Run, Aamir, run

Aamir Khan to lose 20kg for the Bollywood remake of Forrest Gump.

BOLLYWOOD megastar Aamir Khan recently announced that he is to star in an official Hindi-language remake of hit American movie Forrest Gump.

Aamir will play the role of Laal Singh Chaddha, based on Tom Hanks’s character in the 1994 multiple-award-winning American classic. “I have always loved Forrest

Gump as a script. It is a life-affirming story. It is a feel-good film. It is a film for the whole family,” the actor told reporters in Mumbai on his 54th birthday on March 14.

Forrest Gump won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Hanks.

The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and was based on Winston Groom’s 1986 novel of the same name.

It centres on the life of a dim-witted but kind man whose life mirrors key events in the United States in the 20th century.

Aamir, who last appeared in box office flop Thugs Of Hindostan, said he would lose 20kg for the role.

“I have to be lean and slim,” he explained, adding that shooting would start in October.

Hollywood blockbusters have long inspired the Mumbaibased Hindi film industry. Actionthriller Kaante (2002) was influenced by Quentin Tarantino’s

Reservoir Dogs while Sarkar (2005) was likened to The Godfather and Chachi 420 was similar to Mrs Doubtfire, although they weren’t official remakes.

Aamir’s adaptation of Forrest Gump is expected to hit screens next year. He said the rights to the movie were bought from Paramount.

An official remake of 2014 Hollywood film The Fault In

Our Stars is also in the works. – AFP Relaxnews