Remake of Old Bollywood Classics!

Has Bollywood run out of new ideas? It sure seems like it! And it's obvious from seeing the new trend of remaking old classics. However, even after them being remakes of old movies, the success rate has been pretty high for the most part, making us question the content of films these days. Though it's quite refreshing to see some of these classic stories with A-list celebs from today, sometimes the magic misses it mark and the film is left to struggle at the Box Office Collections.gneepath, originally released in the 1990s starring the then megastar Amitabh Bachchan, was an enormous success. The film based on the journey of revenge saw Hrithik Roshan as the lead recently. The remake kept the majority of the original storyline with a few additional twists and turns, to give the movie a new touch. Though the re-made Agneepath(2012) managed to enter its name in the 100 Crores Club, it wasn't quite as successful as the first one.Bollywood's King Khan, Shah Rukh Khan took the iconic role of shrewd Don in 2006 replacing the most popular actor of the 70's Amitabh Bachchan, the original Don (1978). For the most part the plot of the film was kept the same with a few technological updates and additional twists. This was one of the few rare times when the remake beat the original in all criterion. The remake was extremely successful and the makers decided to go ahead with a sequel which was released in December 2011.One of the biggest hits in 2012 was Bol Bachchan, a remake of 1979's comedy movie Golmaal. Both of the films are pack with silly comedy surrounded by mixed up identities. One of the changes is the alteration of the original movie starrer Utpal Dutt's love for the purity of Hindi language to Ajay Devgn's use of English throughout the film. Even after being a remake, the film supposedly broke the record for highest bookings with about 185 crores in Box Office Collection.The next remake, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag is a Bollywood action drama film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn and Sushmita Sen. It was a remake of the classic, all time favorite of millions Sholay which also starred Amitabh Bachchan along with Dharmendra Singh Deol. The response to these two films was poles apart, while the original managed to do great business and become an inspiration for other movies, the latter was a disaster as it added its name to the 100 worst films ever made.The newly released Chashme Baddoor(2013) is yet another remake of the 1981 film with the same name. The original romantic comedy surrounds three friends who fall for the same girl. While the first one gets the girl the other two become jealous and to take revenge, end up kidnapping the girl. Though the original was declared a silver jubilee hit, it's still to be seen how the David Dhawan directorial remake does at the Box Office.Himmatwala, a 1983 film featuring Jeetendra and Sridevi, was the highest grosser of that year declaring itself a Blockbuster at the Box Office. The remake with the same name was released last month which starred Ajay Devgn and Tamanna Bhatia. Yet again the collection numbers were on the opposite end of the scale with the remake receiving negative reception from the audience and critics alike.Umrao Jaan featuring Rekha and Farooq Shaikh, based on the Urdu novel 'Umrao Jaan Ada', made its first release back in 1981. Though the role became Rekha's most iconic role till date, the movie managed to do only average business. Its remake,Umrao Jaan (2006) starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, also performed poorly at the Box Office with Aishwariya being tagged a 'No Match' to Rekha.While a few of the remakes were able to do similar and even better business than its original, there were a few that drowned in its content. Though remakes have become an on-going trend these days, we hope to see new concepts being displayed on the screens because in this era not all entertainment is good entertainment!

Author: Komal P.
Editors: Maisooma B. & Gunia M.
Graphics: Marsh P.