|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The increasing tendency of Bollywood filmmakers to cash in on past blockbusters is a sure sign of lack of
original ideas, writes Saibal Chatterjee
The remakes and sequels bandwagon is spilling over with hopeful Bollywood travellers. Everybody who is anybody in the Mumbai movie industry is scrambling to rehash a mothballed idea or to extend the life of a commercially successful concept. Indeed, none of the players that are hitching a ride on this roller coaster is a B-grade wannabe with his sights set on churning out a quickie and making a fast buck. With names like Yash Chopra, Rakesh Roshan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Ram Gopal Varma, Farhan Akhtar, J.P. Dutta, Feroz Khan, David Dhawan and Rituparno Ghosh engaged in reworking hits of the past for a new generation, one thing that the sceptics need not be worried about is intrinsic production quality. But the doubts are multiplying. Hundreds of crores of rupees will be sunk into these films. Will the makers of these ‘tributes’ and ‘updates’ come out swimming? Is it worth wasting time, effort and resources on ideas that have been done to death?
Yash Chopra, the biggest force in the Bollywood film production business today, has decided to reclaim that big fat romantic film, Kabhi Kabhie (1976), from the recesses of movie folklore and give it a new sheen. The move flies in the face of the famous publicity catch line that described Kabhi Kabhie as "a film that happens sometimes". What time frame should ‘sometimes’ be construed to denote? Is 30 years good enough? Even Rituparno Ghosh, who has hitherto worked only with largely original narrative material, is now drawing inspiration from Goldie Anand’s timeless Guide (1965). A film that clicked big time more than 40 years ago and fetched actor Dev Anand the only Filmfare Award of his career does not probably need a makeover because its sweeping drama and its memorable music still live on in our midst. The remarkably prolific Ghosh, of course, has been at pains to emphasise that his upcoming film isn’t a remake at all. It is only ‘inspired’ by a part of the original narrative. It is, however, not just romantic dramas and emotional sagas that are on the Bollywood makeover table. Potboilers also seem to be fair game. Feroz Khan is remaking his 1980 action thriller Qurbani, Farhan Akhtar has reconstructed the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don (1978) with Shahrukh Khan in the lead and David Dhawan is in the midst of a new version of Manmohan Desai’s comic caper Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) with a crop of new comedians.
Just as famously, Ram Gopal Varma is relocating Veeru, Jai, Thakur and Gabbar Singh from dusty Ramgarh to neon-lit Mumbai in his much-publicised version of Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975). J.P. Dutta is close to wrapping up Umrao Jaan, which, he claims with some justification, isn’t strictly a remake of Muzaffar Ali’s off-mainstream 1981 musical drama. The business of high-profile sequels, too, appears to have caught the fancy of the Bollywood heavyweights. Rakesh Roshan’s sequel to Koi Mil Gaya, Krrish, is due to hit the screens later this month. Dhoom 2, from the Yashraj Films stable, and a second instalment of Munnabhai M.B.B.S. are also nearly ready for distribution. The question is: does anybody really need this plethora of remakes and sequels? True, a few of these seasoned filmmakers might actually end up hitting box office pay dirt. Who knows, their efforts might even yield a handful of memorable movies. The concern is that the audience that these films are purportedly targeting has moved on in life. This is the era of blockbusters like Black, Rang De Basanti and Fanaa, films that have struck a balance between the need to entertain and an element of seriousness. The films that click these days aren’t quite like the blockbusters of the 1980s – they aren’t designed to deliver sheer escapism. That apart, the films that are being remade aren’t really old enough to require a reinterpretation. They are still rather fresh in our memories. Yes, filmgoers who grew up on Sholay, Kabhi Kabhie and Amar Akbar Anthony might be attracted by the sense of nostalgia that these films are likely to generate but that may not be enough to justify their making. Today’s movie buff, a creature of the multiplexes, may have seen these films several times over already on satellite television and, therefore, could well be assailed by an overwhelming feeling of d`E9j`E0 vu. If Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas and the Vidhu Vinod Chopra-produced Parineeta clicked, it was primarily because the original versions were made nearly half a century ago and they had dropped out of the commercial orbit, if not the public consciousness. Bimal Roy had made Parineeta in 1953 and Devdas in 1955. Films like Sholay and Amar Akbar Anthony are too close to us for comfort. Any attempt to trifle with storylines that still survive in the collective memory of moviegoers is fraught with risk. Twenty-five years isn’t, after all, a particularly long time in the life of a blockbuster. All these movie remakes might, therefore, end up having the same effect on us that today’s exploitative musical remixes do. That is hardly the sort of comparison that filmmakers of the likes of Yash Chopra, Ram Gopal Varma and Farhan Akhtar would want their work to attract!
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
