Indian ‘Forrest Gump’ falls flat Starring: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh, Manav Vij, and Chaitanya Akkineni Rating: 2.5* ...
Indian ‘Forrest Gump’ falls flat
Starring: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh, Manav Vij, and Chaitanya Akkineni
Rating: 2.5*
(The reviewer saw
the film with only 8 people in the audience in the 9 AM show at a prominent
city cinema hall.)
First the good part:
Adapted by Atul Kulkarni from “Forrest Gump”, he has done an excellent job of Indianising
the film. He has left the darker portions that were in the original. The
performances of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh, Manav Vij and Chaitanya
Akkineni are adorable. Shah Rukh Khan too has a lovable cameo. And now the bad
part: It is Aamir Khan who falters here big time. His expressions remind you of
“PK” and “3 Idiots”. He goes overboard at times.
The film starts
on a moving train from Pathankot to Chandigarh where Laal (Aamir Khan) starts
narrating his story with a box of golgappas to his fellow lady passenger. Laal
was born in 1971 to Gurpreet (Mona Singh) who raises him single-handedly in
Karoli, a village near Pathankot. Laal has a very low IQ and is rejected by the
school principal, but on severe cajoling by Gurpreet, gets admitted to the school.
He befriends Rupa D’Souza and they become best buddies, although Laal falls in
love with her instantly. They both attend the same college (Hindu College) in
Delhi. Laal is spotted by an athletics coach while running away from college
bullies and he enters sports and becomes a running champion. He is later asked
by his mother to join the Army like his ancestors. Here in the Army, he
befriends a Tamilian- Balaraju Bodi who wants to design chaddi-banyan like his
ancestors. Bala dies in the Kargil war but our man Laal has to keep his
promises to his mother and Bala.
The film is too
long (running time of nearly 165 minutes) and as a result, becomes a drag.
Director Advait Chandan (Secret Superstar) creates certain things like the
brand name of the hosiery giants & SRK’s open-arms romantic pose that seems
hard to digest. On the positive side, the poignant relationship between Laal and
his mother, Laal and Rupa, Laal and Mohammed is handled well. Music by Pritam
is nothing to write home about. The film does not boast of a single mass
moment.
(Please note: The
point 5* star is for the actors mentioned above for their adorable
performances.)
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