Desi Train

Bollywood has a new mantra. Remakes. I like it. And before you roll up your sleeves to sock Desi Train, hear, I pray, hear my reasons. Thank you.

Firstly, the word “Remake” is a so much better word to express artistic creativity, than the word “Copy”. It’s an unofficial license. I am “Remaking” sounds so much legal and ethical than saying “I am ‘Copying’”. I would have been so much better off and gone Scot free if my ninth grade teacher Mrs. Gonzalez hadn’t caught me “copying” in my exams; All I had to do was say with an air of superiority “No M’am, I am not copying…I am simply remaking the answer from the cheat sheet I had originally made at home 6 hours ago.” And Mrs. Gonzalez would have found my reply fair and square. Perhaps, she would have even said “Good, but see that the remake is better than the original…and please pass the original around the exam hall so others can ‘remake’ too.”…Life would have been so beautiful…and Dil Hai ke Maanta Nahin would have been a REMAKE and not a COPY of Chori Chori.

The latest on Remakes is that Amitabh Bachchan’s 1978 flick Ganga Ki Saugandh may be remade, atleast, as per the reports on IndiaFm.com. So far here’s the remake list beginning with the biggest of them all

1- Sholay, being remade by Ram Gopal Varma
2- Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, being remade by Pritish Nandy Productions
3- Don, being remade by Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya)
4- Umrao Jaan, being remade by J.P. Dutta (expect a mincemeat of this one, I just have feeling)
5- Amar Akbar Anthony, still under contemplation by David Dhawan & Ketan Desai
6- James, now titled as Shiv being remade by Ram Gopal Varma (don’t ask, don’t question)

The two remakes which look exciting projects to me are Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam and Don. These are movies which have enough room, space – providing enough air for creative mobility. But I would still like to know who is writing the screenplay and providing the direction to SBG, before I let out any spurts of cinematic excitement. One remake I would like to see is the Naseeruddin Shah (or was it Govinda) flick of the early eighties “Paap ko jala kar rakh kar doonga”. Yes, dear blog reader, if you haven’t seen this movie then you have committed the greatest crime of all. Agar apni maa ka doodh peeya hain to Patel store se yeh video lakey dekh. Translation – If you have had your mother’s milk then go to Patel store and get this video and see it. The tragedy is that I don’t think any Patel, Sharma, Reddy, Kokila ben, All India, Indian, IndoPak, Asian store – may have this video.

Since the unofficial license of Remaking has been passed around and is officially accepted all around Bollywood, here’s a few movies I would like to see remade.

1- Do Bigha Zameen (1953)

Made by the maestro Bimal Roy, with a give you sleepless nights performance from the great Balraj Sahani, this is one story which hasn’t changed a bit even in 2005. People still move to cities (now countries) to improve their living conditions, help eliminate debt back at home among other reasons.

The Look
The story could still stick to a family coming to the big city to help them get back their farm lands, to eliminate the mounting debt which keeps increasing with every draught. Or the story could now be of a family moving to the US or Canada (my preference), to help make money and go back home to erase all their financial related woes…are they successful or do they get stuck trying to make a living in this new land or do they even want to go back?

Who Drives
Gulzar – Bimalda’s assistant or any other director who is adept at handling sensitivity on screen. Getting a little more adventurous I may even like to see Gulzar’s daughter Meghna Gulzar direct this movie under her father’s script/screenplay adaptation.

2- Guddi (1971)

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s take on a school girl crazy about movies and in love with Dharmendra, the actor. Guddi was Jaya Bhaduri. Jaya Bhaduri was Guddi.

The Look
No changes required at all. What this movie would do is bring realistic middle class life with a laid back comic attitude, back to the movie screens.

Who Drives
Kundan Shah.

3- Gumnaam (1965)

Based on an Agatha Christie novel, an excellent screenplay adaptation by Dhruv Chatterjee, this is one of the top suspense hits from Bollywood, suspense which today has been turned into crappy cookie cutter templates and ejected on television screens.

The Look
No changes required at all, the story is tight and spellbinding for any age or location. Special effects or no special effects.

Advertisement

Who Drives
Huh? You mean there are still people around who know what suspense means? But as for the actors I would like to see Arshad Warsi and / or Paresh Rawal in this one.

4- Kalapani (1958)

Here is one movie I would love to see remade. The story is that of a son who discovers that his father is alive and languishing in prison based on false evidence, the result of a conspiracy. The story moves to show the struggles the son faces to get his father released.

The Look
In this day and age, with conspiracies galore, it wouldn’t take much to modify the look and feel to our times. Plus the flash backs showing the incident where the father is implicated could be shown in the 70s. Art Directors would relish this challenge of combining the present day and 70s in one movie.

Who Drives
Raj Kumar Santoshi or Priyadarshan. Aamir Khan replaying Dev Anand as the son would be nothing short of brilliance.

5- Purab aur Pacchim (1970)

I know, I know, but please don’t balk at this choice, my dear blog reader. This is an ideal topic for the NRI driven movies. I’m surprised no one has touched it as yet.

The Look
Yes the script will require definite changes, and we may lose the classic pre-Independence era scenes. Yet the meeting of two different cultures and those who are a mix of both can be such a good ground of ideas waiting to be adapted to our times. I would personally like to see the central portion of the movie (those excuses for titillation) being replaced with more meaty portions to tie the viewer to the seats.

Who Drives
Aditya Chopra? Karan Johar? Are you kidding, they may not touch this one with a barge pole. Perhaps Siddharth Anand (Salaam Namaste) or Nikhil Advani (Kal Ho Naa Ho).

6- Kaagaz ke Phool (1959)

The great maestro’s story needs to be told. Again. This time with a light tone taking care the heaviness of it all does not sink the ship. Again.

The Look
Kagaz ke Phool should be given a satirical look. This has to be a laugh a riot satire with a few moments of intense sadness (as displayed by Guru Dutt in the original). What would happen if Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon meets Kagaz ke Phool? A risky experiment nevertheless one worth trying if there are any script writers eager to take a challenge as big as this.

Who Drives
Kundan Shah or Aziz Mirza.

The whole point of a remake is to bring back a classic or a massive hit, which is not that fresh in the moviegoer’s mind, and recreate the magic and success. That’s why I feel Sholay if to be remade should be done after another 10 – 15 years. I may be wrong, so let’s wait and watch.

Many other movies have the potential to be remade like Chupke Chupke, Jalwa, Bandini, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (terribly copied in the eighties)…and a few more.

I guess the rest of Bollywood will decide if they want to jump on this Remake Train, after watching the fate of the first crop of remakes. But ultimately it all comes down to the QUALITY of adaptation. Can you come up with sufficient reasons to make the movie again? Can you tell a good story? Can you tell the same story in a more engrossing way?….Time will tell…

Advertisement

Related posts

1. Ram Gopal Varma’s problems in remaking Sholay What’s weird about Ram Gopal Varma remaking “Sholay”? No it’s...
2. Being Cyrus: Coming to L.A. Good news for movie buffs. The oft talked about parallel...
3. Ram Gopal Varma - What’s going on? What’s going on in The Factory, Ram Gopal Varma’s movie...
4. Don : Darn! It’s difficult to find a central location in SoCal...
5. Darna Zaroori Hai : Factory goes bankrupt And the day has finally arrived. The dreaded day....
6. Chocolate - Mahesh Bhatt has a competitor Last night after watching Vivek Agnihotri’ Chocolate, I realized I...
7. Aray O Sambha Meet Sushant Singh. You’ve seen him in Satya, Kaun,...
8. Same Luthria, New Taxi? You are interviewing candidates. Resumes flow in and out....
9. Shootout at Lokhandwalla - Why? Originally posted on Passion For Cinema. Why are movies...
10. Monday Blues My networks engineer is leaving on a month long...

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 at 11:15 am
Filed under Bollywood
Tags : .

Views : 1,687 views
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.