Dev Anand sends warning to Pritish Nandy

Dev Anand, who produced the film and holds the copyrights of the novel by R.K. Narayan on which it is based, sent the letter after reports said Nandy intended to join hands with Rituparno Ghosh to remake Vijay Anand's 1964 classic on dance, drama and adultery.

But Nandy, who's currently engrossed in the process of releasing his production "Ankahee", dismisses the senior actor's legal threat as "impolite".

Says Nandy: "As I have explained to Dev, we are not remaking 'Guide'. Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC), our director Rituparno Ghosh and I have consistently denied that 'Rahgir' is a remake of 'Guide'.

"We are remaking only one classic: Bimal Mitra's 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam' and we've obtained the author's family's permission for the same. If we were remaking 'Guide' we'd have got the rights to do so," Nandy told IANS.

Explaining that the screenplay of "Rahgir" is still being written, Nandy corrects the misapprehensions regarding the proposed film.

"The protagonists of 'Guide' were named Raju and Rosie. Our protagonists are different. He was a travel guide and she was a dancer. Our film has neither a guide nor a dancer.

"What is common between 'Guide' and 'Rahgir' is an illicit relationship which the hero has with the married heroine. In our day and age no one can have a copyright over illicit love," says Nandy.

Interestingly, there's a spate of remakes - from "Sholay" and "Don" to "Amar Akbar Anthony" and "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" coming up.

Only time will tell whether "Rahgir" is going to be a reworked version of "Guide".

A few years ago Sooraj Barjatya came up with "Hum Aapke Hain Koun" and "Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon", which updated and modified Barjatya's original films "Nadiya Ke Paar" and "Chitchor" respectively.