Aamir Khan's 'creative genius' narrative is built on lies.

I don't dislike Aamir Khan and am not writing this with the intention to hate on him. It just really irritates me that he is often held as the pinnacle of quality and originality in Bollywood. His movies are routinely submitted to the Oscars, which is ridiculous because there are better films being made. 

Aamir has starred in a lot of films that are blatantly plagiarised from other countries. He's starred in around 47 films (not counting special appearances), of these at least 25% are copied from other films. 

(1) Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi - at times a scene by scene copy of my favourite film: It Happened One Night

(2) Daulat Ki Jang - ripped off from Mackenna's Gold

(3) Thugs of Hindoostan- Aamir's character was an Indian spin on Jack Sparrow 

(4)  Ghajini - ripped off Memento 

(5) Aatank Hi Aatank - copies The Godfather (seriously, the audacity!)

(6)  Mann - ripped off An Affair Yo Remember 

(7) Ghulam - copies On The Waterfront

(8) Akele Hum Akele Tum - ripps off the classic Kramer vs Kramer. 

(9) Dil Chatha Hai - partially copied from St Elmo's Fire and Reality Bites

(10) Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke - copied House  Boat

(11) Delhi Belly - copied from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 

(12) Dhoom 3 - copied Prestige 

(13) Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar - copied Breaking Away

(14) Laal Singh Chadda - Forrest Gump (although at least the remake rights were purchased for this one). 

(15) Peepli Live - copied from Ace in the Hole

And these are just the ones I know about. I'm sure there are more. 

Edited by BlueWaters20 - 2 years ago

He merely starred in a lot of those movies so we can't hold that against him but yeah he's overrated.  It's like people assuming Chris Nolan's films are 'the best' because they haven't watched better ones ( I like Prestige btw) .  I think he has that image because he was the first and actually the only one among the three Khans to have done so many  offbeat films .  And he talks about politics which =smart for a lot of people.  I like him and Im with him on the intolerance thing but he's also full of it.   Satyameva Jayate was embarrassingly fake.  

cant really call Ghajini ( even the south version ) copy of Memento. It's based on two completely different plots having just taken that amnesia disease and tattoos as common thing. Same with Dhoom 3.  

Edited by bakhtaavar - 2 years ago

Originally posted by: TrollikaDevi

He merely starred in a lot of those movies so we can't hold that against him but yeah he's overrated.  It's like people assuming Chris Nolan's films are 'the best' because they haven't watched better ones ( I like Prestige btw) .  I think he has that image because he was the first and actually the only one among the three Khans to have done so many  offbeat films .  And he talks about politics which =smart for a lot of people.  I like him and Im with him on the intolerance thing but he's also full of it.   Satyameva Jayate was embarrassingly fake.  

I'm not saying he's responsible for the movies being copied, but he is responsible for choosing to star in these films. His image is of an actor who chooses original and quality scripts, but when you actually look at his body of work that's just not true. Sure he's done a few original and quality films, but then so have most actors. He's no more consistent than any other actor. 

Originally posted by: bakhtaavar

cant really call Ghajini ( even the south version ) copy of Memento. It's based on two completely different plots having just taken that amnesia disease and tattoos as common thing. Same with Dhoom 3.  

Have you watched Memento? Ghajini is absolutely a copy of it. 

Memento: Man's wife is raped and murdered, he kills one attacker the second attacker runs off. As a result of the attack man develops anterograde amnesia. The Police don't believe there was a second attacker, so he decides to investigate himself. Man seeks revenge and uses tattoos, polaroids, notes, to keep track of his memories/progress. 

Ghajini: Man's fiance is murdered, man is also attacked and as a result develops anterograde amnesia.  Man seeks revenge and uses tattoos, polaroids, notes, to keep track of his memories/progress. 

Ghajini copied the main premise of Memento and then added some Bollywood masala to it to make it sell in India. The funny thing is that even the embellished love story (i.e. the Bollywood masala) was copied from another English film: Happy Go Lovely. Dhoom 3 is also a blatant rip off of Prestige with some Bollywood masala thrown in (can't be bothered to give another long explenation). 

Also, re. Ghajini: even the positioning of the tattoos were copied: 

Edited by BlueWaters20 - 2 years ago

If these are the examples of copies, then the highly celebrated 'commercial' works of Malayalam cinema (from the golden age) and many Kamal Haasan movies would also be copied. The same with many classic Hindi movies. You just have to look for them. 

Aamir of the '90s was not labelled a creative genius. It started from Lagaan. Whether or not one finds it deserved, there is a vast difference between his work and the rest (within the commercial space) post-Lagaan until now. His films have aged the best (not all) from the '90s as well. So, many add those to the list, which wasn't the case earlier. 

Unfortunately, anyone who is ahead of the rest automatically becomes overrated, and people try to find faults. Chalo theek hai, it is what makes him work doubly hard. 

Originally posted by: simplyrdb

If these are the examples of copies, then the highly celebrated 'commercial' works of Malayalam cinema (from the golden age) and many Kamal Haasan movies would also be copied. The same with many classic Hindi movies. You just have to look for them. 

Aamir of the '90s was not labelled a creative genius. It started from Lagaan. Whether or not one finds it deserved, there is a vast difference between his work and the rest (within the commercial space) post-Lagaan until now. His films have aged the best (not all) from the '90s as well. So, many add those to the list, which wasn't the case earlier. 

Unfortunately, anyone who is ahead of the rest automatically becomes overrated, and people try to find faults. Chalo theek hai, it is what makes him work doubly hard. 

Bharathan, Padmarajan, et al? Because the golden age of Malayalam cinema is supposed to have been between 1980 and 1999 although I disagree. 

Not saying no Malayalam movies were copied,  because many clearly were, but those were the Indra Kumar, Abbas Mustan types, not the acclaimed works. The *highly celebrated* works of the acclaimed directors were not copies AFAIK.

Could you list some names of alleged copies from acclaimed makers?

P.S. Aamir's copying is not the main issue mentioned by the OP. It is his label as original filmmaker/actor. If he merely picks already successful films and makes copies, then he's in the same category as the Indra Kumars and Abbas Mustans of any language. To put Aamir Khan in the same category as Bharathan or Lijo Jose Pallissery or a Fahad Faasil from recent times😆...

Edited by HearMeRoar - 2 years ago

Aamir is over rated. 

Originally posted by: Maroonporsche

Aamir is over rated. 

He's had a handful of performances that've resonated, but overall, I agree. For me, he's a better 'film-maker' than actor, and his movies are consistently carried by strong performances from supporting cast members.

Originally posted by: BlueWaters20

 Dhoom 3 is also a blatant rip off of Prestige with some Bollywood masala thrown in (can't be bothered to give another long explenation). 

a magic background with two identical twins...this was the only thing taken off from prestige to Dhoom 3. Where was the bank robbery angle in prestige or characters equivalent to Hugh Jackman , Michael Caine and ScarJo in dhoom3 ? To think of it , now you see me maybe more similar to dhoom3 than the prestige