'Haathi Mere Saathi' remake runs into roadblock

Producer Ajit Thakur is all set to remake the 1971 mega-blockbuster Haathi Mere Saathi. The film broke all box-office records. It was directed by Tamil director MA Thurumugham. The remake will be directed by another Tamil director Prabhu Solomon.

However, it won’t be easy to do  a remake of a film where an animal plays a pivotal role, warns the chief of the censor board Pahlaj Nihalani. “The Animal Welfare Board is constantly monitoring every thing to do with animals in our films. What was acceptable  45 years ago won’t be acceptable today. In the original Haathi Mere Saathi the elephant was killed. The Animal Welfare Board won’t allow that. There was a superhit song 'Chal Chal Mere Haathi' where the elephant pulls Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja’s broken-down car. Again this would not be approved by the Animal Welfare Board,” says Nilahani.

However, Ajit Thakur, the producer of the remake, maintains that the remake would be very different from the original.