Rewind to the ’80s

It is a common practice for filmmakers to pay an ode through their work to the artistes they admire. In a similar vein,Khan had always wanted to evoke the ’80s in a film and remaking Himmatwala seemed the best way to do so. The film,in fact,releases exactly 30 years after the original — on March 29.

A film that brought together all the elements that comprise a Bollywood potboiler — love,lust,revenge,item songs and action — Himmatwala,with its tacky production,catapulted the careers of both Sridevi and Jeetendra. It also started a trend of remaking south Indian films. Many of these films enjoy a cult following today.

It is perhaps this knowledge that aided Khan in making his remake. “Those who are in their teens today haven’t experienced the cinema of the ’80s. The idea was to give them a taste of the same — right from music and art to story and dialogues,” he says. The idea is to make it entertaining,almost comical,to all age-groups.

The original is a tale of a son (Jeetendra) who sets out to re-establish his father’s reputation,maligned by the baddie (Amjad Khan),and falls in love with his errant daughter (Sridevi) who eventually comes to his rescue. Khan,however,claims his version is hardly a remake but “more of a rewrite”. “It is not the same movie at all. What we have retained are the characters and the treatment,” he says. The remake has Ajay Devgn and South Indian actor Tammannah play the lead roles.

To begin with,he did away with any aspect of grey in the characters as “black-and-white with a happy ending” represents the era better. The dialogues,which he has co-written with Sajid-Farhad,evoke the cliches — the dialogue play between mother and son,the old woman’s challenge to the all-powerful villain and over-the-top drama. However,unlike the original,the film,also set in 1983,begins in a city before moving to a village setting.

While both the music and background score have been kept retro,the new songs — only Naino Mein Sapna and Taki o Taki from the original have been re-recorded for the remake — have been written to suit the new generation. “The lyrics of Bum pe laat,picturised on Ajay Devgn,are fun and children will enjoy it,” says Sajid Ali of composer duo Sajid-Wajid. A special song,Thank god it’s Friday,picturised on Sonakshi Sinha,is an ode to the disco music of the era made famous by Mithun Chakraborty’s pelvic thrusts.

To lend these elements the right texture,production designer Sabu Cyril chose to work on it old-style. In the remake,the song Naino Mein Sapna — famous for its kitsch — painted a thermocol installation,colourful matkas and the garish costumes. “These are the factors that have won ’80s a cult following,so it was important to include them,” says Cyril.

The reason why the ’80s and the ’90s were considered the worst period of Bollywood and why the films made during this time received flak is the regressive camera work focusing on the heroine’s curves and the themes. For instance,Himmatwala shows Sridevi trading her shorts for saris once she falls in love with the hero. Khan,however,dismisses that the original is regressive as it “follows the popular ‘taming of the shrew’ theme”.

The highlight of his Himmatwala,adds Khan,will be the new character. “There is a tiger who is almost like the second hero. Kids will love him.”