Text credit: Charishma Thankappan

The purpose of a remake is to reach out to a wider audience and make them aware of the brilliance of the original film. Often remade in other languages, the film is supposed to be a twice-born that should ideally keep intact the genius of the mother film. Filmmakers may take liberties to bring in variations to suit the target audience of the remake, but the purpose can be lost if the essence is missed.

The just released Bollywood film Dhadak has been much awaited for multiple reasons – being a remake of the wildly hit Marathi film Sairat (2016); being the grand debut of the newest princess in Bollywood – Sridevi’s daughter Jahnvi Kapoor; her pairing with Shahid Kapoor’s younger brother Ishaan Khattar’s first commercial film; and not the least – another baby from Karan Johar’s stable Dharma Productions.  However, the excitement of the months’ of anticipation is beginning to plummet rapidly as reviews pour in, which are mostly touting the film as a failure.

Sairat, the original Marathi film which has been remade as Dhadak in Hindi

Source: imdb.com

The increasing number of poor overhauls of films in the recent past makes one wonder if filmmakers are running out of ideas for original stories, or if they are in a hurry to launch their recreation. Feeble plots, bad casting, inferior scripting, shoddy technical work, weak imagination, lack of research, and a host of reasons contribute to the defeat of a remake. And in Dhadak’s case, it seems to be a combination of most of these, including a hurried stance of being a launching pad for the respective Bollywood starlets.

We take a look at some other substandard remakes that were miserable fiascos.

RGV Ki Aag (2007)

Sources: host2post.com and filmstreams.org

From the moment word went out that the legendary 1975 film Sholay was going to be remade, cinema fans could only wonder at the bravado of the director for daring to venture into such an act. Ram Gopal Varma had proved his quality with past films like Rangeela (1995), Satya (1998), Company (2002), etc., but this decision was considered too audacious even by his staunch fans. Despite casting Amitabh Bachchan, one of the heroes of Sholay as the villain in Aag, the film bombed superbly at the box office.

Ekk Deewana Tha (2012)

Sources: hamaraphotos.com and woodsdeck.com

Fans of Gautham Vasudev Menon had fallen head over heels in love with the romantic film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010). This heart touching love story was touted as perhaps the best performance of Silambarasan and his chemistry with Trisha was well loved, making the film memorable and reminiscent of Vaaranam Aayiram (2008).  However, the Bollywood remake of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa came and went without ruffling any feathers. With a nondescript cast of Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson, if at all the film created any presence, it was thanks to AR Rahman’s music.

Billu (2009)

Sources: netflix.com and galatta.com

After courting a bit of controversy with its original name of ‘Billu Barber’, the film, which was a remake of Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol (2007), failed to make any impact. While Mammootty was the face of the original, seasoned Malayali director Priyadarshan, who remade it in Hindi, banked on Shah Rukh Khan for the Bollywood film. Despite King Khan’s presence and Irrfan Khan’s performance, the film bombed at the Box Office.

Drishyam (2015)

Sources: woodsdeck.com and malayalam-movies2014.blogspot.com

The Malayalam film starring Mohanlal from 2013 had quickly turned into a cult film in Malayalam cinema. A film that took not just Mollywood, but the cinema industry by storm, it was quickly remade into other Indian languages, including Tamil and Hindi. However, neither came close to the performances by the stellar cast of the Malayalam film. Ajay Devgn was a pale shadow to Mohanlal, while newcomer Asha Sharath in Malayalam was far more formidable than the seasoned Tabu.

Chandramukhi (2005)

Sources: vinithtrolls.com and imdb.com

It is safe to say that the Tamil remake of not just Malayalam cinema, but perhaps Indian cinema’s cult film Manichithrathazhu (1993) was an utter disaster. Despite the presence of South Indian superstar Rajinikanth, his rendition of Mohanlal’s role was one of his most forgettable performances. Jyothika was a trifling substitute for Shobana, proving that the latter has no comparison, thus deserving the National Award that she won for her role. Manichitrathazhu was also remade into Kannada, Bengali, and Hindi, but none made any impact except the Bollywood remake – Bhool Bhullaya (2007) – starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan.

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