Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Release Date: 11th August, 2022
Cast: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi
Writer/Director: Advait Chandan
Producer/s: Aamir Khan Productions, Viacom18 Motion Pictures
Plot:
Star cast: Aamir Khan, Mona Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Naga Chaitanya & Manav Vij
Director: Advait Chandan
Producers: Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Jyoti Deshpande & Ajit Andhare
Laal Singh Chaddha Box Office Review: Expectations
Aamir Khan was last seen in 2018’s Thugs Of Hindostan, which turned out to be one of the biggest disasters in his career. Despite being brutally panned, it managed to make over 140 crores at the Indian box office. But that was completely a different time. If released today, Thugs Of Hindostan would have been a film wrapping its run below 70-80 crores.
A lot has changed after the pandemic, and so has the hype of LSC. When the film was announced before the pandemic and the first look of Aamir was unveiled, it did spark curiosity. However, multiple delays in the release especially after the makers decided to avoid a clash with KGF Chapter 2, a wrong impression was sent among the movie enthusiasts.
When released, the trailer of LSC received an average response. Further, the boycott trend maligned the reputation of the film. All such factors plus a clash with Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan made it clear that LSC won’t open big as expected, but would take a good enough start and depend much on word-of-mouth.
Trending
Laal Singh Chaddha Box Office Review: Impact
Amid all the ‘unnecessary’ social media negativity, Laal Singh Chaddha has finally released. As per the opening day samples, the film has just taken a decent start at the box office and the occupancy has been much lower than expected. One can clearly notice too much hate for the film on the internet creating an impact.
Even though the film is good, the biggest culprit is its length. As per the current trend, the audience of Bollywood films has become too impatient to tolerate a time-consuming and layered film like LSC. Also, some might find the content too elite, thus restricting its audience size.
Aamir’s previous films had things catering to all sections of the audience. Here, the film gets restricted to a niche zone and only has things to offer to A centres. Further, the competition with Raksha Bandhan has put a big question mark on its fate at the box office. Undoubtedly, the film will enjoy the benefit of multiple holidays but post that, it will work with a limited audience.
Laal Singh Chaddha Box Office Review: Final Verdict
On the whole, Laal Singh Chaddha has a thing working in its favour and that’s its content. However, considering a lot of damage has been done due to social media hate, too much eliteness and a competitor in the form of Raksha Bandhan, the film has its limitations at the box office.
It is expected to wrap up its lifetime run between 70-90 crores.
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube | Telegram
Laal Singh Chaddha Movie Review Rating:
Star Cast: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh, Naga Chaitanya, Manav Vij, Shah Rukh Khan (cameo)
Director: Advait Chandan
What’s Good: That it is not ‘translated’ from the original, it owns a unique identity & that it doesn’t ‘try hard’ to be Forrest Gump & is Laal Singh Chaddha
What’s Bad: While trying not to be Forrest Gump, it actually misses some key elements adding what wasn’t really needed
Loo Break: Yes, because it’s a lengthy film, not boring
Watch or Not?: Only if you’re not really affected by the plethora of misleading information floating on the social media
Available On: Theatrical Release
Runtime: 159 minutes
User Rating:
Laal Singh Chaddha (Aamir Khan) is that passenger on your train who has a lot of stories to tell, even if you don’t want to be part of it. That’s how the story starts by Laal making the viewers the co-passengers on a train to Chandigarh and starting to narrate his journey from a dim-witted guy wearing leg-braces to the front-page celebrity of a famous magazine. Laal grows up with just one person Rupa (Kareena Kapoor Khan) who actually gets him after his mother (Mona Singh).
Rupa, being Laal’s biggest supporter, chooses a different way to grow up and shifts to Mumbai for being an actress in a time when the casting couch was more famous than Koffee With Karan’s. A heartbroken Laal joins the army, thanks to his lightning-fast running speed & meets 2 more friends he adds to the extremely short list of people he gives a f*** about – Bala (Naga Chaitanya), and Mohammad (Manav Vij). Bala, a batchmate turned close friend in the army, won’t reveal much about Mohammad as it’s a treat to witness. Post Army how does Laal survives his life & will he ever be able to reunite with his one true childhood love Rupa is what the rest of the story is all about.
Laal Singh Chaddha Movie Review: Script Analysis
Veteran actor Atul Kulkarni wrote this script 14 years ago after getting inspired by Forrest Gump, Aamir Khan took 8 years to grab the official rights to adapt this one & many won’t even take 14 seconds to call this trash after watching the misleading videos about how this film targets Hinduism & is being softer on Muslims. Yep, they’ll call it off without even watching the film & that’s the sad state we’re currently going through as a film industry. Nope, I’m not saying ‘more time invested’ is the reason why you should watch this film, I’m just saying don’t skip watching this for reasons you don’t even know the context to.
Back to the topic: Atul Kulkarni takes an interesting route of ‘Indianising’ Forrest Gump with some twists & tweaks here and there. Chocolates become Gol Gappe, a druggie ‘anti-war’ activist Jenny turns into Rupa, an aspiring actress getting sucked into the dark side of the Indian film industry & Bubba’s shrimp obsession becomes Bala’s love for chaddi-banyan. There are a couple of brilliant changes which actually stand on their own giving it a unique characteristic and cleverly separating it from Forrest Gump.
The flaws of the original also burden this one as the length at times doesn’t justify the amount of content viewers consume during that time. Hemanti Sarkar should’ve used scissors more often than not when it comes to editing the film. Also, the way history of the nation is portrayed is majorly through television (apart from that one blockbuster cameo & Laal getting awarded by the President) & which pinched me a bit. Kulkarni should’ve explored the mis-mash of Laal’s life with the history of the nation more than he did.
Satyajit Pande’s cinematography is also one of the reasons why this is more than just an adaptation of a Hollywood film. Be it the sunlight cutting through a bunch of trees to the shaky disturbance of the Kargil War, Satyajit knows how to make every frame look a little more beautiful than it could be.
Laal Singh Chaddha Movie Review: Star Performance
First things first, Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo is embedded into the story well making it more than just a ‘sake of it’ special appearance as seen many-a-times in Bollywood & it’ll indeed be an emotional moment for SRK’ians to watch him in all his elements on the big screen after so long.
Aamir Khan proves how a similar act can be so poles apart, after failing miserably in Dhoom 3 due to the script and winning it here for the same reason. Yes, he does not possess Hanks’ level of subtlety in expressing his emotions but he surely adds that extra layer of charm with the pleasant aura his smile creates. The problem of ‘over-expressing’ gets eliminated in the emotional scene where Aamir is anyway expected to bring this A-game and he does the same.
Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Ruby is nowhere near to Jenny as a character (not the performance) as Atul Kulkarni has mellowed her down to the core. Jenny childhood abuse, and her PTSD phase gave the character a different perspective & that’s majorly missing from Rupa. But, Kareena leaves no stone unturned to overcome all those flaws through her impeccable performance.
Mona Singh adds the desiness in the exact required amount to make Laal’s ‘mummy’ the person he’s always talking about. You see Mona Singh in the film & you know she’s the lady that has explained the ‘Gol Gappe’ analogy to Laal.
Naga Chaitanya’s Bala doesn’t really get the desired treatment to match the magic of Bubba. Naga tries really hard to match Bubba’s innocence through his actions but couldn’t due to his lazy character sketch. Manav Vij is a surprise element who fills in the gap of the lack of chemistry between Laal-Bala with his character. Vij has acted brilliantly to honour Kulkarni and Advait Chandan’s vision for his character.
Every story deserves an audience and some are worth telling over several times. There isn’t any doubt that Forest Gump falls in the latter category. Aamir Khan is back on our screen with his Indian adaptation of the Tom Hanks starrer titled Laal Singh Chaddha. After waiting for two long years it is here and all I can say right now is that I am in a sweet coma due to the magic of innocence and love.
So far posters have been enough to tell you the poetic approach the film is about to adapt. The trailer opens to an Aamir as Laal Singh Chaddha, he talks about his journey in a life and the directionless nature of it. It progresses to days he was a child and Rupa (Kareena Kapoor Khan) have him the direction. And begins his journey through the historical events of the Indian civilization.
Adapted by Atul Kulkarni and directed by Advait Chandan, Laal Singh Chaddha blends the story of its original into the Indian Landscape. There is enough nostalgia to make you go back in time. There are more than enough thrills to tell you the journey of a man who literally ran across a country to find a purpose. But nothing looks like it is copied from the original, isn’t that is what an adaptation is supposed to be? Well, Chandan and team get full marks, at least from the trailer.
Trending
As for acting, Aamir Khan is synonymous with perfection and there is a childlike innocence to him this time. While it does brush shoulder with PK, it never makes us feel like a hangover. Kareena Kapoor Khan is exactly how a cold breeze feels on a hot day. Her charm is soothing and she does become the mystery she is supposed to be in the film. Mona Singh is natural and we all know how much important a part she is. So is Naga Chaitanya, and he looks super impressive.
Of course it walks through some of the most crucial and serious moments from the Indian history, it seems all of it is handled quite responsibly. There is love, longing and all the innocent heart that this story requires. Let the journey of finding hope through a life that craves direction take over!
Must Read: Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat Name Plate Worth Rs 25 Lakhs Stolen? Here’s The Truth
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube | Telegram
