Laal Singh Chaddha: Netizens give verdict on Amir-Kareena starrer

Laal Singh Chaddha: Netizens give verdict on Amir-Kareena starrer

 One of the most eagerly awaited Bollywood movies of the year, Laal Singh Chaddha, has exceeded viewers' expectations.

The movie, which stars Amir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan in key parts, received positive feedback from social media users. The drama/romance movie is an Indian version of the Tom Hanks-starring Forrest Gump, a Hollywood classic.

Nearly 30 years have passed since Forrest Gump's widely acclaimed debut. Because of how kindly it handled these trying times, people connected with the tale of a straightforward, unguileless man bumbling about the globe, engaging with, and occasionally making history along the turbulent road that the United States took throughout the Cold War years. It's headed by a figure whose profound sincerity and lack of knowledge of the world he's influencing feel almost condescending, which some people, like myself, find sugary and shallow. Those are the minority views, though, and the movie is widely regarded as an American masterpiece. But what happens when this tale is adapted for a different cultural context?

Advait Chandan (Secret Superstar) and Atul Kulkarni's Laal Singh Chaddha is an official Bollywood version of the film Gump based on Eric Roth's original screenplay. The action is transferred from Alabama in the 1950s to Punjab in the 1970s, with Hindi cinema sensation Aamir Khan (Dangal) as the titular character, the innocent, maybe even more obviously cognitively challenged Laal. Laal meanders over important moments in Indian history over the span of almost 40 years in a style that will be quite recognisable to fans of the original.

When a movie is recreated, it is frequently done with considerable care to adjust the content for the target audience. Some of such modifications are made by Laal Singh Chaddha, but most of them are detrimental. Rupa, who is portrayed as an adult by another A-list performer, Kareena Kapoor, takes the position of Gump's former flame Jenny. However, Rupa's trip is very different in this version of the novel, forgoing the original's subtextual commentary offered by Jenny's underground adventures in favour of a straightforward account about a gangster's girlfriend. Rupa's storyline is nearly entirely flat for no reason of Kapoor's, taking away one of the most intriguing elements of the original movie.

A considerably more expansive depiction of the Gump character may be found in Khan's Laal. Khan portrays Laal as a parody of an intellectually challenged protagonist; like Billy Bob Thornton from Sling Blade, but less subtly; as opposed to Hanks' obvious portrayal of a man with a low IQ, possibly somewhere on the autistic spectrum. He is regarded as one of India's best performers, but when given this role, he completely overachieves, making it nearly difficult to see. This reminds me of a line from Tropic Thunder by Robert Downey Jr. that I hesitate to repeat here, but you presumably already know: "Never go full.

The remainder of the movie won't work without a strong performance from Khan, but he isn't assisted by Kulkarni and Chandan's terribly sloppy adaptation and directing. The dialogue is almost verbatim from the original; little adjustments are made, but only where they are absolutely essential. A package of chocolates is transformed into a box of golgappa, a common street meal, ice cream in the field hospital is transformed into kulfi, a dairy dessert like a popsicle, and so on.

The majority of this movie finds 57-year-old Aamir Khan playing Laal in his twenties. As a result, major digital de-aging was unavoidable, which I don't mind. However, they didn't only smooth out his face; they also drastically altered the contour of his body so that once young Laal appears on screen, the entire background shifts to reflect his younger, slimmer frame. It's really annoying and not what viewers would anticipate from a high-budget drama. It took me a while to figure out what the issue was since it nearly appeared like he was green-screened into several photos, but once you notice that every straight line in the frame is bending at an odd angle.