Movie · 2022 · Drama, Romance, Comedy · 2h 44m · PG-13 · HI
Curator score: 3.5/10 (17.2K ratings)
Who knows, are we part of a story, or does a story lie within each of us?
Overview
Events in India's history — from the Emergency and the famous Cricket World Cup win to the Punjab riots , unfold from the perspective of an innocent Sikh man Laal Singh Chaddha, a person with a low IQ but high optimism. Laal is able to achieve everything under the sun but his childhood love continues to elude him.
Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Naga Chaitanya Akkineni, Mona Singh, Manav Vij, Kamini Kaushal, Ahmad Ibn Umar, Hafsa Ashraf, Gitikka Ganju Dhar, Rohaan Singh, Shah Rukh Khan, Aarya Sharma, Nazneen Madan, Arun Bali, Jagat Rawat, Harry Parmar, Shrikant Verma, Guneet Singh Sodhi, Shiv Panditt, Yuri Suri
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
An earnest, emotionally open Indian adaptation of Forrest Gump that works best as a sentimental historical journey and less well as a fully seamless remake. Its warmth, music, and period sweep give it real crowd-pleasing appeal, even if the tonal choices and familiar structure won’t land for everyone.
Best for
Viewers who like heartfelt, feel-good melodrama
Fans of adaptation experiments and Indian historical storytelling
Audiences open to a long, sentimental, music-driven drama
People who want an emotional tearjerker with broad mainstream appeal
Skip if
You dislike overt sentimentality or inspirational storytelling
You want a sharp, subtle, or tightly paced drama
You are tired of remake/adaptation comparisons
You’re sensitive to portrayals of disability played for uplift or broad emotion
Overview
Laal Singh Chaddha is built on a familiar template, but it doesn’t just copy and paste Forrest Gump into an Indian setting. It tries to reframe the story through Sikh identity, Indian political history, and a more openly earnest Bollywood emotional register. That gives it a distinct flavor, even when the structure remains very recognizable.
Worth noting
What works most is the film’s sincerity. It wants to be moving rather than clever, and for many viewers that approach pays off in the performances, music, and the way it folds major historical events into one man’s life. The result is often touching, occasionally funny, and clearly made with affection for the material.
Bottom line
At the same time, the film’s biggest strength is also its biggest limitation: if you already know the original well, some of the beats can feel too familiar. It’s a polished, heartfelt adaptation rather than a radical reinvention, so the pleasure comes from tone, craft, and cultural translation more than surprise.
Top Letterboxd reviews
anushka · 572 likes
OYEE HOYEEEE 🙆🏽♂️DESI GUMPPP 🕺🏽HURRRRR 😳🤙🏽CHAKDE PHATE💪 🤩life🤌 is a box of 🫦golgappe🤤
Arjun Rajput (3★) · 344 likes
Glad the theater was almost empty so no one could see me crying.
Prateek Sharma (4★) · 266 likes
Yes Aamir Khan and co made this adaptation absolutely well with knowing the strength and flaws of Forrest Gump in terrific way. Mona Singh and Kareena Kapoor are true star of the film. Also it's pretty evident that Advait as a director restricted himself to showcase the true horror of India in past cause we know why but still limiting themselves the team did a great job showing the Lal's journey in the most indian way which I absolutely loved.… more Yes Aamir Khan and co made this adaptation absolutely well with knowing the strength and flaws of Forrest Gump in terrific way. Mona Singh and Kareena Kapoor are true star of the film. Also it's pretty evident that Advait as a director restricted himself to showcase the true horror of India in past cause we know why but still limiting themselves the team did a great job showing the Lal's journey in the most indian way which I absolutely loved.… more
Rohan Apte (3.5★) · 135 likes
This is one of the best adaptations of a classic by Hindi cinema. They have successfully kept the main flavour while tweaking it for the Indian setting. I have to say I'm very very very impressed.
H (3★) · 107 likes
Basically if Forrest Gump actually had the earnestness that it pretends to have. There is a lot of complexity here owing to the change of setting/context to Indian History, but the key upgrade here is that it actually attempts to reach out to the other side of historical discourse.
Firstly, the whole core of it changes simply because Laal is a Sikh community in a Hindu society (unlike Forrest being White in a White society). The original/and the novel had… more