Director Advait Chandan is too literal in his adaptation of the 90s classic but finds a warmth and political honesty the original lacks<\/p>\n
Bollywood megastar Aamir Khan\u2019s \u201cHanks-ish likability\u201d is tested to the limit by his new project with his Secret Superstar<\/a> director Advait Chandan: a Hindi remake of Forrest Gump, late 20th-century Hollywood\u2019s pre-eminent Rorschach blot. Sending Gump eastwards opens new channels of history and culture with screenwriter Atul Kulkarni<\/a> swapping in golgappa for chocolate boxes. Yet the source has largely been swallowed whole: the CG feather, the sappy score, the picaresque storytelling and parkbench philosophy, the running with and without callipers. Assiduously replicating its predecessor\u2019s strengths and weaknesses, the one thing it risks is that a three-word summary \u2013 Hindi Forrest Gump \u2013 would tell you all you ever needed to know about it.<\/p>\n Tweaks of emphasis do become apparent. Unloading his frankly exhausting life story onto Chandigarh\u2019s unluckiest commuters, Khan\u2019s title character emerges as an even bigger momma\u2019s boy than Gump, closer in spirit and relentless commentary style to Kids in the Hall\u2019s precocious oddbod Gavin. With Aids deemed so last century, a possessive sugar daddy conspires to remove Laal\u2019s sweetheart Rupa (Kareena Kapoor<\/a>, bringing great warmth to Xerox-flat characterisation) from sight. And there are more potshots at Indian militarism than expected: Laal\u2019s forefathers fall victim to successive border disputes in a tonally jarring prologue, while our hero\u2019s service prompts a few chuckles, suggesting how easily unblinking conformism and sheer dumb luck are mistaken for heroism. This version is happier admitting to its (mildly peaceable) politics than the cagey, bet-hedging original, which is a positive of sorts.<\/p>\n Certain scenes work well. The running is still funny; Khan remains supremely physically expressive. Making the amputee pal a reformed fundamentalist (Manav Vij) is interesting, although the hands-across-the-temple-aisle editorial feels watered down compared with Khan\u2019s puckish religious satire PK<\/a>. Laal Singh Chaddha is far from the worst Hindification of a Hollywood property: it consolidates the basic competency that Chandan demonstrated in Secret Superstar without achieving the genuine magic that the earlier film conjured from well-worn material. Few could blame Khan for playing safe in the face of renewed personal attacks and weaponised hashtags<\/a>. But his best films have taken stands of various kinds; here, he\u2019s running a little scared.<\/p>\n