Remakes of regional films seem to be the flavour of the season

Sheetal

Advertisement

Most Bollywood actors are busy shooting for one or the other regional remake. As the pandemic has taught viewers to watch films with subtitles and binge beyond borders, it poses a few important questions— will the remake culture survive? Is there a scope for creativity in it? Experts give their take…

Kabir Singh as case study

When we look at fans of Shahid Kapoor-starrer Kabir Singh, most people were unaware of fact that it was remade from a Telugu-language film and an equal number of viewers went to watch the film to compare it with the original one. Anyhow, it worked for the director Sandeep Reddy Vanga as he directed both the films. As for Shahid, he signed Jersey, an official remake of Telugu sports drama by the same name without thinking twice.

But this is how trends develop and actors jump into the bandwagon. Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan will be seen in the remake of 2017 film Vikram Vedha, Ajay Devgn has just started shooting for Bholaa, the remake of Kaithi and well, you already know of Karthik Aaryan reprising Allu Arjun’s role of Ala… in Shehzada. If you remember the dubbed version of Anniyan, known to us as Aparichit, a psychological film on multiple personality disorder from South-Indian star Vikram (also seen in I), there’s another official remake in development which will star Ranveer Singh and Kiara Advani.

It’s possible

According to award-winning filmmaker Rahul Mittra, the human mind has the ability to create and innovate and hence cannot be boxed with a word like ‘remake’. He says, “Creativity exists in revamped content as in fresh ones. Though I’m not a fan of remakes, remakes too have streaks of originality and imagination.”

Vishal Furia, whose Marathi film Lapachhapi pulled audiences once released in Hindi as Chhorri, starring Nushrratt Bharuccha and Mita Vashisht, opines that India being a vast country with diverse states and cultures, its content viewing habits can never be mapped. “Sometimes good stories don’t reach the whole of India. Remakes in Hindi help good content to reach a larger audience. Having said that, making a remake or adapting a story to a different set-up cannot be done with a lazy approach. It requires great writing and understanding of the new set-up.” Remake of a classic is a tricky affair and should be avoided as a mark of respect to the original, he says.

Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur when asked of the changes he wishes to see in the visual entertainment field, elucidates, “We have been crossing over to other countries when watching series or films. But we didn’t do it in our own country. Now, we have got cinema and series that are accessible by all regardless of language. So, the change we should embrace is to create content which has a pan-India feel.”

And what of remakes? Answers Nikkhil Advani, director and producer, “The idea is to make content in a particular language and make it reach all. The idea of buying rights of a regional film and remaking in Hindi will be gone in the near future. Take for instance Pushpa. People have watched the dubbed version, so remaking it in Hindi is irrelevant.”

The audience game

Rahul adds, “People are slowly but steadily getting used to watching subtitled films, even in Tier-2 and -3 cities, especially with the advent of OTT platforms. Traditionally, remakes made sense as it was easier to get big stars onboard on the tried and tested route. But with the OTT platforms ruling the roost, the star system is more or less decimated. Content is the king now and a new breed of actors are the new stars. Hence, I feel remakes will slowly lose their importance.”

Notable mentions

F2: Fun and Frustration: A Telugu film for which Boney Kapoor bought the hindi remake rights and Arjun Kapoor will be the lead.

Sanki : Remake of Tamil film Dhurivangal Pathinaaru. It will star Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra.

Ayyappanum Koshiyum: Malayalam film gets a Hindi remake which has John Abraham in the lead.

Hit: From Telugu film by the same name. It stars Rajkumar Rao and Sanya Malhotra.

Tadap: Remake of a Telugu film RX 100, it marked the debut of Ahan Shetty.