Actor and producer Aamir Khan confirmed rumours of a Forrest Gump remake at an event to mark his 54th birthday on Thursday. Khan announced the Hindi remake of Robert Zemeckis’s 1994 Hollywood hit during a media interaction in Mumbai. The Indian version is titled Laal Singh Chadha. It will star Khan in the lead role, is helmed by his former manager and Secret Superstar director Advait Chandan, and will be produced by Aamir Khan Films and the studio Viacom18.
Shooting will begin in October, and Khan will reportedly shed 20 kilos for the role. “It is a wonderful story,” Khan told reporters. “It is a feel-good film. It is a film for the whole family.”
Forrest Gump is one of Tom Hanks’s best-loved films. The adaptation of Winston Groom’s 1986 novel of the same name stars Hanks, Robin Wright and Sally Field. Hanks’s Forrest Gump is a slow learner who leaps from one achievement to the next through a combination of hard work and happenstance. Gump’s journey mirrors key events in the United States between the 1960s and the ’80s, including the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Visual effects inserted Gump into news footage of deceased American political personalities, such as John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Forrest Gump loosely inspired the Korean movie Ode To My Father. The 2014 South Korean production follows a man across generations and places his adventures against historical events, such as the Korean War of 1950. Ode To My Father has officially been remade in Hindi as Bharat. Ali Abbas Zafar’s movie stars Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif and will be released on June 5.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!