Film : Laal Singh Chaddha (2022)

 

Laal Singh Chaddha

Laal was a boy with weak legs, though his mother was supportive and he had a best friend named Rupa D’Souza. One day, a group of bullies started pelting stones at Laal. The stones broke Laal's leg braces into pieces and he realized he could run. One day, Laal went to visit Rupa and found her sitting outside her house sobbing. Her father was physically abusing her mother. Rupa's mother died, and her father was taken by police. Rupa was sent to live with her grandmother, who used to work at Laal’s house. Laal was happy, because now he and Rupa were always together.

Laal’s mother sent him and Rupa to Hindu College in Delhi. At university, Laal took part in track, whereas Rupa started taking part in modeling competitions. Rupa dreamt of becoming a model in Mumbai and becoming rich.

Laal joined the Army, and Rupa went to Mumbai to pursue her dreams. Laal met Balaraju Bodi in the Army, who became his friend. Bala pitched the idea of opening an undergarment factory with Laal once they left the Army, and Laal agreed.

In 1999, India was at war with Pakistan. Laal and Bala were in the same battalion. Rupa had told Laal to start running as soon as his life was in danger. When the Pakistani soldiers had an advantage, he ran, but realized that Bala was left behind. He went back, but every time he went back, he found another soldier who was injured and asking for help. He also saved a Pakistani commander, not knowing he was the enemy. He couldn't save Bala, but was awarded a medal by the Indian Government for saving 5 soldiers.

Rupa never responded to any letters that Laal sent her. She had become the mistress of a gangster who took advantage of her and lied about fulfilling her dreams (parallels are made to the controversial relationship of the infamous gangster Abu Salem and Monica Bedi). Laal went to meet her and saw the gangster slap her; Laal responded by beating him up. Rupa told him that he couldn’t keep saving her and that he would have to let her be. Rupa knew that she and Laal loved each other unconditionally, but she wanted to be rich at any cost.

Laal finally opened a business for innerwear but didn’t know how to market his product. Then, Mohammed Baaji, the Pakistani commander Laal had saved, joined the team. Mohammed had the idea if the brand was named after a girl, then maybe their sales would increase. Laal knew of only one girl, so he renamed his company Rupa (a reference to the knitwear company). The sales started to grow, and soon the company was selling underwear to all of India. After a while, Mohammed decided to go back to his country and open a school. Laal’s mother also passed away, leaving him alone.

Laal dedicated his time to tending to the land his mother left him. Rupa visited him one day, but quickly the police came searching for her as she had links to the gangster. She was sent to prison for six months without telling Laal. This sparked negative emotions for Laal which he struggled to manage, so he started running to try to escape them.

Other people thought he might be running for some great purpose, and the media started covering his journey. His run covered almost every inch of the country. After years of running, he suddenly stopped. People had started running with him. They asked him why he stopped, expecting a philosophical answer. Laal said that he was tired and that he wanted to go back home.

When Laal reached home, he was pleasantly surprised to know that Rupa had written him a lot of letters. She had served her sentence and was now living in Chandigarh. Laal met Rupa and found out that she had a kid named Aman and that he was the father. Laal was overjoyed. Rupa was suffering from a terminal illness. Laal decided to marry her. After Rupa's death, Laal took Aman to the same school that he had gone to, feeling that his life had come full circle.