Bollywood at Work
Alright! In one of my earlier posts I'd mentioned how Bollywood producers and directors conveniently rip off or are "inspired" by foreign movies especially Hollywood. So I went about and did a little bit of research and came up with this list of hindi movies that were released this year (2005). I'm sure they were plenty of such movies released in the years before..but I feel this year the number has been particularly high. I've also provided links to reviews of the Original movies for you to compare the degree of inspiration. So here goes:-
1) Ek Ajnabee - As I've mentioned in the movie review, this is a blatant copy of the Hollywood flick "Man on fire". Not only does Ek Ajnabee present similar set-up scenes and set pieces, it also has characters mouth the same dialouge!
2) Deewane Huey Pagal - The basic story structure of DHP is a copy of the hit farelly brothers comedy "There's something about Mary". Director Vikram Bhatt has a long history of desperately looking towards hollywood for inspiration soon after he directs something original-- cos most of his original work is garbage. It's actually quite remarkable how this person is still permitted to make movies. But I must admit that I enjoyed watching DHP. Although both movies follow a similar storyline, DHP contains fantastic, humorous dialouges and slapstick situational comedy. Presence of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and others make this an enjoyable film. The Music director does his bit too and virtually dubs Kevin Lyttle's International hit - Turn me on. I guess anything goes in a Vikram Bhatt movie.
3) Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina - Although I'm yet to watch this movie..reliable sources inform me that this is a remake of the hollywood movie - Confidence starring Ed Burns and Dustin Hoffman.
4) Siskiyaan and Dansh - Not one but TWO movies share the plot of Roman Polanski's psychological drama - Death and the Maiden. Siskiyaan stars Neha Dupia and Sonu Sood. Oh god. A word about Neha Dupia. I personally feel she's not any worse than some of the current actresses out there. I admire her for her gutsy role in "Julie" which in the hands of a better director could've turned out to be better than the sleazy, exploitative and ridiculous movie it ended up being. Somehow Neha Dupia has got typecasted as a glamour girl an image she's trying hard to shed. But it's not so easy.
Dansh Starring Sonali Kulkarni and Kay Kay menon immediately finds more credibility cos of the level of performances provided by the lead actors. Both Sonali and Kay Kay s are serious, thinking actors. It's a slightly better remake and keeps the viewers interested till the end.
5) Chocolate - The essential storyline is inspired by cult Hollywood favorite - The Usual Suspects. Although director Vivek Agnihotri plays around with the plot introducing minor changes and songs and such. Nevertheless viewers who've watched the original will be well aware of which way the movie will turn out.
6) Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya - This is a clever rip off a classic American comedy Cactus Flower with Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Katrina kaif playing the roles of Walther Mathau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn respectively. Incidentally Goldie hawn won an oscar for best supporting actress for role in this movie something which I don't expect Katrina kaif to emulate although she is one on primary reasons i'd watched this movie. Arshad Warsi proves that he is a comic genius.
7) Dus - The basic premise of Dus is a copy of Usual Suspects (See above for link). The director and screenwriters attempt to build a story around it..but it fails.
8) Fareb - Starring Manoj Bajpai and shetty sisters. This movie is a remake of the late 80's Harrison ford starrer Presumed Innocent. It's quite shocking that some directors do not have even the ability to remake a movie. How hard can it really be? A sad bit of filmaking.
9) Bachke Rehna Re Baba- Everybody knows this is an almost scene by scene remake of Heartbreakers. The original was crappy enough..and the remake is so horribly distasteful that it almost makes the original seem like a great piece of filmaking. Hats off to Mallika sherawat and Govind Menon and others associated with this production.
10) Main Aisa Hi Hoon - To an outsider viewing this movie it would seem like Ajay Devgan had just delivered a brilliant parody of Sean Penn's performance in I am Sam. But no. This is a real, serious performance. while the original managed to provide some sort of emotion to the proceedings..the only emotion one would get after watching this mind-numbing POS would be to actually go out and shoot somebody.
11) Zeher - Emraan Hashmi, Udita Goswami star in this listless, dull remake of Out of Time.
12) Kasak - Lucky Ali stars in this dreadful, misinterpreted remake of the great Krzysztof Kieslowski's White which was part of his Red, Blue, White Trilogy. Kieslowski's movies are revered and represent some of the finest in modern moviemaking. One would forget kasak within a few hours...if you're lucky!
13) Jurm - Director Vikram Bhatt's been busy this year. Jurm is a remake of Ashley Judd's Double Jeopardy.
14) Sarkar - RGV proudly announced that sarkar would be his tribute to the Godfather. well atleast he's being open about it. Or rather was there any choice? GodFather is probably one of the most watched movies of ALL Time. Surely somebody would've noticed the similarity in the plots.
- Nav
1) Ek Ajnabee - As I've mentioned in the movie review, this is a blatant copy of the Hollywood flick "Man on fire". Not only does Ek Ajnabee present similar set-up scenes and set pieces, it also has characters mouth the same dialouge!
2) Deewane Huey Pagal - The basic story structure of DHP is a copy of the hit farelly brothers comedy "There's something about Mary". Director Vikram Bhatt has a long history of desperately looking towards hollywood for inspiration soon after he directs something original-- cos most of his original work is garbage. It's actually quite remarkable how this person is still permitted to make movies. But I must admit that I enjoyed watching DHP. Although both movies follow a similar storyline, DHP contains fantastic, humorous dialouges and slapstick situational comedy. Presence of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and others make this an enjoyable film. The Music director does his bit too and virtually dubs Kevin Lyttle's International hit - Turn me on. I guess anything goes in a Vikram Bhatt movie.
3) Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina - Although I'm yet to watch this movie..reliable sources inform me that this is a remake of the hollywood movie - Confidence starring Ed Burns and Dustin Hoffman.
4) Siskiyaan and Dansh - Not one but TWO movies share the plot of Roman Polanski's psychological drama - Death and the Maiden. Siskiyaan stars Neha Dupia and Sonu Sood. Oh god. A word about Neha Dupia. I personally feel she's not any worse than some of the current actresses out there. I admire her for her gutsy role in "Julie" which in the hands of a better director could've turned out to be better than the sleazy, exploitative and ridiculous movie it ended up being. Somehow Neha Dupia has got typecasted as a glamour girl an image she's trying hard to shed. But it's not so easy.
Dansh Starring Sonali Kulkarni and Kay Kay menon immediately finds more credibility cos of the level of performances provided by the lead actors. Both Sonali and Kay Kay s are serious, thinking actors. It's a slightly better remake and keeps the viewers interested till the end.
5) Chocolate - The essential storyline is inspired by cult Hollywood favorite - The Usual Suspects. Although director Vivek Agnihotri plays around with the plot introducing minor changes and songs and such. Nevertheless viewers who've watched the original will be well aware of which way the movie will turn out.
6) Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya - This is a clever rip off a classic American comedy Cactus Flower with Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Katrina kaif playing the roles of Walther Mathau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn respectively. Incidentally Goldie hawn won an oscar for best supporting actress for role in this movie something which I don't expect Katrina kaif to emulate although she is one on primary reasons i'd watched this movie. Arshad Warsi proves that he is a comic genius.
7) Dus - The basic premise of Dus is a copy of Usual Suspects (See above for link). The director and screenwriters attempt to build a story around it..but it fails.
8) Fareb - Starring Manoj Bajpai and shetty sisters. This movie is a remake of the late 80's Harrison ford starrer Presumed Innocent. It's quite shocking that some directors do not have even the ability to remake a movie. How hard can it really be? A sad bit of filmaking.
9) Bachke Rehna Re Baba- Everybody knows this is an almost scene by scene remake of Heartbreakers. The original was crappy enough..and the remake is so horribly distasteful that it almost makes the original seem like a great piece of filmaking. Hats off to Mallika sherawat and Govind Menon and others associated with this production.
10) Main Aisa Hi Hoon - To an outsider viewing this movie it would seem like Ajay Devgan had just delivered a brilliant parody of Sean Penn's performance in I am Sam. But no. This is a real, serious performance. while the original managed to provide some sort of emotion to the proceedings..the only emotion one would get after watching this mind-numbing POS would be to actually go out and shoot somebody.
11) Zeher - Emraan Hashmi, Udita Goswami star in this listless, dull remake of Out of Time.
12) Kasak - Lucky Ali stars in this dreadful, misinterpreted remake of the great Krzysztof Kieslowski's White which was part of his Red, Blue, White Trilogy. Kieslowski's movies are revered and represent some of the finest in modern moviemaking. One would forget kasak within a few hours...if you're lucky!
13) Jurm - Director Vikram Bhatt's been busy this year. Jurm is a remake of Ashley Judd's Double Jeopardy.
14) Sarkar - RGV proudly announced that sarkar would be his tribute to the Godfather. well atleast he's being open about it. Or rather was there any choice? GodFather is probably one of the most watched movies of ALL Time. Surely somebody would've noticed the similarity in the plots.
- Nav
posted by Nav at 2:42 AM
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