Gained in Translation

While there have been such remakes in the past,their numbers are on the rise. Director of Dabangg,Abhinav Kashyap,observes,“If rooted in culture,content can be universal. That is the reason we have been regularly borrowing from the South. But today,when there is a variety in stories and strong Bollywood scripts,they too are looking at telling the same stories.”

The market response helps. If Vasool Raja MBBS,in Tamil,and the Telugu Shankar Dada MBBS were among the highest grossers of 2005,in their respective markets,Unnaipol Oruvam and Eenadu ran over 15 weeks,grossing close to 30 crores. “3 Idiots in Hindi is said to have grossed a record 1.7 crore in Tamil Nadu. The remake should have a greater reach,” says Sameer Rao,CEO,Vinod Chopra Films. Arbaaz Khan,who produced Dabangg,says that he knew that the movie had a market in the South,primarily due to the styling. After the Telugu remake,he is negotiating with production houses for a Tamil version.

However,nothing is taken for granted. Besides the popularity of the Bollywood version,filmmaker Ganesh Shankar,who will soon begin work on Gabbar Singh,feels that other factors also matter,including the star cast. “Kamal Haasan stepped into Naseeruddin Shah’s shoes in both the remakes of A Wednesday,where Mohanlal and Venkatesh replaced Anupam Kher’s character. It was like bringing together Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra — the audience was bound to be attracted,” explains Shankar. The 3 Idiots remake,meanwhile,will star South superstar Vijay in Aamir Khan’s role,with

Jiiva,Srikanth and Illeana in R Madhavan,Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor’s characters.

While the price at which the rights have been purchased still remain undisclosed,the producers clarify that they will allow creative freedom and changes in the script without altering the essence of the film. “It’s the rights to the script that they purchase from us. They seek suggestions and sometimes run the final product through us,but that is not necessary,” says Rao,who is currently in talks to sell the Telugu rights of 3 Idiots.

Shankar,meanwhile,has elaborate plans in place for Dabangg . “We will keep some songs and introduce a few others that suit Telugu cinema’s sensibility. Dabangg has made a lot of impact,so if I want the remake to be impressive I will have to add more style,action and attitude. I hope to make it the biggest and coolest film of 2011,” he says,going back to working on the nuances of the project.