Disability, Agency, and Adaptation: Comparing Forrest Gump (1994) and Laal Singh Chaddha (2022)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.771Keywords:
Disability representation, Forrest Gump, Laal Singh Chaddha, film adaptation, comparative film analysis, ableism, cinematic form, Hollywood and Hindi cinema, disability studies, BollywoodAbstract
This article compares representations of disability, agency, and social participation in Robert Zemeckis's Forrest Gump (1994) and Advait Chandan's Laal Singh Chaddha (2022). Rather than treating achievement as evidence that disability has disappeared, it examines how these related films negotiate disabling barriers, family support, education, movement, military service, work, and intimacy. A comparative qualitative reading of narrative, dialogue, performance, framing, editing, and sound identifies six recurring areas of representation. Because Laal Singh Chaddha adapts Forrest Gump, the study distinguishes inherited plot structures from transformations arising through changed historical settings, character relationships, and audiovisual choices. Both films challenge certain expectations about disabled protagonists by granting their central characters narrative authority and varied social roles. At the same time, their exceptional-success plots risk suggesting that recognition must be earned through unusual accomplishments. The comparison contributes to disability and film studies by showing how adapted popular narratives can affirm agency while retaining unresolved tensions between inclusion, individual resilience, and structural inequality.
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