• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • REVIEWS
    • TRAILERS
  • BUSINESS
  • CELEBRITIES
  • HOLLYWOOD
  • REGIONAL
  • TV
  • MUSIC
  • TOP LISTS

Bollywood Presents

Exotic locations where popular Bollywood movies were shot

You are here: Home / Top Lists / Top 10 Remakes of Classic Bollywood Films

Top 10 Remakes of Classic Bollywood Films

May 15, 2015 by BollywoodPresents Team

Don remake

Making films is a business at the end of the day, and although filmmakers may want their films to be original, there are occasions when it makes business sense for the production houses to just churn out remakes. When it comes to remakes, Bollywood looks in all directions — Hollywood, down south, and now even at our classic/iconic Bollywood films from yesteryear!

The first reaction when you hear someone talking about making a remake of a classic is ‘that should be left untouched’, or ‘you can’t make it better’.

But as mentioned, at times its just about making money, or trying to capitalize on something when the chips are down (for some). However, some also make a remake for the newer generation. Its like remixing an old classic song for the young audience, who otherwise may never know about the original.

Most remakes usually fail to create a buzz at the box office, but that doesn’t stop the filmmakers from giving it a go (its because a few of them have turned out well…for example SRK starrer ‘Don’).

In recent years, quite a few iconic Hindi films have been remade, some doing justice to the original whereas some making a mockery of it.

Let’s take a look at 10 remakes of classic Hindi films.

Don (2006)

Probably the most successful of them all (remakes), Don (1978) is one of Amitabh Bachchan’s (and scriptwriter Salim Khan-Javed Akhtar’s) most popular films and the character (and its dialogues) achieved iconic status.



Farhan Akhtar and Shahrukh Khan did a great job with the remake. Although the story remains the same, the remake looks like a Hollywood film — its sleek and shot in several foreign locations such as Germany. Don (and its sequel in 2011) did very well at the box-office.

Agneepath (2012)

This is one of the reasons why Big B – the original young man – is a superstar. The original Agneepath is still remembered solely for Amitabh Bachchan’s acting and his dialogues (and his accent, which many didn’t like initially but the movie went on to achieve a cult status later on).



So when the news became public that a remake is going to be made, people were wondering who could match the performance delivered by Big B.

But as it became clearer after the release of the remake, only the basic premise from the original was borrowed, and several new elements/characters were added to the original script. With towering performances from Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, the remake went on to become a hit at the box-office, with both fans as well as the critics loving the film.

Zanjeer (2013)

The original Zanjeer was responsible for putting Amitabh Bachchan on the path towards super-stardom, however the remake, directed by Apoorva Lakhia & starring Tollywood actor Ram Charan (it was his Bollywood debut film) could not strike a chord with the audience. The remake was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu, however both versions were disasters at the box-office.

Chashme Baddoor (2013)

Sai Paranjpye, who directed the original Chashme Baddoor (starring Farooq Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Ravi Baswani and Rakesh Bedi), was quite upset with the fact that David Dhawan was doing a remake of her film (she obviously doesn’t like Mr Dhawan’s kind of films).



The remake’s storyline was adapted to suit the present day audience but it wasn’t completely accepted by the audience. The movie did have its funny moments though with Divyendu Sharma as Omi (who has also acted in ‘Pyar Ka Punchnama’) being the saving grace.

Himmatwala (2013)

Okay, neither the original was a classic, nor the remake did create any flutter. Even Sridevi had commented ‘Himmatwala is no Mughal-e-Azam’ when asked about the remake.

But after the super-success of Housefull 2, Sajid Khan had proudly proclaimed that his remake of the Jeetendra-Sridevi starrer Himmatwala will bring the 80s back to Bollywood. Obviously, nothing like that happened with the remake (starring Ajay Devgn) hardly making any noise at the box-office. The two popular songs from the original film, “Naino Mein Sapna” and ‘Taki Taki’, were recreated in the remake, and those were the only bright spots in this otherwise dull film.

Bol Bachchan (2012)

Bol Bachchan was the official remake of the 1979 film Gol Maal (directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee with top-notch performances by Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt).

Directed by Rohit Shetty & starring Ajay Devgan & Abhishek Bachchan, the remake retained the basic premise of the original film concerning mistaken identities, but the setting/plot of the film were altered and several new characters were introduced. Everything about the movie was mediocre (even when compared to Rohit Shetty’s other comedy films), but the movie still earned more than Rs.100 crore at the box-office.

Aag (2007)

Probably, the most disastrous remakes of all time, due to copyright issues the title of the film was changed from ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay’ to ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’ and finally to only ‘Aag’, and even the names of the characters were changed as per court orders.

‘Aag’ is the perfect example of why people feel that filmmakers should not mess with classic films (in this case, Sholay is the biggest of them all and the most watched Indian film in the history of Indian cinema).

But then Ram Gopal Verma’s movies (especially those that deal with the underworld) has a certain type of fan following, and not really considered family movies. Besides, if the characters are named Heerendra Dhaan, Raj Ranade, Babban singh, you know its headed towards disaster, and it did turn out to be the biggest commercial disaster of the year.

Devdas (2002)

Devdas (based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel) is probably the most remade film in Indian cinema.

Dilip Kumar had earlier portrayed the character of Devdas (in the 1955 adaptation) and now it was the turn of Shahrukh Khan. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the remake had huge stars like Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai. As with other Bhansali films, the movie was a visual treat, the songs & dances were a huge hit.



Devdas was selected as India’s entry to the Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. Time Magazine also named this film to be one of the top 10 films of the millennium in the world in 2012.

Dev. D (2009)

Another remake of Devdas, but this time by Anurag Kashyap, who turned the movie into a hallucinatory trip. The movie also had an amazing soundtrack by Amit Trivedi. The remake was considered a ground-breaking movie for Indian cinema, and overcame several taboos. Anurag Kashyap would go on to became the face of independent films in India.

Umrao Jaan (2006)

The original Muzaffar Ali movie, starring Rekha and Farooq Sheikh, was an average performer, but its music and performance by Rekha were the highlights of the movie.

Announced with much fanfare, the remake (directed by J. P. Dutta) however performed badly at the box-office. Anu Malik’s music was average, Aishwarya was no match to Rekha luminance, Abhishek Bachchan was dull, and the movie was lengthy (three-hour run-time).

Khiladi (1992)

Although not an official remake of the 1975 hit film ‘Khel Khel Mein’, Khiladi borrowed heavily (read ‘copied’) from it.

Directed by Abbas-Mustan, Khiladi starred Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Jhulka and Deepak Tijori. Khiladi was Akshay Kumar’s breakthrough film and kicked-off a successful series of films with ‘Khiladi’ in its title. Khel Khel Mein had Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh and Rakesh Roshan in lead roles.

Both films begin with a fun atmosphere that quickly changes to a thriller — College students who love to plays pranks get entangled in an extremely dangerous situation after one of their pranks go horribly wrong.

Related Posts:

  • Representation of women in Bollywood Films
  • Evolution of Hindi Films (Indian cinema)
  • Top Forthcoming Bollywood Movies (& Trailers): Upcoming…
  • Top Patriotic Hindi Songs of all Time (Republic /…

Filed Under: Top Lists

RELATED POSTS

train film tourism

Darr movie trivia (Shahrukh, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn & the Swiss Alps)

Going back in time…all the trivia related to Yash Chopra directed movie ‘Darr’, a turning point in Shahrukh Khan’s career. Yash Chopra as Director Its said that the idea (and even the title) for the film was first given by Hrithik Roshan, after Hrithik and Uday Chopra (Yash Chopra’s son) watched the Hollywood film Dead […]

Showstopper Shilpa Shetty’s Sexy Waist-Level Cut Costume for Masaba Gupta

Watch Shilpa Shetty walk the ramp as Showstopper for designer Masaba Gupta at the at Lakme Fashion Week. Donning a slinky black printed cut-out gown with an attached dupatta drape, Shilpa looked stunning (and sexy of course) in that waist-level cut costume. Source: Youtube “I feel elated taking the ramp for Masaba. I hope I […]

bollywood evergreen music

Popular Lata song “Ye dil aur unki nigahon ke saaye” has no video footage

You will not find the video footage of the melodious and soulful song “Ye dil aur unki nigahon ke saaye” sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The song is from 1973 Hindi film ‘Prem Parbat’, which starred Hema and Satish Kaul. However, the print of the film got destroyed and hence there is no footage of the […]

movie business

‘WORDS SOUNDS IMAGES A History of Media and Entertainment In India’: Encyclopaedic novel by Amit Khanna

Lyricist, writer and filmmaker Amit Khanna’s encyclopaedic novel ‘WORDS SOUNDS IMAGES A History of Media and Entertainment In India’ was recently launched at an event which was adorned by film celebrities. Its said that Amit Khanna was the man who coined the word ‘Bollywood’ much to the chagrin of Amitabh Bachchan. “Words Sounds Images, A […]

film funding

Anil Kapoor seen standing in ATM line, taking selfies with fans

To combat black money, the Indian government took some bold steps by discontinuing the current lot of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. Like many businesses, even the film industry has been impacted by demonetisation. Anil Kapoor Queues Up at ATM, Clicks Selfie With Fans Although most Indians were happy with the government’s decision to curb […]

golden temple in amritsar

Shah Rukh Khan & Imtiaz Ali film in Punjab for their upcoming movie

Shah Rukh Khan was recently in Punjab, shooting the last stretch of his upcoming film, to be directed by Imtiaz Ali. The movie also stars Anushka Sharma. The director and the two actors were seen filming in Ludhiana and Amritsar. More Pic : #ShahRukhKhan [ @iamsrk ] & beautiful #AnushkaSharma @AnushkaSharma during the shooting of […]

Anushka Sharma & Virat Kohli Honeymoon

Anushka Sharma: Most Powerful Business-Woman from Bollywood

Fortune Magazine has released their list of the most powerful women in business in India, and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, wife of star cricketer Virat Kohli, finds her name in the list. Anushka has been placed #39 in the list. Producer Ekta Kapoor’s name also features in this list of powerful business women. Besides business, […]

Akshay Kumar Twinkle Khanna

Unlike the Khans, ‘Khiladi’ Akshay Kumar Does Not Wait for Festivals to Release His Films

In an industry, where actors are known to be insecure about their career, and how their next film will fare, Khiladi ‘Akshay kumar’ comes across as the odd man out. Unlike his peers, he does several films in a year, which at times do well (all of them) and at times are big flops (again, […]

kunal kapoor in japan

Kunal Kapoor holidays in Japan, trains with Ninja warrior

Actor Kunal Kapoor (was a part of Dear Zindagi) recently went on a vacation to Japan, the land of the rising sun, and comes back enamored. Kunal Kapoor in Japan We all know that the Japanese are the most humble and disciplined people in the world, and Kunal agrees too. “I am totally enamoured by […]

Goa Carnival, 2016: Merrymaking Orgy Before ‘Lent’

Goa Carnival 2016. While Christmas to New Year is the best period to be in Goa, the fun and frolic continues in the New Year. If you always wanted to experience a carnival, you don’t need to head to Brazil or some international location. Now you can enjoy the colors and excitement of a carnival […]

Primary Sidebar

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

RECENT POSTS

Shah Rukh Khan on business

Filming Destinations of SRK’s ‘Pathaan’ Spans Europe to the Middle East

Shah Rukh Khan's film Pathaan was filmed at several filming locations in Europe, Russia, Dubai, and … [Read More...] about Filming Destinations of SRK’s ‘Pathaan’ Spans Europe to the Middle East

music cities

Top music schools / colleges in the world

Top music schools / colleges in the world to learn music performance under expert musicians, to … [Read More...] about Top music schools / colleges in the world

Bollywood in Poland, Country with Medieval Hot Spots & Energetic Cities

Poland is located in the heart of Europe and is well known for its history, which is reflected in … [Read More...] about Bollywood in Poland, Country with Medieval Hot Spots & Energetic Cities

movie trailers

Top Forthcoming Bollywood Movies (& Trailers): Upcoming Entertainers for 2021

Want to know when the next entertainer of your favorite star is going to be released? Want to plan … [Read More...] about Top Forthcoming Bollywood Movies (& Trailers): Upcoming Entertainers for 2021

National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC)

Social Impact of Bollywood on Indian culture

Movies are one of the most influential tools of communication and society does learn a few things or … [Read More...] about Social Impact of Bollywood on Indian culture

bollywood rapes

Representation of women in Bollywood Films

Women in Bollywood films have been subject to stereotypes and objectification, and appeared in … [Read More...] about Representation of women in Bollywood Films

Music Scene in Saudi Arabia

How's the music Scene in Saudi Arabia. Is it really frowned upon? Read more here. Young musicians in … [Read More...] about Music Scene in Saudi Arabia

Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi: One of the finest actors of Indian cinema

Shabana Azmi, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) of Pune, made her film … [Read More...] about Shabana Azmi: One of the finest actors of Indian cinema

war movie

Here’s how much Hrithik Roshan was paid for his 2019 hit film ‘War’

Hrithik Roshan is a superstar in Bollywood and is among the highest paid actors in the film … [Read More...] about Here’s how much Hrithik Roshan was paid for his 2019 hit film ‘War’

sooryavanshi movie

Bollywood facing losses of 5000+ crore due to pandemic lockdown

Almost everybody associated with the film industry is despondent about the future. With COVID-19 … [Read More...] about Bollywood facing losses of 5000+ crore due to pandemic lockdown

Amazon Fashion

Useful Read

  • Who coined the term ‘Bollywood’?
  • Dadasaheb Phalke (Father of Indian Cinema)
  • Evolution of Hindi Films
  • Social Impact of Bollywood on Indian culture

Footer

Upcoming Bollywood Movies

  • Love Aaj Kal Movie
  • Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele Movie
  • Hawayein Movie
  • Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan Movie
  • The Hundred Bucks Movie
  • BHOOT: Part One – The Haunted Ship Movie
  • Haunted Hills Movie
  • 'O' Pushpa I Hate Tears Movie
  • Guns Of Banaras Movie
  • Thappad Movie

Bollywood Movie Reviews

  • Malang Review
  • Jawaani Jaaneman Review
  • Panga Review
  • Street Dancer 3D Review
  • Tanhaji – The Unsung Warrior Review
  • Chhapaak Review
  • Good Newwz Review

Top Celebs

  • Ajay Devgn
  • Kajol
  • Saif Ali Khan
  • Shraddha Kapoor
  • Varun Dhawan
  • Deepika Padukone
  • Kangana Ranaut
  • Tabu
  • Aditya Roy Kapur
  • Disha Patani
  • Rajinikanth

About Us

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in


x
x