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Remake fever grips Bollywood
30 April 2012
Bollywood filmmakers are revisiting cult classics and presenting the remakes with contemporary flavour. While films like Agneepath, Don and Devdas were successful in reviving the magic of the original movies, others like Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, Umrao Jaan and Karzzzz took the ship down.
Unperturbed with the box office history, many directors are in the process of bringing back the era of '70s and '80s in Bollywood. Remakes of Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Zanjeer, Satte Pe Satta, Chashme Buddoor and Qurbani will be hitting the screens shortly.
Zanjeer (1973)
Filmmaker Prakash Mehra's son Amit is directing Ram Charan Teja (son of South superstar Chiranjeevi) as the new-age angry young man in the remake. Priyanka Chopra will be playing the love interest of the South boy and is reportedly charging a whopping fee for it.
The film is reeling under copyright issues as writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar of the duo Salim-Javed, who wrote the original movie, is miffed that the shooting began without getting the go-ahead from him. Amitabh Bachchan, who starred in the original, rather takes it as a compliment that the movie is getting made again. Zanjeer also featured Jaya Bachchan, Pran, Ajit and Bindu.
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)
Seems like the remake fever has gripped Amit Mehra. Apart from producing Zanjeer, he will also be remaking his father's another hit Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. The remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer will reportedly have his son Abhishek Bachchan in his shoes.
The classic film also starred Vinod Khanna, Raakhee Gulzar, Rekha and Amjad Khan.
Apparently, Prakash Mehra's sons are also planning to remake his other films like Laawaaris, Sharaabi, Namak Halaal, Hera Pheri and Haath Ki Safaai.
Satte Pe Satta (1982)
Seems like Amitabh Bachchan films are what everyone has on their minds. Satte Pe Satta will get a new age remake by Soham Shah, which will star Sanjay Dutt opposite Karisma Kapur.
The original also featured Hema Malini, Amjad Khan, Ranjeeta Kaur, Sachin, Shakti Kapoor, Gufi Paintal, Sarika, Kanwaljit Singh, Prema Narayan and Kalpana Iyer amongst others.
Chashme Buddoor (1981)
David Dhawan is all set to remake the romantic comedy flick. Pakistani actor-singer Ali Zafar will reprise Farooq Shaikh's role from the original while South actor Tapsee will play Deepti Naval's role.
Divyendu Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and Anupam Kher are also a part of the ensemble cast.
Dhawan is apparently also thinking of remaking his own films like Shola Aur Shabnam and Aankhen.
Qurbani (1980)
Fardeen Khan had expressed his desire to remake his father's film as it was his last wish. The work on the film will reportedly start this year.
Feroz Khan not only had acted in the film but also produced and directed it as well. Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Aruna Irani, Amrish Puri and Kadar Khan also featured in the film.
Five hit remakes:
Agneepath (2012): In Karan Johar's remake of the 1990 film, Hrithik Roshan stepped into Big B's shoe to play the iconic character of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Priyanka Chopra played his love interest Kaali and Sanjay Dutt reprised the role of Kancha Cheena. The film was received well by critics as well as audience.
Don (2012): Farhan Akhtar redirected the 1978 action-thriller with SRK and Priyanka Chopra in the lead. The climax was different from the original, which paved the way for Don 2. Akhtar's Don is still alive, hence, third installment of the film is also expected. SRK was seen in his most stylish avatar ever and the film was a hit.
Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster (2011): Tigmanshu Dhulia's thriller took inspiration from Guru Dutt's 1962 classic Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam. The film, which starred Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill, Shreya Narayan and Randeep Hooda, faired well at the BO.
Dev.D (2009): Anurag Kashyap's Neo-noir film was a modern take on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1917 Bengali novel Devdas. Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill and Kalki Koechlin featured in the film. Dev.D saw success at the box office.
Devdas (2002): After Dilip Kumar's iconic act as Devdas in 1955, SRK tried his hand in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali's adaptation of Chattopadhyay book of the same name. King Khan was seen romancing Madhuri Dixit (Chandramukhi) and Aishwarya Rai (Paro). The over-all package of the film was well-acclaimed.
Five flop remakes:
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007): Remake of one of the most successful films Sholay (1975) couldn't have been made any worse. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal and Ajay Devgan in the lead, the film bombed at the BO.
Karzzzz (2008): Between Aag and Himesh Reshammiya's Karzzzz, it's difficult to choose which film did better 'injustice' to the original (1980). While Reshammiya was seen in Rishi Kapoor's shoes, Urmila Matondkar played Simi Garewal's role.
Victoria No 203 (2007): It's the remake of the 1972 hit film of the same name, starring Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Javed Jaffrey, Johnny Lever and Soniya Mehra. The film came, went and no one ever noticed.
Umrao Jaan (2006): JP Dutta's remake with the same name failed to recreate the magic of original (1981). While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan reprised Rekha's role, Abhishek Bachchan played Farooq Shaikh's character.
James (2005): Ram Gopal Varma should probably not remake (read make) any film. Remake of Shiva (1989), the film starring Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari was a mega disappointment.
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I'm too lazy I guess. But given the right director(Shaad Ali?), I think it can be pulled off even with Abhishek playing the second lead. Plus Aakhree Raasta to me has always been ABs the most underappreciated film, definitely I rank it higher than some of his, in my view, overappreciated films. And it's always been an obvious choice to me that if this film were ever remade, it would ultimately star senior & junior Bachchan. Philosopically, this may not mean much, but I think this remake idea would be the ideal film to display the thought of "passing the baton of greatness on to the next generation".