India, Oct. 2 -- Laal Singh Chaddha (2022). The Indian retelling of the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump (1994) was never going to be easy. Tom Hanks's hit about a simpleton whose life is entwined with major moments in history thrives on Americana and sap. Would Indian masalas ruin the flavour? Aamir Khan mixed in Kargil flashbacks and a Punjabi twist for his hero, Laal. But he faltered by trying to play it exaggerated. What should have been charming felt like parody. Plus, it was just too long. Pity.

Dil Bechara (2020). Any movie based on The Fault in Our Stars (2014), was going to be a tearjerker. It is, after all, a love story of the two terminally ill teens. In the Bollywood remake, the quiet pain was lost in translation as Indianapolis tr...