Aamir Khan to star in Laal Singh Chadha, remake of Tom Hanks's Forrest Gump

On his 54th birthday (14 March), actor Aamir Khan made an announcement, disclosing that he will act in and produce the official remake of the Hollywood classic Forrest Gump (1994).

Khan was addressing his annual press conference on his birthday. The remake will be titled Laal Singh Chadha.

The film will be produced by Aamir Khan Productions and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, and helmed by Secret Superstar (2017) director Advait Chandan.

"I have to make an announcement on my next film," Aamir Khan told reporters. "It is called Laal Singh Chadha. It is being made by Viacom and Aamir Khan Productions together. The director is Advait Chandan. This is an adaption of the English film Forrest  Gump. We have got the rights from Paramount Pictures. We will start shooting in October. I will be losing 20 kilos for the film.

"I have always loved Forrest Gump. It's a wonderful story about this character. It is a very feel-good film. One for the family," he added.

The release date has not been decided, but Khan said the film would come out next year. Khan will be playing a Sikh man in the film.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump (1994) is rated amongst the greatest underdog stories of all time. The film was based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. Tom Hanks played the lead character of Gump.

The story covered several decades of Gump's life. He starts off as a poor boy, often mocked for being slow. Gump goes on to witness some defining moments in history.

Forrest Gump bagged the Best Picture award at the 67th Academy Awards, while Hanks picked up the Best Actor in a Leading Role award. Zemeckis picked up the Oscar for Best Director.