New Delhi: Despite high anticipation, Aamir Khan’s “Laal Singh Chaddha” fell short of expectations upon its release in August 2022. The film failed to resonate with audiences, resulting in lacklustre box office returns of approximately Rs 60 crore in India. Over a year later, Aamir Khan’s former wife, Kiran Rao, has shed light on the actor’s disappointment following the film’s underwhelming performance.
In a recent interview with Zoom, Kiran Rao revealed that Aamir Khan was “deeply affected” by the failure of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. She said, “It’s really disheartening, when you put in all the effort, and it doesn’t work, which is what happened with Laal Singh Chaddha. And it definitely affected Aamir quite deeply. It affected all of us because it was a project that had seen so many stages, it had done the Covid-19 rollercoaster.”
Kiran stressed that Laal Singh Chaddha was a “dream project” for Aamir, who had sought the rights to the screenplay for more than ten years prior to its release. She added, “Laal Singh Chaddha had been a dream project for Aamir. He had been working on getting the rights for the script for a decade before we made it.”
Kiran proceeded to elaborate on the industry’s penchant for formulaic films, saying, “It’s a risk we take and honestly I think that’s one of the reasons we have formulaic films, that people just follow the formula, ‘Action films are working let’s only do action’ or crime, thriller, romantic comedy, whatever it is it just becomes a safety sort of net for people who don’t want to take that risk of failing.”
Meanwhile, filmmaker Kiran Rao has been keeping herself busy with marketing her latest film, ‘Laapata Ladies’. It will be released in theatres on March 1, 2024.
About ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’
‘Laal Singh Chaddha,’ directed by Advait Chandan, featured Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh, and Naga Chaitanya in prominent roles. Serving as the official Hindi remake of Tom Hanks’ iconic 1994 film ‘Forrest Gump,’ the project garnered considerable attention prior to its release but failed to leave a lasting impression on audiences.
After a very low-key theatrical debut in August, Laal Singh Chaddha quietly made its way to Netflix.