Dhadak, Simmba: Upcoming Bollywood Films That Are Remakes Of Regional Films!

Bollywood is famous for inspiring (and getting inspired) by films from all around the world. Films from south India have inspired many remakes, the best-known examples being Salman Khan ’s 2009 film Wanted (from Pokkiri, 2007); and Akshay Kumar ’s 2012 film Rowdy Rathore (from Vikramarkudu, 2006).

Many upcoming Bollywood films, too, have taken this route. Ranveer Singh ’s Simmba is a remake of the 2015 Telugu film Temper; Arjun Kapoor ’s Arjun Reddy has the same title as 2017 Telugu film; and Baaghi 2 is a remake of the 2016 Telugu thriller Kshanam. Then there’s Kanchana 2, a Tamil horror-comedy that’s being remade. A source close to the remake team tells us, “Yes, the film is happening, and the lead will be Akshay. The team is waiting for the right opportunity to announce it.”

Trade expert Atul Mohan explains Bollywood’s fascination with regional cinema: “It helps to remake a film that has already proved itself at the box office. Earlier, say 30 years back, there weren’t any ‘official’ remakes. No one would come to know that the film was a remake, unless the producer himself remade the film. Today, people have exposure to TV and Internet, and the copyright laws are stricter.”

Even Marathi films are being eyed by Bollywood. Sairat (2016), starring newcomers, was a humongous success, earning Rs 100 crore worldwide. The remake, Dhadak, is the launch vehicle of star kids Jhanvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter .

Actor Shreyas Talpade was the producer of the Marathi film, Poshter Boyz (2014), which he remade and directed himself in Hindi as Poster Boys (2017). Talpade says, “Ideally, when adapting a film into another language, we should stick to the strengths of the original. When we did so from Marathi to Hindi, the setting shifted from a Maharashtra village to a village in north India. Expectations are high, because a portion of the audience already knows the story — however, they’re curious to see ki agar original mein Dilip Prabhavalkar the, toh remake mein Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol kaise karenge.”