When Aamir Khan went to Hyderabad recently to promote his Laal Singh Chaddha co-star Nag Chaitanya's upcoming film release, 'Love Story', little did he know that he would end up stumbling upon some trivia about his own film. Nag Chaitanya's Love Story that is releasing on the same date as his grandfather's (Akkineni Nageswara Rao) film Prema Nagar had released exactly 50 years ago, was already an emotional and proud moment for the Akkineni family.
To everyone's surprise, there was another quirk of fate that connected Nag Chaitanya with one of his grandfather's films. At a dinner that Nagarjuna and his family hosted for Aamir after the promotional event, Nagarjuna realised that the character being played by his son in Laal Singh Chaddha was called 'Bala Raju'. He was pleasantly surprised and also emotional as that was the name of an iconic character his own father had played in a film of the same name - 'Balaraju' more than 70 years ago. Everyone cut a cake to mark this special moment for the family, that will also see two releases back to back (Love Story and Akhil Akkineni's Agent).
In a recent interview with SpotboyE, Nag Chaitanya talked about Aamir Khan’s gesture to come all the way to Hyderabad to promote his film. He said, “It was truly an unforgettable gesture. He didn’t have to be there and he didn’t have to say the things that he did. It was totally unexpected. Aamir sir saw the trailer of my new film Love Story and he said he wanted to be there to support the team. Having him there at the event was magical! He is too kind a person. The amount of warmth I received from him during the shooting of Laal Singh Chaddha is very difficult to put into words.”
Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha is one of the most awaited films and is all set to release on Christmas this year. The film is an official remake of Tom Hanks-starrer Forrest Gump. The film also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh. Nag Chaitanya plays a crucial role in the Indian adaptation of Forrest Gump (1994). The actor’s character is said to be based on Benjamin Buford Blue aka Bubba, who becomes Gump’s best friend when the latter enlists into the US Army. While the two promise to turn business partners, Gump honours his commitment after Bubba is killed in the Vietnam War.
Image source: Instagram/akkineninagarjuna7, SpotboyE archives