We are going to let you into a secret. Do you know how films are made? It's simple. The essential tools of a Bollywood film-maker are a television set, a video cassette player and several prints of the latest Hollywood hits. You thought he needed an original script, film stars, lights and a camera? No way! Take a look at some of Bollywood's biggest hits and misses. Most of them have been lifted, in whole or part, from Hollywood hits -- old and new.The latest film to be inspired by Hollywood is Kamal Haasan's Chachi 420. While Kamal denies his film's strong resemblance to the Robin William's starrer Mrs Doubtfire, Chachi's genesis does lie in the Hollywood rib-tickler.
But then even Ramesh Sippy's Sholay, the film that rewrote the rules of Indian cinema, owes key elements of its plot to at least three Hollywood Westerns. The opening train sequence was a frame-by-frame lift from the 1950s classic, Northwest Frontier. The film's plot was inspired by The Magnificent Seven.
And, the immortal Gabbar Singh too was a reworking of the psychotic Mexican bandido played by Gian Maria Volonte -- spine-chilling laugh and all -- from For A Few Dollars More
.Sholay spawned a slew of desi Westerns. The Feroz Khan-starrer Khote Sikke, was a combined rip-off of For A Few Dollars More and The Magnificent Seven, with Khan playing Clint Eastwood. From the cowboy hat to the slightly staggered walk, Khan even lifted the haunting background score. Zalzala, made in 1988, did even better. It ripped off, and combined, three Hollywood Westerns.The film was a virtual frame-by-frame remake of Mackenna's Gold with Dharmendra as Gregory Peck. Shatrughan Sinha played the man with no name from the Sergio Leone Westerns while Rajiv Kapoor was the happy-go-luck Trinity from the Western series of the same name.
Another hot favourite with our copycat directors has been Brian De Palma's violent gangland saga Scarface. A remake of a 1930s film of
the same name, Scarface has triggered three Hindi copies -- Aatishbaaz in 1988 with Shatrughan Sinha, Agneepath two years later with Amitabh Bachchan doing a spin-off on Al Pacino, and finally Mahesh Bhatt's Saathi in 1991 with Aditya Pancholi and Mohsin Khan.
For his film Criminal, Bhatt seems to have actually bought a print of the Harrison Ford-starrer, Fugitive to the sets. The Nagarjuna-Manisha Koirala film was a direct lift of the Hollywood thriller, minus the slickness, style and of course, Ford.
And Sadak, the big one that relaunched Sanjay Dutt and Bhatt himself, was a mishmash of three Hollywood hits. The theme of a cabbie and a child-prostitute came straight out of Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver starring Robert DeNiro as the kooky cab driver. Sadak then lifted scenes from the Mel Gibson-starrer Lethal Weapon, that included even translating dialogues. And scenes in the climax were from the Van Damme film, Cyborg.
Shah Rukh Khan started the
anti-hero trend in the early '90s with Darr and Baazigar, both copies of two other films. While Baazigar was a remake of A Kiss Before Dying, Darr borrowed heavily from Cape Fear beginning the trend of the obsessed lover.
Unlawful Entry, the Kurt Russell-Madeliene Stowe-Ray Liotta film about a cop obsessed with a married woman was copied in the Naseer-Sunil Shetty-starrer Takkar, which was a miserable flop. The same tale in Fareb, an unexpected hit.
But the surprising hot favourite has been the Julia Roberts thriller Sleeping With The Enemy. The story of an obsessed husband who refuses to let go, it has been remade into three Hindi films -- Daraar, Agnisakshi and Yaraana with Juhi, Manisha and Madhuri as the respective victims.
For gangland sagas there is Francis Coppola's classic Godfather which has provided unending inspiration to Hindi film-makers in the last two decades, copied in toto on three occasions. Beginning with Feroz Khan's
Dharmatma in the mid-70s, Zulm Ki Hukumat starring Dharmendra and Govinda and Aatank Hi Aatank with Aamir Khan.
Robert Redford's million dollar Indecent Proposal to sleep with Demi Moore in the 1994 film has also thrilled Hindi filmdom. It was first remade into Sauda in 1996 with Sumeet Saigal as the millionaire and Neelam as the object of his desire. In a reversal of roles, Urmila made the million dollar proposal to Anil Kapoor in Judaai.
Mansoor Khan deftly remade two Hollywood hits with cousin Aamir -- Breaking Away became Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Kramer Vs Kramer became Akele Hum Akele Tum. Even for the film's publicity, the Sleepless In Seattle poster was duplicated .
Coming up next
The Magnificent Seven continues to inspire Bollywood. The latest version is the Raj Kumar Santoshi Western, Chinagate with a long line up of stars.
Rakesh Roshan's forthcoming film Karobar, starring Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and
Anil Kapoor, reportedly borrows, once again, from Robert Redford's Indecent Proposal.
David Dhawan, it seems is planning a re-make of Jim Carrey's Liar Liar. Will Govinda lend his funny faces to this flick?
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
