Back10 South Indian films Bollywood remade
This week's Drishyam is in a long line of remakes
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For decades, India’s assorted film industries have been taking each other’s hits and remaking them in their own language, with their own stars. This week’s big release, the Ajay Devgn and Tabu-starrer Drishyam, is a remake of a Malayalam film of the same name. Bollywood wasn’t even the first to get hold of it: Kannada, Telugu and Tamil versions have already released. Here are 10 other films originally in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil or Malayalam that Bollywood has redone.
Pokiri (Wanted)
Pokiri, written and directed by Puri Jagannadh, was a Telugu action film about a gangster who turns out to be an undercover cop. It was a huge hit, becoming the highest-grossing Telugu film ever at the time, and was remade in Tamil as Pokkiri by Prabhudeva. Once that became a hit as well, he made another version in Hindi, starring Salman Khan. Wanted was a huge box-office success, and marked the beginnings of the lucrative trend of Bollywood films borrowing wholesale or remaking outright action hits from down south.
Maro Charitra (Ek Duje Ke Liye)
Though he’d been working in Tamil films since 1959 (he started out as a child actor), it was only in 1981 that Hindi-speaking audiences were given a proper look at Kamal Haasan (he’d cameoed in Aaiina in 1977). K. Balachander’s Ek Duuje Ki Liye was a huge success, introducing audiences not only to Kamal Haasan but also the dulcet tones of playback singer S.P. Balasubramaniam. The film, which was about two young lovers who don’t speak each other’s language, was a remake of an earlier Balanchander film, Maro Charitra, which also starred Kamal Haasan.
Alaipayuthey (Saathiya)
Saathiya isn’t a bad film, but those who’ve seen the Tamil original insist that the Hindi version doesn’t hold a candle to it. Mani Ratman directed the original, which starred a very charming R. Madhavan and Shalini as a young couple trying to navigate the first few years of marriage. He handed over the remake to Shaad Ali. It starred Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukerji, and A.R. Rahman re-did his terrific soundtrack for the original.
Thevar Magan (Virasat)
In Thevar Magan, Kamal Haasan plays a young man who returns to his village and becomes a figure of respect for the people there. This 1992 film, directed by Bharathan, had a distinguished cast (Kamal Haasan’s co-stars included Sivaji Ganesan and Revathy), and ended up winning five National Awards. It was remade in 1997 by Priyadarshan as Virasat, a film notable for Anil Kapoor’s sombre lead turn and some stunning cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran.
Ramudu Bheemudu (Ram Aur Shyam)
Ghajini
When Ghajini arrived in 2008, it was immediately derided as an inferior (and unacknowledged) remake of Christopher Nolan’s Memento. It turned out it was a remake of a remake; director A.R. Murugadoss had earlier made a Tamil version with the same name, starring Surya.
Manichitrathazhu (Bhool Bhulaiya)
Manichithrathazhu, a Malayalam psychological-comedy-horror film by Fazil, was a huge success in 1993. Over the years, it became one of Indian cinema’s most remade films: in Kannada in 2004; in Tamil (and dubbed in Telugu), with Rajinikanth in the lead, in 2005; and in Bengali that same year. Priyadarshan, who was a second-unit director on the original, made the 2007 Hindi version, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which starred Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan. Manichithrathazhu is apparently the gift that keeps on giving; two years ago, Priyadarshan directed a spin-off, with original star Mohanlal, called Geethanjali.
Ready, Bodyguard, Stalin (Jai Ho), Kick
Nearly every Salman Khan film in recent years has had an earlier Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam version. And when they’re not an outright remake they still have elements of the south Indian masala style—as seen in Dabangg and its sequel.
Maryada Ramanna (Son of Sardar)
He’s now known across the country for directing Baahubali, but in 2008 S.S. Rajamouli was simply another talented Telugu action director. His Maryada Ramanna was a big enough hit to be remade in four languages, including in Hindi by Ashwani Dhir as the execrable Ajay Devgn-starrer Son of Sardar.
Moondram Pirai (Sadma)
A movie that’s impossible to watch without tearing up, Sadma starred Sridevi as a young woman who is left with the emotional intelligence of a seven-year-old after an accident, and Kamal Haasan as the lonely man who falls for her. This sensitive film was first made in Tamil by Balu Mahendra as Moondram Pirai, before he remade it in Hindi with the same cast.
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