Aamir Khan still hasn’t been able to get over the failure of his 2022 film, Advait Chandan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, an official remake of the 1994 Hollywood film ‘Forrest Gump’. At the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) in Australia, the actor recalled how that setback was very different from the one that came before that - Vijay Krishna Acharya’s 2018 period action adventure ‘Thugs of Hindostan’.
“When ‘Thugs…’ didn’t do well, I wasn’t surprised because I didn’t like it. So, the audience and I were on the same side, though I was sad because so much effort was put into it. Aditya Chopra had put in so much money. He’s a great producer. He’d done so much for the film. And of course, we were all disappointed. But it was like an accident I could see happening in slow motion. But with ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, I thought it was a very nice film. It’s still a very good film,” Aamir confessed.
When the live audience said that they lapped up the film, Aamir argued that most of them didn’t show up in cinemas when it was first released back then. “While a number of people have liked ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, I’m also aware that a number of people really didn’t get it. It’d be childish of me to try and believe otherwise because there’s absolutely no way you can kill a film that the audience is loving. So, if it hasn’t worked, then the audience hasn’t connected with it,” added Aamir.
He pointed out that he went indulgent with the Rs 200 crore budget of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. “I had too many successes back-to-back, so I became overconfident. So, I thought it’d easily do Rs 300 crore. Ideally, I’d have sat with my production team and told them it’s not a mainstream film. Then we’d have figured out what its scope is. We should’ve taken the lower limit and not been hopeful,” reasoned Aamir.
Aamir, visibly choking and all teared up, compared the failure of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ to losing a child. “When ‘Laal Singh…’ didn’t work, I was quite shattered. I was very sad, depressed and in mourning,” said Aamir. But he came out of that phase stronger eventually. “It was initially traumatic for me for a few months, but then I pulled myself out of it. I think that’s how I am. I don’t try and curb my emotions. It’s very important for me to feel. Whatever I’m feeling, I allow myself to feel that,” added the actor.