Starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Laal Singh Chaddha was released in the theatres on August 11. Atul Kulkarni, who has acted in films like Rang De Basanti, Delhi 6, and Page 3 among others, adapted multiple-Oscar-winner Forrest Gump into the Indian context after the Dangal star named Tom Hanks' starrer as his favourite film.
The Advait Chandan directorial was reportedly made on a huge budget of Rs 180 crore, but the film proved to be a box office failure it could only collect around Rs 60 crore in India nett collections, as per Bollywood Hungama. Kulkarni, in a recent interview, talked about Aamir's performance and how they decided to include Shah Rukh Khan's cameo in Laal Singh Chaddha.
Speaking to IndianExpress.com about Laal teaching SRK his epic romantic pose, Atul said, "There was a group who had made an excel sheet, because they were kind of doubtful, that there was some liberty being taken - historical timeline wise - in what was shown in the film. They prepared an excel sheet, calculating what could be Laal’s age at that particular time when he meets Shah Rukh. I think Advait was telling me that they told him, ‘Everything falls in place’. I was lucky to get that timeline. It was all there. Shah Rukh is from Delhi, there is an iconic style associated with him. If the timeline would not have matched, I would not have been able to take it in, even if I had thought it."
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As many people had complained about Aamir's acting being the same as PK's in Laal Singh Chaddha, Atul said that it was the actor's and the filmmaker's decision since he himself went hardly on sets. He added, "There are a hundred ways of doing any character. I will never say, even Aamir will never say that this was the only way Laal could be played. If you give him the same script five years down the line and ask him to do the same character from Dhoom 3 or 3 Idiots, he will do it differently. Has Aamir been able to get people involved in the character, hold their hands and take them through this journey? He has done that successfully. But I absolutely respect, if some people felt that at some point. Fair enough."
When Atul was asked about the film's dismal box office performance, the writer-actor refused to comment and stated, "I’m actually not a numbers man. So, Aamir and the producers would be in a better position to comment on that."
