Remakes are passé. Bollywood must turn to originals

Bollywood star’s ability to attract viewers to the theatres has weakened. If a Hindi film happens to be a remake of a known film, its box office performance is uncertain

The idea of creating a Hindi remake of a film in another language has tempted filmmakers for decades. A famous instance is Tapi Chanakya’s Ram Aur Shyam (1967), a film best known for Dilip Kumar’s performance as twins with contrasting personalities. Ram Aur Shyam was the remake of Chanakya’s Telugu hit Ramudu Bheemudu (1964) in which N T Rama Rao appeared as twins.

From Ram Aur Shyam to A R Murugadoss’s Ghajini (2008), the remake of his 2005 Tamil film of the same title, the list of successful Hindi remakes is long indeed. Such success stories inspired other makers to take the same route, and some achieved their target of getting good results at the box office.

However, filmgoers have rejected most recent Hindi remakes of films in other languages. The most prominent failure was Advait Chandan’s Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), the remake of Robert Zemeckis’s Hollywood film Forrest Gump (1994), which performed poorly in India for an Aamir Khan starrer. Jersey (2022), Gowtam Tinnamuri’s remake of his 2019 Telugu film of the same title, crashed. Vikram Vedha (2022), Pushkar-Gayathri’s remake of their 2017 Tamil film of the same title, was a disappointment. Farhad Samji’s Bachchhan Paandey (2022), the remake of Karthik Subbaraj’s Tamil film Jigarthanda (2014), capsized.

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Raj Mehta’s Selfiee (2023), the remake of Lal Jr’s Malayalam film Driving Licence (2019), bombed. Rohit Dhawan’s Shehzada (2023), the remake of Trivikram Srinivas’s Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), was a disaster. The long list of recent failures serves as a warning for all makers, who believe that Hindi adaptations of films made in other languages can be commercially successful.

It is not difficult to understand why Hindi remakes of films in other languages rarely succeed in modern times. The emergence of OTT platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video has given easy access to films alongside other content. Many urban viewers watch films on YouTube, too, whereas subscribers of OTT platforms enjoy the benefit of watching films at home. Direct-to-digital releases are in a small minority, while the rest of the films are theatrical releases that start streaming online sometime later. Films released earlier in the theatres and available on OTT later include those in Indian languages as also international films, among them Hollywood films, which occasionally ‘inspire’ Hindi remakes of films in other languages.

Hindi remakes of films in other languages succeeded more easily in pre-OTT times because their original versions did not reach the average viewer. In modern times, many urban viewers watch the original version before the release of the remake. When the remake’s teaser and trailer are finally released, instant comparisons with the original film start circulating on social media. The element of surprise disappears before the remake’s release, resulting in far less interest in the film.

The content of OTT platforms has emerged as a consumer of the viewer’s disposable time. Popular web series are binge-watched on weekends. The best among new direct-to-digital releases is often better than the best among new theatrical releases. They, too, take up time, along with countless other international alternatives with rapidly increasing urban viewership.

In these changed times, the major Bollywood star’s ability to attract viewers to the theatres has weakened considerably. If a film has one or two such stars but happens to be a remake of a known original film, the chances of getting a good number of viewers diminish even further. Shehzada had Kartik Aaryan in the role played by Allu Arjun in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Aaryan performed adequately well, but Arjun’s superior performance in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo was discussed and appreciated on social media. Those who streamed the original film passed their judgement right after the remake’s release, leading to a debacle of the kind few expected.

Bollywood has been struggling to deliver commercial success lately. The failure of most remakes — with the notable exception of Abhishek Pathak’s hit film Drishyam 2 (2022), the remake of Jeethu Joseph’s 2021 Malayalam film of the same title — has been a major reason for the inability to counter the current situation.

Things will change for the better only after filmmakers find ways and means to satisfy the more knowledgeable and critical modern-day viewer. That will happen if they stop producing remakes of films that are mostly available on OTT platforms.

(Biswadeep Ghosh is a senior journalist.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH