of American rock music to sonically demarcate changing social eras. Instead, it uses the connective power of new, gorgeously elevated musical compositions by Pritam to propel emotional momentum. Narrative undertones are assigned audible strength in song-driven segments like Laal’s marathon quest across India, showcasing the beauty and majesty of that country, his nighttime reunion as adults with Rupa, and a few other deeply satiating sequences.

Overall, it’s pretty amazing what Chandan and company have done, reworking a quintessentially American tale and rescaling it to reflect India’s history, people and beauty. They captured the beating heart of the character and his story in a personal fashion that audiences will surely find irresistible and charming.

Grade: A

LAAL SINGH CHADDHA opens in select theaters on August 11.