Chris Tucker to star in Bollywood remake Tue May 30, 5:34 PM ET



BOMBAY, India - Hollywood actor Chris Tucker is set to star in a Hollywood remake of a Bollywood hit about a mafioso who enrolls in medical school, an Indian newspaper reported Monday.

"Munnabhai MBBS" was a hit in India and among South Asians living abroad, and will be remade as "Gangster M.D.," the remake's director, Mira Nair, was quoted as telling the Mumbai Mirror newspaper.

"Chris Tucker will be playing the main character in the film," said Nair, adding that filming should begin after Tucker finishes making "Rush Hour 3."

Munnabhai MBBS tells the story of a mafia leader who pretends to be a doctor whenever his parents visit him from their village.

But when his cover is blown, he decides to better himself by trying to become a doctor — which he hopes will also prove himself to the woman he loves and her father, a hospital superintendent.

Nair said she may cast some actors from the Bollywood original, and is on the lookout for an Indian woman to star opposite Tucker.

Nair, who splits her time between homes in New York and Uganda, has made movies including "Vanity Fair," "Monsoon Wedding" and "Mississippi Masala."

Her 1988 film, "Salaam Bombay!" — about the city's street children — was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film.

You know, at first, I was totally opposed to this film being remade, thinking it would be a waste of Nair's time and talent. But the more I think about it, a mainstream film like this could give her the chance to follow in the steps of Spike Lee and deliver something as equally subversive as Inside Man. She could make some great statements about racial minorities living in the United States today, and I like her aims for developing the cast ensemble. Then again, The Namesake deals with a lot of the same subject matter, so it's hard to say how this will turn out.

Didn't this news story sometime last year that Chris Tucker was star in MBBS remake and it was denied by Chris Tucker management team. Did this story just resurface to spread more rumours or something actually been confirmed this time?

Ali

i cant see this movie materialising.. Chris Tucker hardly makes any movies any more and is said to be asking for $20millions+ for his movies.. doubt mira nair or her financiers could afford him!

Status was updated on May 27;

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438049/

Chris Tucker .... (in talks)

..although imdb isn't always accurate to say the least these days.

Ali

For all us cynics - Mira Nair's latest article in TIME magazine seems to confirm this

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... -2,00.html


The key to every seesaw is balance. My latest film is based on The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri's novel of migration and displacement, which is itself a seesaw between two great cities, New York and Calcutta. The film will premiere simultaneously in both cities in November, with a sophisticated marketing strategy and no horse carriages in sight. For my next film, Gangsta M.D., Hollywood will, for the first time, pay good money to buy rights from Bollywood, transplanting to Harlem the beloved story of a Bombay gangster, Munnabhai, who pretends to be a doctor when his parents visit.

Chris Tucker + the guy who wrote Bringing Down the House

Even the Time article doesn’t mention Chris Tucker, hope it comes off though.

Ali

Bringing down the house = the one with queen latifa?

that was one horrible movie. I tried to watch it a couple of times, but couldn't watch it past 3 minutes.

anyway, was the Pakistani version ever released? with some actor named Shaan?

I watched it at the dollar theater, figuring that Steve Martin would make it enjoyable. Nope. Terrible film, and I want my dollar back.

I don't know how they're going to afford Tucker. He just got paid $25m for the next Rush Hour film.

Chris is my fav! most impecable timing!!

This is going to be horrible. Mira Nair has only made two great films in her career - her 2 Indian films - Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding. All her other films were mediocre or average. I think she should just make Indian films, that is where her strength is.