Producers and filmmakers are always on the lookout for ideas that they can convert into a film, and because they are in the business of filmmaking they also look for opportunities where they can get a film made faster; remake is one of the options available to them.
Remakes is one of the reasons why Akshay Kumar once said that it takes him just 2-3 months to make a movie.
The trend of presenting remakes of south Indian movies started long back, with Jeetendra starring in several such remakes (Himmatwala was one of them). Since then several top stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna have also worked in South Indian remakes. Salman Khan’s fortunes at the box office changes after he did Wanted (remake of Telugu film Pokiri). Aamir Khan’s Ghajini as also remake (of (Tamil Ghajini).
With Kabir Singh’s massive success at the box office, filmmakers are again rushing to grab good stories from the South.
And its a two-way exchange between the two industries; while South Indian films get remade for the Hindi audience, even good Hindi films get remade for the South Indian audience (Pink being a more recent example, its releasing in Tamil as Nerkonda Paarvai).
“Single-screen owners and exhibitors in the northern and western territories of India complain about the lack of content/movies since the mushrooming of new-age storytellers in Bollywood that majorly cater to the multiplex audiences. However, in the South single screens still dominate the industry, most movies (Tamil and Telugu) are made for the consumption of mass audiences. This is one important reason why South remakes continue to make money at the Bollywood box office.”
So lets take a look at the top South Indian remakes in Bollywood:
- Kabir Singh (shahid Kapoor) is remake of Telugu film Arjun Reddy (starring Vijay Deverakonda).
- Baaghi 2 (Tiger Shroff) is remake of Telugu movie Kshanam (Adivi Sesh)
- Simmba (Ranveer Singh) is remake of Telugu film Temper (Jr. NTR)
- Singham (Ajay Devgn) is remake of Tamil film Singham (starring Suriya).
- Drishyam (Ajay Devgn) is remake of Malayalam film Drishyam (starring Mohanlal).
- Bhul Bhulaiya (Akshay Kumar) is a remake of Malayalam film Manichithrathazhu (Mohanlal)
- Hera Pheri (Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty) is remake of Malayalam film “Ramji Rao Speaking”
- Chachi 420 is a remake of the Tamil film Avvai Shanmughi (both had Kamal Hassan)
- Bodyguard (Salman Khan) is remake of Malayalam film Bodyguard (Dileep).
- Ghajini (Aamir Khan) is remake of Tamil film Ghajini (Suriya).
- Wanted (Salman Khan) is remake of Telugu film Pokiri (satrring Mahesh Babu).
Ajay Devgn (Singham, Son Of Sardaar, Himmatwala, Action Jackson, Singham Returns, Drishyam) and Akshay Kumar (Gabbar Is Back, Holiday, Boss, Rowdy Rathore, Khatta Meetha, De Dana Dan) seem to have starred in the most remakes of South Indian films.
Other couple of movies worth mentioning:
- Sadma (Sridevi and Kamal Hassan) is remake of remake of Tamil film Moondran Pirai
- Ek Duuje Ke Liye (Kamal Hassan) is remake of Telugu movie Maro Charitra
