From Jersey To Vikram Vedha: Bollywood's Saga Of Remakes Takes A Turn For The Worst

For years, South Indian cinema has been fodder for the Hindi film industry. Commercial entertainers from the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada industries have contributed to the success of Bollywood with some remarkable narratives and scripts. Between 2009 and 2019, Bollywood remade around 28 films, of which 18 were superhits. Several established Bollywood actors, from Akshay Kumar to Salman Khan, and new-age stars like Rajkumar Rao, Ranveer Singh, and Kartik Aaryan, have tasted success with reprised versions of the originals.

The Remake Culture

Bollywood has been a repeat offender in terms of remakes, but their increased frequency in recent years is just baffling. This year, around 6 remakes of South films made their way to the Hindi speaking belt, which includes Hit: The First Case, Good Luck Jerry, Jersey, Cattputlli, Vikram Vedha, Milli and Drishyam 2. On the other hand, Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chadda and Anurag Kashyap's Dobarraa were remakes of English and Spanish films, respectively. But only Drishyam 2 made an impact at the box-office, while all the others remained forgettable.

The number of remakes in Bollywood has shot up significantly in recent times. Although the idea of recreating and dusting off hit stories may seem like a profitable idea, the trend of remakes is not working for Bollywood. It's not that remakes are a bad thing. Popular genres and stories can be told multiple times, but what is concerning is Bollywood's over-reliance on scripts from South film industries. There have been a good number of remakes that turned out to be super hits, such as Wanted, Ready, Rowdy Rathore, Kabir Singh, etc.

Emergence Of Online Streaming Platforms

However, the industry seems to be tumbling post-pandemic. With the entire human race locked inside their homes for almost 2 years during the covid era, subscriptions to streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others saw a tremendous jump. These platforms opened gates for audiences to non-Hindi flicks who wanted to discover new varieties of content from other languages. Komal Nahta, a trade analyst, put it very aptly: "South Indian films are available on so many platforms that Bollywood remakes are no longer relevant."

Films now have three to four weeks before being released on any OTT platform, making it easier for people to access content in any language. At the same time, filmmakers and producers from the South are broadening their approach and want to release their films for a larger audience. They are indulging in nationwide promotions, giving out interviews to North media networks, and simultaneously releasing the dubbed versions of the movies.

Craze For South Films

Few of the biggest money spinners of 2022 have been from the south, namely RRR, KGF, Pushpa, Vikram, and Kantara. The dubbed versions of these films became pan-Indian smash hits, whereas Brahmastra, The Kashmir Files, Gangubai Khatwiawadi, and Bhool Bhulaiya 2 from the Hindi film industry, despite being declared box office hits, couldn't closer to the collection of the south films.

We cannot entirely blame Bollywood's downward slide on the boycott mania, which usually runs every day on social media. As the aforementioned movie names have done well, it's clear that the new-age Indian audience wants original films that offer a new experience. Nobody wants to enter a theater to watch a film whose dubbed or subtitled version is already streaming on OTT platforms. Also, an average audience from a middle- or lower-class background would not have enough money to go to the theatre every week to watch a remake. Hence, a remake is not worth the audience's time and money.

Unfettered Dependency On South Scripts

Bollywood has been struggling to rake in numbers at the box-office post-pandemic, while there have been new ideas and concepts emerging from the southern industries. Filmmakers in the Hindi film industry are making a frame-to-frame, dialogue-to-dialogue, and scene-to-scene copy of the original South scripts as they fear taking risks.

Earlier, there weren't many avenues for people to watch films from other languages, so spending time watching a remake used to be an exciting affair. And now, with a number of OTT platforms, streaming original content is easier for people. For example, Vikram Vedha was either already watched by people on streaming platforms or most of them weren't interested in watching a remake as there's nothing original.

It would be impulsive to say that remakes may not ever work for Bollywood unless someone makes a conscious effort to reinvent and represent the original story with their eyes. The positive response to South stars and films is making it more difficult for Bollywood stars and directors to attract audiences to theaters, even for original scripts, as in the case of Bhediya and Chup. As OTT platforms' penetration into every Indian household would require more time, a larger section of Indian society still doesn't have the capacity to subscribe to the higher charges of these platforms. As a result, some people may be interested in watching reworked content if it is skillfully constructed.

Another concerning trend in the industry is Bollywood's rush to acquire a South film as soon as it hits the theaters. To avoid comparisons between the original and the remade versions, the producers are paying a lump sum for the original rights and removing them from streaming sites in order to ensure a profitable theatrical run for the remake. This happened with films like Ratsasan, Mili, and Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. The makers of Shehzada have requested that the film's dubbed versions not be released on YouTube.

The Need For Reinvention

It's not clear whether it is the Hindi film industry's unwillingness or sheer laziness to experiment and explore new concepts, but there is definitely a dearth of ideas and a lack of attention to details. We talk about breaking into the Oscars, but even Bollywood's original scripts lack the strength and the heart to compel viewers to watch their films. Sticking to the same old formula will not have any fruitful impact on Bollywood's business. Instead of counterattacking boycott groups and audiences with meaningless claims that they do not understand the film, the Hindi film industry as a whole should try to figure out why their work is failing to impress the audience. They should also pay more attention to what the audience demands rather than ranting about everything else.

Meanwhile, every individual has a different reason to watch a movie; we all want to experience and take away something different each time we watch a film in a cinema hall. Therefore, rewatching a script that was picked from existing material is not a very sensible argument.