By Vishal Sangwan
Bollywood has never shied away from copying from Hollywood, the name itself suggests so. While at times, movies like Satte Pe Satta & Hum Tum did a decent job, at other times Bollywood failed miserably!
Inspiration Or Plagiarism?
Here is a list of 10 Bollywood remakes of popular movies that were hard to watch
Bichhoo – Leon The Professional
In Leon The Professional, a professional hit man takes a 12 year old, whose family is murdered, under his wing. Rani Mukherjee is 20 something in Bichhoo because well it’s Bollywood and the leads need to be romantically involved. All the songs butcher Bobby Deol’s hit man persona and since Rani’s character is no longer a 12 year old, let’s not make her do childish things because a 12 year old Natalie Portman looked adorable but a 20 something Rani looks dumb and annoying.
Yuvvraaj – Rain Man
The duo of Salman Khan & Anil Kapoor tried to replicate what Tom Cruise & Dustin Hoffman did in the Academy Award winning Rain Man. Rain Man was a story that was centered around Dustin Hoffman’s autistic Raymond and it was beautifully supported by Tom Cruise’s portrayal of a selfish brother. Yuvvraaj, on the other hand, did not take Anil Kapoor’s character as seriously despite his good performance. How Zayed Khan and Salman develop a bond with their brother played by Anil is left to the viewer’s imagination. It’s shameful how a director of Subhash Ghai’s stature would rip off and then rip apart such a great movie.
Kaante – Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Tarantino’s debut movie, Reservoir Dogs is considered the greatest indie movie ever. It has been remade too many times by too many directors but none could quite do what Quentin did with the movie. One such director was Sanjay Gupta who had a great cast at his disposal but focused too much on the robbery and its planning along with the background of each individual while the original was more about the characters’ interactions on the go and that is what made Reservoir Dogs different from so many movies.
Zinda – Oldboy
Sanjay Gupta rips off another great movie and shoots it frame for frame. The plot revolves around a man who is held captive for 15 years. In the Korean version he is fed the same dumplings for 15 years and the director did not even bother changing that to some Indian food. The one thing that made Oldboy go from good to great was its ending which the makers of Zinda probably chickened out on. Other than that the cinematography is really lackluster and some of the dialogues were just dreadful.
Naina – The Eye
Naina was a horror film gone wrong. Urmila Matondkar was probably a good choice for the role at the time, as she had done quite a few great roles in the horror genre but she seemed worn out and exhausted from the genre. Naina fails to develop an emotional connection and as audience one can’t feel for the character. The movie drifts away from the original when the protagonist goes on a melodrama spree which ruins the fear factor. To add to that the make-up through the film does not help its cause.
Milenge Milenge – Serendipity
Serendipity was a beautiful rom-com starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. Milenge Milenge on the other hand, was a really bad attempt at remaking the classic despite lifting it scene for scene in the second half. What hurt Milenge Milenge the most was its production time of 6 years. The movie was doomed before its release and the camerawork just looked old. Nobody wants to watch 2004 in 2010!
Chocolate – The Usual Suspects
Why Chocolate was not half the movie that The Usual Suspects was boils down to its bad script-writing. The movie was made more Bollywood friendly by introducing a girl, a love triangle and songs. The direction falls short at quite a few places. To add to its woes the cast just could not live up to the original in terms of acting.
Kyon Ki – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a careful adaptation of the novel of the same name and stays true to its source. It’s a movie about the struggles at a mental hospital and its strict Nurse Ratched. Kyon Ki felt like people with mental disabilities doing funny things all the time.
Deewane Huye Pagal- There’s Something About Mary
While There’s Something About Mary was a classic rom-com, its Bollywood counterpart was nothing but bad direction and chaos. The casting of Rimi Sen worsened things as she just did not look the part and also lacked chemistry with all the men.
God Tussi Great Ho – Bruce Almighty
Jim Carey is a great actor and superb comedian and Bruce Almighty is one of his finest performances. Any remake was going to bank heavily on the protagonist’s performance and well let’s just say Salman Khan couldn’t quite do that. Salman’s performance along with the dialogues felt half baked. The movie lacked Carey’s energy and comic timing. The role of God was done well by Amitabh Bachchan but even he could not save the movie.
Imitation might be the greatest form of flattery but not everyone can play the imitation game!
