Mona Singh on playing Aamir Khan’s mother in Laal Singh Chaddha: Was sure people wouldn’t question the age gap after watching the film

Laal Singh Chaddha’s journey from its inception to the big screen has been anything but smooth. In addition to the time and effort the makers put into developing the film, the Bollywood adaptation of Forrest Gump found itself in the midst of several snags, including calls for its boycott. The film was also criticised for casting Mona Singh as Aamir Khan’s character’s mother, although the former is 17 years younger to the latter. Singh recently opened up about the criticism.

In conversation with India Today, Singh revealed that although she was well aware of the debate that was going on about it, she did not want to address it until people saw the film. The actress said that she was not playing the role of Aamir Khan’s mother, but rather the mother of the character Laal. in the film, she aged just as Laal did. Singh said that Laal Singh Chaddha was not Khan’s biopic, where he was 57 and she, being 40 years old, played his mother.

The actress went on to say that she did not think that taking up the role would be a wrong move on her part in any way. “I was so confident and sure that most people would not question the age gap once they watched the film", she said.

Singh shared her family’s reaction to the film, saying that they were very proud of her. She had taken her parents and husband to the screening and spoke of how they had laughed, cried and cheered all the way through. The actress said that the film had a way of making people laugh just as they were about to cry and vice versa. Singh said that it was a rare thing for audiences to experience while watching a film and the last time she had felt emotions like that was when she watched Khan’s 3 Idiots.

Laal Singh Chaddha is now playing in theatres.