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Sunday, 6th April 06:00 PM IST by Aabhar Dadhich Remakes and sequels have become a big norm in Bollywood and wherever you cast your eye there is someone running helter-skelter in trying to put together a movie that would pay the ultimate tribute to an original classic. Are heartfelt tributes the only reason why Bollywood does remakes? Let’s find out. Top 5 reasons why Remakes are Made in Bollywood:
1. This is the worst and most dangerous reason to do a remake in Bollywood. In this particular scenario, the director’s vision is severely compromised by the over-confidence in his ability and past record which leads him to believe that even plot-less and entertainment -deficient movies can be remade into BO wonders as long as he/she is wielding the megaphone. This mostly results in an over-indulgent and insufferable mess of long-lost Bollywood cliches riding on the lead actors’ star power to pull the film through. Case in point – 'Himmatwala' (2013)
2. This is not as bad as the first one but it’s no blessing in disguise either. Here, the director is of the opinion that any cult-comedy from the past can be remade by creating a contemporary setting and injecting latest comic talent from the industry.Sadly, the importance of character-nuances is never paid enough attention to and what results is a mildly entertaining but soul-less fare. Learning – you might be able to score with such a remake but you’ll never be remembered. Case in point – 'Chashme Baddoor' (2013)
3. This is mostly a result of an enthusiastic new actor wanting to unearth 24 carat gold with just his first dig at the ground. Also contributing to his eagerness is the director’s life-long dream to remake a legendary actor’s legendary movie with legendary effect. Such overdose of self-expectation is enough to drive the duo crazy and jump head-first into a doomed project. What results is a mortifying ‘tribute’ to the original that no one wants to even speak of even after the release is done and dusted. Including the team that made it. Case in point – 'Zanjeer'(2013)
4. This is one formula that has worked a lot in Bollywood and is the most popular even among A-listers. The reason is simple. The film is already a huge hit in Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam and can easily be remade by modifying the milieu and retaining the cheesy humour and over-the-top action that the masses so dearly love. The only pitfall here is the overuse – if every other film begins to give a Chiranjeevi or Rajnikant Déjà Vu, even the masses start distancing themselves from these. Casein point – 'Boss' (2013)
5. This is usually the least harmful reason to remake an old classic as the director is aiming to fulfill his own vision by making the film and not forcefully trying to cloud the movie with unnecessary ‘elements’ that might ‘work’ at the box-office. This results in a fresh-looking retelling of an old story that has its own class but also retains the old-world charm of the original. Case in Point – 'Don' (2006)
There are a slew of other remakes that are not cited as examples here because it is nigh impossible to figure out the reason for their conception. So twisted and profound must have been the thought-process in envisioning these remakes that the writer here fails to even relate to the germ of the idea that eventually became a catastrophic epidemic. Case in point – 'RGV ki Aag' (2007)
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