Ben Stiller takes on Bollywood

For the first time ever, a Hollywood movie in India won’t be released in English!

We’ve all seen Hollywood remakes in Bollywood (‘Chachi 420’ inspired by ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’). Then came Hollywood blockbusters dubbed in Hindi (‘The Incredibles’ became ‘Hum Hain Lajawab’ and Godzilla ‘Badi Chipkali’). Bollywood stars have lent their voices too like Shah Rukh Khan and his son for ‘The Incredibles’.

Warner Brothers is trying a new strategy with their latest release – ‘Night at the Museum’. This Ben Stiller, Robin Williams and Owen Wilson starrer will be released all over India only as ‘Museum Ke Andar Phas Gaya Sikandar’. Twentieth Century Fox is releasing this movie only in just the dubbed versions - Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, and not in English.

The Hindi script for ‘Museum Ke Andar Phas Gaya Sikandar’ has been written by Kiran Kotrial and is voiced by Damandeep Singh, Anil Datt and Saurabh Agarawal for Ben Stiller, Robin Williams and Owen Wilson respectively. It’s been written keeping in mind Indian sensibilities interspersed with local wit and humour.

Says George John, marketing manager, Twentieth Century Fox, “‘Museum Ke Andar Phas Gaya Sikandar’ is a comedy adventure film with state-of-the-art special effects on a scale that’s not available in Indian films. It is our intention to give this movie’s audience the right kind of screens to enjoy the movie. As a result, the ambience will be right, language will not be a hindrance and the whole movie experience will be more enjoyable.”

Guess popcorn and cola could soon give way to bhelpuri and nimbu-paani!

s_asish@dnaindia.net