Ek Se Bhale Do, Do Se Bhale... Bahut!

While watching some Bollywood films, I used to get this strange feeling that most of those films resembled some old movies in some way or the other. The films were so cleverly disguised that it took a while to actually match the similarities with their respective predecessors. But anyhow, a quick glimpse of these movies would be interesting and worth taking a look at, even you might nod in agreement! There's no intention of blaming or defaming somebody, it's just a casual chit- chat of sort and I am just speaking-my-mind-out kind of a thing!

Take for example the Francis Ford Coppola's classic THE GODFATHER. Ram Gopal Varma's SARKAR seemed to be a reworked version of the classic gangster epic with Amitabh Bachchan impersonating Don Corleone. But SARKAR is not the only adaptation of THE GODFATHER. If you remember ace director Mani Ratnam's NAYAGAN starring Kamal Hassan in the title role was also based on the THE GODFATHER, but in an unlike vein. Similarly, Feroz Khan's DHARMATMA and Sajid Nadiadwala's ZULM KI HUKUMAT resembled THE GODFATHER in many ways.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's DEVDAS was the second recreation of the Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's classic novel of the same name. The original version was made in 1936 by Prathamesh Barua and starred the legendary singer/actor K L Saigal. The first remake was done by Bimal Roy in the 1950's and starred the veteran Dilip Kumar in the title role.

Remember Ram Gopal Varma's BHOOT that terrorized the moviegoers to no limit. Ramu it seems had reconstructed his own RAAT that looked to be founded on the Hollywood hit THE EXORCIST. BHOOT and RAAT both worked on similar themes and there were many parallels to it with THE EXORCIST. Characters like the possessed girl, the annoyingly jovial Police Inspector, the sanctifier and also the presence of a psychiatrist bears strong semblance with the milestone THE EXORCIST. But nonetheless, Ramu's craftsmanship and perfect execution lent both RAAT and BHOOT a certain texture and made the audience familiar with his adept technical expertise.

In the 70's, there was this horror flick called EK NANHI MUNNI LADKI THI that was akin to THE EXORCIST. EK NANHI MUNNI LADKI THI starred Feroz Khan and Ashok Kumar in pivotal roles. This film could be termed as the first desi version of THE EXORCIST.

"Naam, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan", Amitabh retorts the Police Inspector with his striking baritone in the unforgettable AGNEEPATH. The film became amazingly popular and Amitabh's gritty dialogues even more popular. But not many of them know that AGNEEPATH was a lofty take on the gangster flick SCARFACE with Amitabh rehearsing the role of Al Pacino. Sometime after that, Mahesh Bhatt displayed his translation of SCARFACE and named it SAATHI with minor changes in the main storyline. The film starred Aditya Panscholi and former Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan.

One of the most favorite sources of inspiration for Bollywood is Julia Roberts starrer SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY. This movie has spawned three separate accounts the Arbaaz Khan-Juhi Chawla starrer DARAAR, Nana Patekar-Manisha Koirala starrer AGNISAKSHI and Madhuri Dixit-Raj Babbar starrer YAARANA. In the same way UNLAWFUL ENTRY generated two repetitions namely TAKKAR starring Suniel Shetty, Naserruddin Shah and FAREB that was the debut of the well-known actor Milind Gunaji (Aishwarya Rai's son-in-law in DEVDAS). The same with the Robert Redford starrer INDECENT PROPOSAL in which he is a millionaire and goes on to coax the sizzling Demi Moore for a one night stand. This film stimulated three Bollywood films that include the Sumeet Saigal-Neelam starrer SAUDA and also Rakesh Roshan's KAROBAAR that comprised a stellar cast of Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and Rishi Kapoor. The third installment was JUDAAI in which there was a switch over of sort where Urmila Matondkar tries to entice Anil Kapoor.

Marlon Brando's exceptional performance in Elia Kazan's ON THE WATERFRONT had gained him his first Oscar for Best Actor way back in the 1950's. Undoubtedly, this film is one of the most memorable creations of all time. And it isn't a surprise that it caught fancy of Bollywood and instigated it to churn out a do again. Mahesh Bhatt's KUBZAA appeared to be on the same lines and boasted of some impressive performances by Sanjay Dutt, Raj Babbar and Paresh Rawal. The second rephrase also came from the Bhatt camp and this time it was in the form of GHULAM. The film starred Aamir Khan and Rani Mukherjee. The song 'Aati Kya Khandala' from the film quickly became a rage. Vikram Bhatt directed GHULAM.

And not to forget Bollywood's biggest hit and the all-time favorite SHOLAY! The film might have sought its basic inspiration from the Hollywood flick THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN that was itself inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Japanese classic THE SEVEN SAMURAI. Feroz Khan's KHOTE SIKKEY also mirrored THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and was a major hit back in those days. Boney Kapoor produced HUM PAANCH was also on the similar note where the five protagonists join hands to fight the evil landlord of the village. Raj Kumar Santoshi's CHINA GATE showed a group of banished army officers descending to a remote village to help the locals get rid off of a dreadful bandit.

One creation will always inspire another! This fact will remain eternal and frankly speaking there is nothing wrong with the practice. But the original creation should always get the credit and that is exactly what does not happen in Bollywood, barring a few exceptions. The above-mentioned films that have stimulated so many 'desi avatars' are no doubt all time classics and with all probabilities might influence even more creations in the future! While other Hollywood films keep on getting the 'desi' treatment every now and then, Bollywood's fixation for these particular movies will remain unperturbed, it seems!