When Anil Kapoor was attached to star in 'Forrest Gump' remake

Mumbai: Much before actor Aamir Khan took on the Hindi remake of "Forrest Gump", veteran actor Anil Kapoor says he had pitched the idea to late filmmaker Kundan Shah.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the 1994 multiple Academy Award-winning film, starred Tom Hanks in the title role. It will be remade for the Indian audience as "Laal Singh Chaddha" with Khan in the lead.

However, Kapoor said he was once attached to star in the film which was ultimately canned.

"It was not pitched by Kundan, I had pitched it to him. I wanted to do the film. Before the film could release in India, someone had told me about it. I then told Kundan, 'Let's make this film'," Kapoor told PTI.

Shah, best known for 1983 cult classic "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro", had written the script for the adaptation but something didn't click with Kapoor.

"I always found problems in the second half. As we didn't have the rights of the film, the second half was entirely changed. You can't copy it as it is. But the second half didn't work for me. We had even recorded the songs for the film," the 63-year-old actor said.

Kapoor said though he never worked with Shah, he was close to the filmmaker.

"I always wanted to work with Kundan. We had known each other for many years. I was friendly to his younger brother, we used to stay in the same compound," he added.

Kapoor will be next seen in Mohit Suri's "Malang", along with Aditya Roy Kapur and Disha Patani. The film is slated to hit the screens on February 7.