Paramount Pictures UK is set to release their third ever Bollywood title, Laal Singh Chaddha, in UK cinemas this week. The UK arm of the American film studio has previously released Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat (2018) and Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) here nationwide.
Produced by Viacom18 Studios, a subsidiary of Viacom 18, a joint venture between Paramount Global and TV18, Laal Singh Chaddha is an Indian adaptation of Paramount’s award-winning Tom Hanks starrer Forrest Gump. The film is directed by Advait Chandan and co-produced by Aamir Khan Productions.
Laal Singh Chaddha is told through the lens of India’s modern history and culture, while retaining many notable elements from the original Forrest Gump, with the screenwriter Eric Roth receiving a screen credit in the trailer.
Starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, the film weaves through Laal Singh Chaddha’s epic journey of overcoming childhood disability, serving in the military, experiencing heart-warming friendships and love, kindling an entrepreneurial spirit, peering into India through the ages – including world wars, independence, partition, conflicts and development; and lots of running!
Paramount has confirmed to BollyNewsUK that the film will get the widest ever UK release for an Indian title with 350 confirmed locations to screen the film from Thursday, 11th August. The studio is marketing the film towards a domestic audience, rather then just towards the South-Asian diaspora, normally the primary audience for Hindi film releases in the UK.
Dangal (Disney/UTV – 2016) and Thugs of Hindostan (Yash Raj Films – 2018), both starring Aamir Khan, were released in 165 and 175 UK locations respectively and were at the time, the widest Indian releases.
The UK will see the film released in two languages; the original Hindi and a dubbed Tamil version, both with English subtitles.
Paramount has extensively marketed the film with press screenings for only mainstream media outlets, as well as advertisements on buses and tube stations in London.
It is set to clash at the UK Box Office with Zee Studios’ Raksha Bandhan starring Akshay Kumar.
Laal Singh Chaddha is produced by Viacom 18 Studios, Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao, in cooperation with Paramount Pictures.
BollyNews UK 