Former England spinner Monty Panesar joined the chorus against the Aamir Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha, tearing into the film for being a “total disgrace to the Indian Army”.
Forrest Gump fits in the US Army because the US was recruiting low IQ men to meet requirements for the Vietnam War. This movie is total disgrace to India Armed Forces Indian Army and Sikhs !!Disrespectful. Disgraceful. #BoycottLalSinghChadda pic.twitter.com/B8P2pKjCEs
— Monty Panesar (@MontyPanesar) August 10, 2022
The Advait Chandan-directed film, a remake of the popular 1994 Hollywood flick Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks, had run into trouble in the build-up to its release with multiple boycott calls on social media as well as protests against veteran actor Khan.
Panesar, England’s first-ever Sikh cricketer with 50 Test appearances to his credit, added while Hanks’ portrayal of the titular character in Forrest Gump was accurate due to the US Army’s recruitment policy during the Vietnam War, the same could not be said of Khan’s character in it’s Bollywood adaptation, which he described as a “disrespectful”.
Khan, a veteran of the Hindi film industry, had earlier run into trouble with India’s right-wing groups for his comments on “growing intolerance” in the country following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in 2014. That along with his visit to Turkey, a close ally of Pakistan, has contributed to boycott calls against any project associated with Khan.
While it’s doing slightly better than the Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandhan, which was released on the same day as LSC, the film has emerged as Khan’s lowest opener in more than a decade.
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Whenever Bollywood tries to emulate west, first of all timeliness is wrong and Panesar rightly points out, the storylines do not match. India did not attack a third country in the name of anti communism. Also its rich of Khan to make anything about Indian army after his post Modi election rant regarding how he felt to be living in India Boycott is the only way to send strong message