Laal Singh Chaddha: Why does Aamir Khan play a Sikh in the Forrest Gump adaptation? Here’s what the actor says

Aamir Khan is currently awaiting the release of Laal Singh Chaddha, which is possibly one of the most anticipated releases of the actor’s impressive career. The actor, who is also producing the project, has now opened up about why his character in the official remake of Forrest Gump is Sikh.

Talking about the movie in an interview with Baradwaj Rangan, Aamir said, ““Atul (Atul Kulkarni) in his adaptation (of Forrest Gump) had already placed him as a Sikh. When we received it as a script, we were already reading a Sikh character. So, it felt very natural to us and organic to us. So, none of us questioned why he is a Sikh.”

The actor added that in hindsight, he could be anyone but that he thinks that the reasons that Kulkarni made him Sikh was because of the timeline of our recent socio-political history. Aamir added that 1983 to 1984 was a very difficult time in the Sikh community and that they had to go through a lot of difficulties during this time.

While Eric Roth wrote the screenplay of the 1994 classic, Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks, Kulkarni has penned the adapted screenplay for the remake. The movie follows a young, innocent boy and how he grows into a successful man while also accidentally being a part of some historic events.

The remake is directed by Advait Chandan and it also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan as the female lead. Naga Chaitanya and Mona Singh also play important roles in the movie, with the former marking his Bollywood debut.

The movie, which is bankrolled by Aamir Khan Productions and Viacom18 Studios, is set to hit theatres on August 11.