And,finally!

Set to release on August 28,the film’s a laugh riot (those who’ve seen the English version will know) and has been directed by K. Murli Mohan Rao. In fact,the makers have even acquired the rights of the hit song,Daddy Cool! “Welcome to the corporate way of working,” smiles Preeti Puri Sharma,VP Marketing,Big Pictures. And the lady’s right. After running into controversies and endless rounds of court,filmmakers and producers have finally realized the ‘importance of being earnest’. “Instead of camouflaging under the tag of inspiration and original idea,the film fraternity is finally coming out of the copycat’s closet and accepting the fact that their film is an Indian version of abc film,” Meetu Tiwari,PR executive for Rahi Communications throws light on the recent developments. “Hollywood studios now have Indian operations,and now that we’ve signed international deals and collaborations,it becomes a sort of duty to take responsibility and go through the proper channel of acquiring rights of a film,music piece or book,” feels Preeti,adding how Ravi Chopra landed in trouble with his upcoming film,‘Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai’. It’s a copy of the hit film ‘My Cousin Vinny’ starring Robin Williams,and Chopra decided to give that teeny-weeny detail a miss! So did the makers of Govinda-Salman starrer ‘Partner’ when they lifted parts of Will Smith’s ‘Hitch’,‘Hari Puttar’ when it was accused of being translated from ‘Harry Potter’,then we have take offs of ‘Departed’ and ‘Memento’ in ‘Mukhbir’ and ‘Ghajini’ respectively,‘Three Men & a Baby’ in ‘Heyy Babyy’ et al. But all that’s changed. Take for example Imtiaz Ali. “We made sure that the old music melody and Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s poetry gets a credit in Love Aaj Kal,” says Imtiaz. Mr Smarty Pants Karan Johar too has acted intelligently and acquired the rights of ‘Stepmom’. The ‘Indian version’ (this is what they prefer it to be called now) will star Arjun Rampal,Kajol and Kareena Kapoor. Studio 18 has reportedly acquired the rights of ‘The Italian Job’,and it’s supposed to be directed by Abbas Mustan.

Rights to international hit ‘Hangover’ was immediately grabbed by Feroze Nadiadwala,and Anees Bazmi is directing the film with Abhishek Bachchan,Sanjay Dutt,Ritiesh Deshmukh,Paresh Rawal and Katrina Kaif in it! “While the legal process has become a little easy,it’s the ‘huge hit across the globe’ that attracts Indian filmmakers to adapting international films. They know it’s a sure winner and will do amazing business in Indian scenario,” says Meetu. Another reason for declaring the rights and acts is brand power. “No one does films in bulk. It’s no longer a wholesale business where a star’s measuring stick is the number of films he/she does. It’s the quality that counts. It’s the brand positioning that pays. Money and quantity is out,this is the day and age of bound scripts,legal contracts,legal investors and fewer films. No one wants to take the risk of losing one’s reputation,” she adds.

The business of acquiring rights has improved upon things,and Nadish Bhatia,VP Sales,Marketing & Syndication,Mukta Arts feels that no one wants to copy and get into the trap of court dates and unnatural buzz. “Indian movies have strong footprint abroad,and our market is opening. The thing is that okay we copy,we adapt,but the challenge lies in how it’s told and presented. That is the selling point.” Right said Fred.

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