Remakes in Bollywood: a trend story

A string of remakes of old Hindi hits is under way. Putting technical advances to best use, filmmakers are capitalizing on the emotional appeal of the old plots and actors are pushing the envelop in a bid to serve up old wine in new and fancy bottles. Picture this: Amitabh Bachchan playing the menacing 'Gabbar Singh' in the remake of Sholay, Aishwarya as ever-effervescent Umrao Jaan (God save us!!!) and Shah Rukh Khan (Talk of b***s!!! phew...it is really a sad) aspires to do rework the enigmatic Don. Is the remake rage sweeping Hindi cinema today?
People like Shah Rukh justify the remake trend thus, "In Hollywood people remake films and they are appreciated." Having acted in Devdas, which was another remake, he perhaps knows only too well the ageless appeal of classics. Devdas was hailed by the viewers all over. (At a personal level, I abhorred it...for the obvious reasons)
The remake rage, however, is not propelled by commercial considerations alone, filmmakers urge that old stories need to be retold. Priyanka Chopra who is slated to play Meena Kumari's ethereal part in Saheb, Biwi Aur Ghulam (WHY :-( ) remarked, "My generation may not watch old classics and miss out on them completely, what is the harm in retelling classics in a contemporary format? That way they would learn about our rich cinematic heritage," she added. (Give me a break woman! Those who want to, would watch, understand and respect it anyway...they do it. They really do.)
While critics lament that the trend stems from the dearth of original scripts, filmmakers are defensive saying that these fabulous tales must be retold. Ram Gopal Varma who is set to remake Sholay reasons, "I saw Sholay at least five times when it was released, I want to make that film for today's generation."
For producers too, remakes appear to be a safe bet. It is a tried and tested formula after all. Last year turned out to be quite a remake bonanza - as Bimal Roy's Parineeta, a 50's romance set against Bengali backdrop worked well in Vidhu VinodChopra's version, Shah Rukh Khan chose Mani Kaul's Duvidha, to be remade under his banner as Paheli, Dharmesh Darshan's Bewafaa was inspired by the 60's hit Gumraah and Akbar Khan resurrected the eternal love story of Taj Mahal in all its grandeur.
Nevertheless, remaking classics is not a prerogative of today's filmmakers alone. Earlier, filmmakers also banked upon hits of yore. Sholay was inspired by Raj Khosla's dacoit drama Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman by Raj Kapoor's tramp-turned-hustler story Shri 420, Raja Hindustani by Jab Jab Phool Khile and the 90's comic bonanza Aankhen by Mehmood-starrer Do Phool. Not surprising that old themes get recycled time and again.
Today’s generation, too, seems to be divided over the trend. “If I have to watch a movie why not watch the original rather that waste time watching the stupid remake... which at some point, would go out of track and even the charm of the story is lost. Performances of our earlier stars can never be matched in today’s time. So please leave it alone, says Nupur, an student from Pune. Her friend, Neetu seconds her opinion and adds that a ‘classic’ means a piece that leaves its niche in history and that any addition of colour, music beats, technology would not do much to something that has already created history. In general, remakes have become an easy way to get launched in glamour world. There is, of course, no creativity involved in it.
In contrast, there are some who cannot rule out the remake of classics as total waste of money and time. Raghav, another student at Pune voices strong support for the remakes. “If you happen to see something more often you will get bored.but if you see the same with some chnages it looks appealing and this is true for anything. We may get bored if we see the same kind of cars on road even if it was appealing earlier. So when something new comes, we go for it. People want change, he says.
Recently, Pritish Nandy Communication announced remake plans of Vijay Anand's Guide with Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan playing the lead. But this remake saga isn't going to be smooth sailing as the rest. What with actor-filmmaker Dev Anand claiming exclusive rights to the script as well as the R K Narayan's eponymous novel. Whether all these remakes can rework the old magic, only the viewers and the time would decide.