Chulbul Pandey will speak Telugu now

Director Abhinav Kashyap pulled all stops to create the larger-than-life Chulbul Pandey. And Salman Khan, as the swashbuckling cop, played to the gallery.

As Salman gnashed his teeth, flared his nostrils and brutally killed the wrongdoers, everyone sat up and took notice, including filmmakers down south. And after much deliberation and negotiation, the remake rights of Dabangg were sold to actor-producer Pawan Kalyan who will reprise Salman's role in the Telugu version titled Gabbar Singh. Meanwhile, talks are on with production houses for a Tamil version too.

Producer Arbaaz Khan is elated that Dabangg is one of the few Hindi films to have caught the fancy of south Indian filmmakers. “It is usually the other way around. We remake films from the south in Hindi regularly while only a handful of Hindi films get made in south Indian languages,” he says.

Industry insiders point out that a reversal of trends between Bollywood and the south Indian film industries is slowly underway.

The Tamil version of Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots is presently under production in Ooty. Titled Nanban, the film is being directed by Shankar who made the Rajnikant and Aishwarya Rai-starrer Robot. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film's producer, is believed to be currently in talks with production houses to sell the Telugu rights of 3 Idiots.

“The number of Hindi films being considered for south Indian remakes is on the rise," says Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO of UTV Motion Pictures. “The Hindi film industry and its south Indian counterparts are no longer frogs in the pond and are looking for varied concepts outside their own immediate surroundings.”

UTV has recently remade A Wednesday as Unnaipol Oruvam and Eenadu in Tamil and Telugu respectively. Earlier, the production house’s Khosla ka Ghosla was released as Poi Salla Purami in Tamil.

In fact, so serious is UTV about the remake mantra that it has an entire division working towards strengthening its presence in the south Indian market. “We have identified several more films from our repertoire that we would like to remake in Tamil, Telugu or both,” reveals Roy Kapur.

Actor Kamal Hassan, who had remade Govind Nihalani’s Drohkaal in Tamil a few years ago, feels that the reversal of trends is a good sign. “Earlier, there was a lack of communication and sharing of ideas amongst the Indian film industry on account of the language barrier,” he says.

Hassan adds that he was glad that all that seemed to be changing now. “Chennai or Mumbai is just an address. I am an Indian actor and filmmaker who should not be confined to any one style of narration or filmmaking,” he says.

While the fact remains that action flicks work better at the Tamil and Telugu box-office, industry insiders suggest that universal themes such as the victory of good over evil as shown in Dabangg or the common man's angst in A Wednesday and Khosla Ka Ghosla work with audiences irrespective of language or regional sensibilities.

“We have been regularly borrowing from the south because of the interesting subjects or the engaging narrative style. But today, Bollywood scripts are getting diverse, more appealing and universal. Hence producers from the south are also looking at telling the same stories,” says Abhinav.

Meanwhile, the remake market is thriving because of the huge returns involved for both the seller and the buyer of the original rights. Industry sources reveal that the remake rights for a successful film like Dabangg or Munnabhai MBBS are sold for anything between Rs10 crores and Rs15 crores. Trade pundits feel that it is a small price to pay since the south Indian versions have been successful at the box office.

For instance, Munnabhai's Tamil and Telugu versions Vasool Raja MBBS starring Kamal Haasan and Shankar Dada MBBS with Chiranjeevi were among the highest grossers in their respective markets in 2005. The Kannada version Uppidada MBBS starring actor-filmmaker Upendra also did well. Unnaipol Oruvam and Eenadu grossed between Rs 25 crores to Rs 30 crores. “The Hindi 3 Idiots made nearly 1.7 crore in Tamil Nadu. And it is expected that the remake would have a greater reach since more people would like to watch it in their own language,” says the film’s producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

Trade pundits however feel that it is not just good content but good casting that contributes to the popularity of remakes in their respective regional markets. For instance, Kamal Haasan reprised Naseeruddin Shah’s roles in both the versions of A Wednesday while Mohanlal and Venkatesh essayed Anupam Kher's characters in the Tamil and Telugu versions respectively. 

In the 3 Idiots remake, Tamil superstar Vijay is playing Aamir Khan’s role while Jiiva, Srikanth and Illeana will reprise R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor's characters.

“The appeal of the Munnabhai films lies in their brand of humour which worked in all the languages. And the presence of superstars like Kamal Hassan and Chiranjeevi worked in favour,” agrees Chopra.

However, there are times when the original producer may not agree with the changes that are planned for the remake version. For instance, Arbaaz was initially reluctant to hand over the rights for Dabangg and had hinted that he would like to maintain creative control over the project. “The film is special to me and I am proud of the success it has achieved. Hence it’s important to be assured that the remake will do justice to the original product.”   

Imports from South India

The influence of south Indian cinema on Bollywood is believed to have begun in the 1950s. Filmmaker LV Prasad’s Sharada (1957) was one of the first remakes of its time, sourced from the Tamil film Etbirparadathu.

In the same year, Prasad directed Miss Mary, a remake of his own Tamil film. In 1959, he made Chhoti Bahen, an adaptation of the Tamil film En Thangai. Prasad continued making Tamil and Telugu films for Hindi audiences till the end of his career. In 1981, he produced Ek Duje Ke Liye, a remake of the Telugu Maro Charithra.

Another filmmaker who successfully adapted Tamil hits for the Hindi market was T Rama Rao. He delivered a series of hits in the 1970s and 1980s including Lok Parlok, Judaai, Maang Bharo Sajana, Andha Kanoon and Inquilab. Telugu director K Raghavendra Rao made Himmatwala and Dasari Narayana Rao made Swarg Narak, Jyoti Bane Jwala and Pyaasa Sawan.