Victoria No. 203’ Remake: Inside Info
By Taran Adarsh, May 10, 2006 - 09:30 IST

A few weeks ago, we had informed you that the remake of the yesteryear hit VICTORIA NO. 203 was in the pipeline. The project has finally taken shape. Here’s the latest on the remake of VICTORIA NO. 203.

The remake, also titled VICTORIA NO. 203, will be produced by Kamal Sadanah and Rohit Kumar jointly and directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan [incidentally, Kamal’s father Brij had directed the original VICTORIA NO. 203]. “The essence of the original will be retained in the remake. We will not tamper with the storyline or characters. Only thing, it will be an updated, present-day version. A blend of the old and new,” Ananth confirms the development.

While the cast of the new VICTORIA NO. 203 is uncertain, Ananth is in negotiations with Om Puri for the role that was essayed by Pran in the original. The casting of the other pivotal character, Ashok Kumar, is still undecided. The roles of Navin Nischol and Saira Banu, the love birds in VICTORIA NO. 203, will be essayed by a new pair this time. “We may settle for some hi-profile newcomers/models for these two roles,” Ananth divulges.

Another interesting aspect is that the songs from the original will be retained in the newer version and the tracks will be re-recorded by none other than Himesh Reshammiya. “At least two tracks -- ‘Do Bechare Bina Sahare’ and ‘Thoda Sa Thehro’ -- will surely be retained in the remake. Besides, the signature tune of the original [‘Victoria 203’] will be a full-length song now,” Ananth sounds excited. Ananth plans to shoot his interpretation of VICTORIA NO. 203 in Mumbai entirely.

Producer Kamal Sadanah is equally gung-ho about the project in question. “I have always nurtured the desire of remaking VICTORIA NO. 203 some day and it’s finally coming true,” he smiles, adding in the same breath, “Although Rohit and I kept thinking of names to helm the project, our search ended once we met Ananth. We clicked in our very first meeting. We wanted someone young and dynamic and Ananth matched our enthusiasm. It was as if he was reading our minds.”

Kamal plans to start shooting once the hardbound script is ready. “The camera should rolling in a few months from now,” he adds. Incidentally, Kamal has already completed KARKASH, “an artistic film, which will be released simultaneously on the same day as VICTORIA NO. 203,” he states.

Both VICTORIA NO. 203 and KARKASH are produced under the banner of Angath Arts. The banner is named after Kamal’s son Angath.

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Remake of Victoria No. 230 was covered in yesterday's Zee News:

Om Puri (Pran), Anupam Kher (Ashok Kumar), Jimmy Shergil (Navin Nischal), Amrita Arora (Saira Banu)

Director: Anant Mahadevan (Brij, father of Kamal Sadanah)
Producer: Kamal Sadanah (made debut with Kajol in Bekhudi)

Do bechare Bina Sahare - Amit Kumar & Udit Narayan (Kishore Kumar & Mahendra Kapoor)

music is out! Viju shah has re arranged some old tunes and imho, results are promising!

I never thought that thoda sa thero, might become so good with shreya's vocals!

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/h ... _name.9280

I liked this rearranged music better than ramu ke aag bagula cholay!

Saira Bano's role that initially was assigned to Amrita Arora, is now by Sonia Mehra, Vinod Mehra's daughter.

on't board this Victoria

Patcy N | August 31, 2007 15:13 IST


Jimmy Shergil and Sonia Mehra.








As a kid, I remember watching Victoria No 203 and enjoying it thoroughly. Although I can't recall every scene from the film, I can never forget the song Do Bechare Bina Sahare.

And I can not forget the memorable moments with Ashok Kumar and Pran, as the two buffoons Raja and Rana. As the film reaches the climax, you fall in love with Navin Nischol and Saira Banu's characters.

But the same cannot be said of its shoddily directed remake by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan. Though the basic premise of the film is the same, the extra fittings are a disaster.

The story goes like this: Bobby Bomabata (Javed Jaffery) along with cohorts Devyani (Preeti Jhangiani [Images]), Ranjit (Kamal Sadanah) and Tora plan to rob a big diamond exhibition.

Trouble starts when Tora doublecrosses the team by trying to give the stolen diamonds to her brother (Rajesh Kera). Ranjit confronts and then stabs her. Tora falls near a horse carriage called Victoria No 203 and hides the diamonds in it. She later dies.

Meanwhile, the daughter of the horse carriage driver Sara (Soniya Mehra), a call center employee by day takes over the horse carriage business by night to earn extra money.

Enter Raja (Anupam Kher [Images]) and Rana (Om Puri [Images]), two small time buffoons with a key to a certain undisclosed locker. They learn about the connection between Victoria No 203 and the stolen diamonds. They soon make their way to Sara's house, but take pity on her. They decide to help her out and how they do that makes up the rest of the movie.

But take my advice, don't bother finding out what happens next. Fifteen minutes into the film, and you're already asking yourself why you ever bothered to watch it.

The film does not make sense. After the first half, you hope that the second half saves the film. No such luck. In fact, the climax is the worst. And this from Ananth Mahadevan who said that Tamil movies are illogical and lack sense.

The performances are not impressive. Senior actors like Anupam Kher and Om Puri have performed badly. Late Vinod Mehra's daughter Soniya Mehra fails to attract in her debut, while Jimmy Shergil's character is sketched so badly you don't know why he is there in the film at all.

Two songs, which are retained from the old film, fail to pep you up in their remixed versions. And the two English songs make no sense.

Personally, I like the idea of remaking old movies because that gives the new generations a chance to watch old classics. But if remakes are going to be this bad, then please don't touch the classics.

Rediff Rating: 1/5

** Fun ends before it brgins I am watching old 72 version myself!