Movies should never be remade!

Movies should never be remade!

Introduction:

Filmmaker R. Balki, after tasting whopping success with his latest movie made a statement that movies should never be remade and that stories should be invented and not copied from someone else’s plot. Remaking of movies has been the trend that Bollywood has long followed without regret. Are we as viewers happy with this system or do we need to take a stand against this?

Viewers are pretty much divided in opinion when it comes to remaking of movies. While some feel that it is utter waste of time and money to create something which has already been made and appreciated somewhere, others feel that remade versions are sometimes more productive than the original ones. Indeed they are, when stolen from Tollywood and put into Bollywood with extra glamour and more exotic locations.

Hollywood copies of Bollywood movies do seem to garner a lot of popularity because half of the population might have already seen the movie and appreciated it while the other half is dying to watch it in their own language in their own settings.

Yes, it is a copy-paste work with no creativity

1. Copy pasted work: If you have seen the Tollywood versions of your favorite Salman Khan movie, you will know for sure how brilliant our filmmakers are at copy-paste of someone else’s creativity. Just some extra popular and much loved cast, exotic location, more glam factor and they get the perfect script for a hit movie, without actual effort on creation of an original script. Where’s the fun in watching a movie that is so familiar and ends up being nothing but a spoiler?

2. Lack of creativity: The trend of remaking movies that have done well either in Hollywood or Tollywood has made scriptwriters less creative than they were in earlier days. This is because most of the movies are either remakes or inspired from them. Either the ending or the plot is a bit twisted to give it the appeasement that Hindi speaking people relate to or they are simply copied to the exact. Whatever happened to creative thinking and innovating with new ideas, remake of movies is a serious drawback to the film industry.

3. Not all of them work: Bollywood is all about more and more movies even if half of them flop ever so easily as predicted before release. Most of these are remakes that either overdid the extra effort or the ones who took it sluggishly towards flop with no efforts at all. If you go on to make lists, there will be a never ending queue of movies that should never have been remade. Even the Bollywood hits of the golden era are remade with the belief that they would be able to pull off the same miracle that the movie did years back but they flop; sometimes more badly than the other.

4. Not everyone wants to waste time: Unless you have a lot of time and money to burn, you wouldn’t want to watch the same stop play with different characters in different backdrop knowing full well what lies ahead. When we head out to watch movies, we just don’t look forward to watching anything to keep us entertained. People these days look at reviews before deciding upon a movie. We want to make sure that the movie is worth our time and money. If we have to see replays why wouldn’t we rather stick to Hollywood movies since we know someday you will be recreating them?

5. Not appreciating the real people: The ones who took all the efforts to write the original script and create the scenes are usually left unrecognized, the regional writers and directors to be more precise. They are left in the oblivion while some big Bollywood director along with his sizzling cast gets all the credit despite doing do real effort in the creativity of the movie. It is the storyline that matters the most and that is exactly what Bollywood copied from either the West or our own South.

Plots are changed according to region

1. To suit the audience: Yes, Tollywood do make good movies. Their stories are original and innovative but how many of us can relate to knowing the blockbusters that they made until they were remade in Hindi? The dubbed versions also doesn’t go well with the audience. When we are expecting a Hindi movie, we can’t really do without an YRF ideal location to go with superstars that have looks we would die for. Call it stereotype or our love for everything that appears bright, a good majority of the audience does have a flair for these movies and we don’t really care if they are remakes.

2. Plots are changed according to region: People of South prefer more action over romance while Bollywood will forever be dominated by romance and action only comes as a side cast. Our movies are mostly not so reality based, we prefer happy endings, and less blood shedding if there could be. These are traits we prefer and one of the basic reasons why people do not prefer Tollywood is the exact opposite of these present in their movies.

3. Because it’s legal: Getting permission for the remake of a Tollywood or Hollywood movie doesn’t land anyone in legal trouble. People do respond well when a movie remake is worth a watch and sometimes even more popular than the original. There should be no problem even if an epic of a movie is remade and well received by the audience, enough to pay the crew, director and actors well; hence others get inspired to make more of such remakes. It all comes down to people’s response at the end.

4. Not everyone prefers Hollywood too: The north Indians wouldn’t prefer much of Tollywood and the same can be said about the not so well educated lot of people who do not prefer Hollywood unless the dubbed Hindi version is out and running in theaters. It is for them the filmmakers think of remakes, not that they worry any less of making a big profit out if it, but it does pay them well when the targeted audience responds well to these remakes.

5. The other way round: If you thought that it is only Bollywood getting inspired from Hollywood and regional movies, you have got it all wrong. You have to see Delivery Man made in 2013, which is totally inspired from Vicky Donor which was made in 2012, to believe that it works the other way round too. A Common Man is also inspired from A Wednesday and there are many others if you keep counting. It is all meant in good interest to bring entertainment to their own specific audience.

Conclusion:

While remakes do leave us yearning for something we would find new, there is a certain amount of charm in recreating and reminiscing the old. It could be an ode to the golden era, our way of showing love and respect to the actors of those days.

It is only when remakes are done poorly or to those movies that should never have been remade that agitates people. It should be an exception and not a trend to be followed in the deficit of good story and plot.