'Laal Singh Chadda' is an Indian remake of the 1994 American film 'Forrest Gump'. Here Gump's baby boomer American epic is translated to roughly four decades of recent Indian history. Laal Singh Chadda is a pure hearted "dimwit" whose decency, enthusiasm and love for childhood friend Rupa, propel him through a greatest hits milieu of the subcontinents Gen X experince.
The film largely follows the beats of its American prediscessor with regional and period modifications. Forrest tells his story to strangers on a park bench, Laal recounts his to passengers on a train. Forrest's mother gets her mentally challenged son into school by exchanging sexual favors with the principle, Laal's does so by doing chores for a Catholic priest headmaster. Forrest's running abilitie makes him a colloge football star, while Laal's allows him to excel at track. Forrest becomes a millionaire in the shrimping industry, while Laal does so by making men's underwear. Forrest has Jenny, Buba and Lt. Dan, Laal's got Rupa, Bala and Mohammad Paaji.
The film does make several major changes from the American version. Laal's Lt. Dan equivalent is not his commanding officer but rather a fanatical Pakastani who Chadda rescues by mistake during fighting in mid 1990's Kashmir. Having lost his legs and ashamed to go home Mohammad Paaji stews in resentment for a long time, reconnects with Laal almost by accident, makes a success of his underwear business and deradicalizes by exposer to Laal and other Indians who are decent people, not the monsters he thought they were. After the Mumbai terrorist attacks Paaji decides to return to Pakastan and start a school with the intent of keeping young people from falling stray to radical Islam. This whole story line was unexpected and I liked it.
A little less successful I thought was the Rupa (Jenny) storyline. Rupa wants to be a Bollywood star and hooks up with a producer who also turns out to be an organized crime figure. When she leaves Laal after they finally have sex it's not because of a vauge feeling of unworthyness, but because she is brought in by the Indian FBI to partcipate in an opertaion to bring down her ex lover.
The film ticks boxs off the recent Indian past, the assination of Indira Ghandi, various riots which were semi common in India, boarder wars, political campaigns, a World Cup and Miss Universe win. These are mostly in the background, though the technology for doing so has improved Laal and company are seldom inserted into period footage, though Laal get a medal from a mid 90's Indian Prime Minister, and we see Rupa in the background of a (presumably famous) Bollywood film of the aughts.
Aamir Kahn plays Laal as probably a little more retarded then Hank's Forrest, he (too) often has an exagerated smile on his face. Kareena Kapoor is both striking and sympathetic as Rupa, and possibly a slightly better person then Jenny. Manav Vij was the standout for me as Mohammed Paaji.
When I learned this movie existed I felt more or less obligated to see it, the perfect kind of quirky, off the beaten path film offering for me. I wasn't expecting too much however but found this to be a worthy reimaging of the tale. 'Forrest Gump' was once one of my favorite movies, I saw it again within the past year after more then a decade and thought it held up fairly well. 'Laal Singh Chadda' is a sweet hearted film, simplistic yes but it seems to come from a good place. The movie has a number of original songs but they are not done as the big production numbers we often associate with Indian cinema, but rather are played over the action. I would recommend this movie as a good introduction to India cinema, not least because the plot is familiar so it's easier to take in when dropped in such a foreign setting. ***
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