The disaster was imminent. Why even try and remake one the greatest movies of all times. Forest Gump was a near perfect film with Tom Hanks delivering one of his finest performances.
Cut to Aamir Khan trying to replicate the same performance. The best way to understand how horribly wrong Aamir went with his over-the-top acting is to look at Naga Chaitanya's Bala, an Army recruit Laal befriends on the bus to the training camp. Aside from replacing the shrimping business with a chaddi-banyan ka business, Chay's Bala is as over the top as Mykelti Williamson's Bubba. He is a Tamilian with a typical 'South-Indian' accent the rest of India has always stereotyped it with. Yet, Chay lives it, and how! His sincerity and surrender to the material and director's vision show in every scene, which ensures his act doesn't tip over and look like a mockery. Naga Chaitanya though skillfully ensures his act doesn't look caricaturish like Aamir's in Laal Singh Chaddha.
Gary Sinise's Lieutenant Dan is entirely gobbled up and replaced with Manav Vij's Mohammad, a terrorist Laal rescued in Kargil simply out of the goodness of his heart, oblivious to the fact that he was the 'enemy'. Even as Mohammad follows Dan's trajectory through the rest of the film - co-founding Bala's chaddi-banyan ka business with Laal, and no points for guessing what they named the super-successful brand (ahem!) - the symbolism of establishing the enemy as the friend is far too stretched, and frankly implausible even in a suspended-disbelief state.
And less said the better about Kareena Kapoor's performance.
Overall give it a miss. And now I can clearly understand why Aamir had to literally plead with Indians to watch his film.
Cut to Aamir Khan trying to replicate the same performance. The best way to understand how horribly wrong Aamir went with his over-the-top acting is to look at Naga Chaitanya's Bala, an Army recruit Laal befriends on the bus to the training camp. Aside from replacing the shrimping business with a chaddi-banyan ka business, Chay's Bala is as over the top as Mykelti Williamson's Bubba. He is a Tamilian with a typical 'South-Indian' accent the rest of India has always stereotyped it with. Yet, Chay lives it, and how! His sincerity and surrender to the material and director's vision show in every scene, which ensures his act doesn't tip over and look like a mockery. Naga Chaitanya though skillfully ensures his act doesn't look caricaturish like Aamir's in Laal Singh Chaddha.
Gary Sinise's Lieutenant Dan is entirely gobbled up and replaced with Manav Vij's Mohammad, a terrorist Laal rescued in Kargil simply out of the goodness of his heart, oblivious to the fact that he was the 'enemy'. Even as Mohammad follows Dan's trajectory through the rest of the film - co-founding Bala's chaddi-banyan ka business with Laal, and no points for guessing what they named the super-successful brand (ahem!) - the symbolism of establishing the enemy as the friend is far too stretched, and frankly implausible even in a suspended-disbelief state.
And less said the better about Kareena Kapoor's performance.
Overall give it a miss. And now I can clearly understand why Aamir had to literally plead with Indians to watch his film.