Posts Tagged ‘remake’
The hit Omkara jodi of actor Saif Ali Khan and director Vishal Bhardwaj are teaming up again, goes the current buzz in the industry. The two are ready to work on a new project as soon as Vishal’s Kaminey, with Shahid Kapur and Priyanka Chopra, is released. Apparently, a big production house has bought the copyright of Martin Scorsese’s 2006 American crime drama The Departed and has approached Vishal to direct it. Having directed dark gangster films like Omkara, Maqbool earlier, they have chosen Vishal to handle the desi Departed. Saif, whose career underwent a major transformation with Omkara has expressed a keen desire to be a part of Vishal’s version of The Departed. He doesn’t mind playing the role of either of the protagonists, played by Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed. Saif’s eagerness to return to working with Vishal has been apparent to his friends for quite some time now. Every time the Kaminey trailer with the ‘Dhan te nan’ song plays, Saif slips into a retro mood. One of Saif’s close friends says, “Saif just loves the look of Kaminey. We feel he really regrets that he could not be a part of Kaminey, especially since Shahid’s role was initially offered to him. He was busy putting together Love Aaj Kal, his maiden production venture, at that time. Every time we notice him grooving to ‘Dhan te nan’s beats, he quickly shoots back, ‘Why would I want someone else’s song? I have my own track, ‘We twist’ (from Love Aaj Kal) in the charts.”
Saif may say that, but the fact is that he is keen to do The Departed with Vishal. Not only that, girlfriend Kareena Kapoor too wants to be a part of the film. Though there isn’t a need for the presence of a female lead in the film, the story may modified if she is a part of the film. In fact, Kareena too was asked to be part of Kaminey initially. But by the looks of it, she has obviously refused. When we ask Vishal about this, he snaps back, “Kisne manaa kia tha? (Who had asked them not to be part of the film?) They got busy with other things and we moved on. I would like to work with them again.” |
Remaking South films never goes out of style in Bollywood. 2006 Malyalam super hit, Notebook, will be remade in Hindi by Arshad Warsi’s production house, Shooting Star Films. The production house is soon to release its first film Kaun Bola starring Arshad and Dia Mirza. The remake will be directed by Roshan Andrews, who had also made the Malyalam film. A source confirmed and said, “Arshad always wanted to make Notebook in Hindi but he was busy with his first home production. He and Roshan have had a couple of meetings and are in the process of finalising details for the Hindi remake. Arshad was impressed with the film as it is a youthful subject with a social message. He was also impressed with the manner in which the subject of teenage pregnancy was handled sensitively.” Arshad too confirmed the news and said, “I love the film. It will be directed by Roshan Andrews and things are currently being finalised.” |
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 57
Posted on: July 16, 2009
2 REMAKES OF SOUTH FILMS FAIL IN BOLLYWOOD!
The previous two Fridays saw the release of two biggies-Kambakkht Ishq on July 3 and Short Kut on July 10. What was common in both the films apart from the fact that both were comic entertainers was these 2 films were remakes of Southern films. While Kambakkht Ishq was a remake of the 2002 Kamal Hasan’s hit Tamil film, Pammal K Sambandam, Short Kut was a remake of a Roshan Andrews’ Malayalam movie Udayananu Tharam. Don’t mistake it for a copy-the rights of both the films were acquired by the producers before remaking it.
Both these South films were big hits but surprisingly, their remakes have failed to impress the audiences. Short Kut took a bad opening and the collections didn’t improve in the weekend due to so many negative reports. Kambakkht Ishq (KI), on the other hand, did a great job in the weekend but the negative reviews prevented it from becoming a big hit. Some trade pundits are trying to save the film by mentioning that KI took a bigger opening than Singh Is Kinng and was at par at Ghajini. In its 1st week, Ghajini collected 64.41 crores and Singh Is Kinng made 39.72 crores. KI, on the other hand, manage to collect 33.42 crores (acc to boxofficeindia.com)! Figures speak for themselves! And the film has fallen greatly in the 2nd week and it’s difficult to say if it’ll recover its costs.
Coming back, Bollywood has since a long time got inspired from Southern films and churned out successful films. One of the biggest hits of 2002, Saathiya, was originally a Tamil film, Alai Payuthey, directed by Mani Ratnam. The Hindi remake was Shaad Ali’s first film. One of the finest directors, Priyadarshan has made successful Hindi films by legally lifting Southern hits. Bhool Bhulaiyaa was inspired from Manichithrathazu, in which Priyan had worked as a second unit director. His hilarious film, Dhol, was a remake of 1980 Malayalam film, In Harihar Nagar.
It is also seen that the Southern directors themselves direct the remakes. Recent example is Ghajini. Both the Tamil and Hindi versions were directed by A R Murugadoss. The Hindi version went on to become the biggest Hit of Bollywood ever! One of the most remembered films of the 80s, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, was a remake of 1978 film Maro Charithra and it was directed by K Balachander. Tamil film Minnale was remade as Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein by Gautham Menon and it became one of the most loved youthful films. Shankar’s first Hindi film, Nayak-The Real Hero, was a remake of his film Mudhalvan. Priyadarshan has also directed some excellent Malayalam movies and remade some of them in Hindi.
In all the remakes, some changes were made but the directors were cautious enough to retain the same magic in the remake which led to the success of the original. But the directors of Kambakkht Ishq and Short Kut failed to do so and that’s why they failed to impress the audience.
Two upcoming Hindi films are also remakes of Southern hits. Salman Khan’s next, Wanted(see pic), is a remake of Tamil blockbuster, Pokkiri. Like the Tamil version, the Hindi version is also directed by Prabhu Deva. Wanted is all set to release on September 18 and it’s expected to be an excellent action thriller. And some days ago, Arshad Warsi bought the rights of 2006 acclaimed Malayalam film, Notebook and is planning to produce its remake. Notebook was directed by Roshan Andrews, who also directed Udayananu Tharam, from where Warsi’s Short Kut was remade. Let’s hope Notebook remake doesn’t turn out to be a damp squib like Short Kut!
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WHY ARENT BHATTS PROMOTING JASHNN?
Many good films have failed at the BO due to lack of promotion. Last week’s Sankat City failed to attract audiences as it was not well promoted. And Jashnn, releasing tomorrow, may also suffer a similar fate. Produced by Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt, the film stars Adhyayan Suman, Anjana Sukhani and Shahana Goswami and is directed by Hasnain-Raksha, who directed The Killer. Jashnn is a musical film and seems to be meaningful and interesting. Its songs managed to become somewhat popular. Promos of the film aren’t shown much throughout the day on TV and Shahana is not yet revealed in the teasers. Shahana, who won awards and appreciation for her role in ‘Rock On!!’, has an important role in the film and yet, is being sidelined.
Moreover, the film is releasing with a Hollywood biggie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Thus, the film has almost no chance to succeed. Since Bhatts aren’t promoting the film properly, let me only do some promotion for Jashnn! I managed to find the theatrical trailer of the film and have uploaded below. Do check!
This post first appeared on MouthShut.com:http://www.mouthshut.com/diary/fgijoptlo/Fenils-Bollywood-Talk57
KJo not to shoot in Australia
Posted on: June 26, 2009
Karan Johar has shifted the outdoor shooting schedule of his untitled production, which is the remake of Hollywood film Stepmom, from Australia to US. The shift in schedule is his mark of protest against the attacks on the Indian students in Australia. A source said, “Initially, Australia was finalised for the shoot. Now the shooting schedule has been shifted to the US. Karan did not want to shoot in a country where the Indian students are facing racism. Since he is in the US now, where he is shooting for My Name Is Khan, he thought that the other film could be easily shifted here.” However, Siddharth Malhotra, the director of the film, maintained a diplomatic stand on the issue. He said, “Nothing has been confirmed as of now. We are still exploring all the locations. Whichever location suits the film better will be finalised. At the end of the day, it’s the producers call. Everything will be finalised by mid-July.” The film goes on the floors in October and stars Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in lead roles. |
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Much as Hrithik Roshan’s fans would love to see him play Vijay Dinanath Chauhan in producer Karan Johar’s remake of the Amitabh Bachchan classic Agneepath, Hrithik has refused to do the film. Abhishek Bachchan has stepped into his father’s big shoes to play the iconic character. Hrithik has politely informed Karan that he doesn’t want to be a part of the remake, while Abhishek is only too glad to be doing it. An industry insider reveals, “Abhishek has said in many of his interviews that Agneepath is his favorite film. Naturally, he was overjoyed when Karan asked him to play the role which his father has originally played. It has always been Abhishek’s dream to do once what his father has done in his career, and he sees Agneepath as the perfect opportunity.” But why did Hrithik turn down the offer? The insider adds, “Hrithik was a tad apprehensive about stepping into Big B’s shoes. Moreover, Karan too had second thoughts after he had approached Hrithik for the role. Besides, Hrithik had date problems. He will soon be busy with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish and since Karan plans to start shooting the film in early 2010, Hrithik suggested that it would be wise for Karan to go ahead with another actor.” |
Karan Johar is all set to remake the blockbuster, Agneepath. While he had to pay an astronomical amount to buy the rights of the Hollywood blockbuster Stepmom, which he is remaking in Hindi, he does not need to buy the rights to remake Agneepath as it is his home production. His late father, Yash Johar had produced the 1990 Amitabh Bachchan-Mithun Chakraborty starrer, which was directed by the late Mukul Anand. Amitabh had won a National Award for his performance in Agneepath. Karan has approached Hrithik Roshan to step in to Amitabh’s shoes. A source said, “Karan has been planning to remake Agneepath but he was waiting for the right time. Now, he is confident that his company, Dharma Productions, can make multiple films at the same time. The film will be directed by Karan Malhotra, who Karan thinks is one of his most promising assistants. While some changes will be made in the script to give it a contemporary feel, Karan does not want to change any dialogue as he is very confident of the dialogue in the original Agneepath.” “Surprisingly, Karan has not approached Abhishek Bachchan to play Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, which was played by the actor’s father in the original. While Hrithik is still deciding if he wants to star in the remake, Karan is sure that Hrithik is the perfect choice. However, the Dharma Productions team is yet to decide on the actors who will play Krishnan Iyer MA, played by Mithun Chakraborty, and Kancha Cheena, played by Danny Denzongpa, in the original,” added the source.
Ashok Vashodia, Hrithik’s business manager, said, “Karan and Hrithik are extremely close. They keep discussing various projects. However, I am unaware of any offer as far as Agneepath is concerned.” |
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Karan Johar and Hrithik Roshan remained unavailable for comment.
Fenil and Bollywood 