Naga Chaitanya ‘Never Imagined’ He’d Be A Part Of ‘Forrest Gump’s Adaptation

Telugu- film star Naga Chaitanya, is excited about his Bollywood debut with Aamir Khan's ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, which is an adaptation of the Oscar-winning Hollywood film ‘Forrest Gump’ starring Tom Hanks.

In a recent chat with Hyderabad Times, Naga revealed that he watched Forrest Gump as a kid and starring in the official Hindi adaptation simply feels surreal. "Since I began my career, my effort has always been to entertain the audience down South. It remains my first love. But growing up, I remember watching Forrest Gump and loving the film. Never would that little kid have imagined being a part of the adaptation one day,” he said.

In the film, Naga plays Aamir Khan's best friend in the army, who was played by actor Mykelti Williamson, in the Hollywood version, who goes on to run a shrimp business with Forrest.  

Calling the experience memorable, Naga said, "It’s a challenging character and I had a great time playing it. There have been minor tweaks done to the character to make it suitable for the Hindi audience but the essence remains the same. We shot in extreme weather conditions at Kargil for 45 days. It was a truly memorable experience." 

Naga also revealed that Aamir Khan was the major reason in saying yes to the project.

"One of the reasons I said yes to this project is for the opportunity to share screen with Aamir and learn from him. He’s very meticulous on sets and it was great fun to work with him. We also had to work in tough conditions that men in uniform face. The production team had to create a path for us as there was no road near where we were shooting. It was a magical experience,” Naga Chaitanya added.

(With Inputs From Pinkvilla)