Remakes rule the roost in Bollywood

Can Bollywood think anymore: As the Himesh-Urmila starrer Karzzz hits the screen, we look at the dismal state of creativity in Bollywood.

Fully Monty: Karzzz is a remake of the 1980 hit film Karz, which starred Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim and Simi Garewal. Himesh is apprehensive, and with good reason, about playing the loveable Monty. He recently said Ranbir would have been a better choice for the role.

Grand arsony: The greatest blasphemy in cinema has been Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag. He remade this remake of Sholay in 2007. This film brought down his popularity several notches.

Epic film: Ramesh Sippy's Sholay (1975), is one of the biggest and most important films of Indian cinema. It starred Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri (Bachchan), Sanjiv Kumar and Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh. The greatest shock about Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag was that Big B agreed to play the role of Gabbar.

Slick flick: Farhan Akhtar's remake of Don, called Don: The Chase Begins Again, was a surprisingly good film. Farhan was hailed for his superior film-making skills. Shah Rukh Khan played the part of Don and Vijay, and Priyanka Chopra played Roma.

Original fades: Amitabh Bachchan, who played Don in the older version kept a diplomatic silence about the remake as his cold-war with SRK was on the rise. Helen, whose role was played by Kareena Kapoor was a lot more gracious; she agreed to dance with the younger Ms. Kapoor to 'Yeh Mera Dil' at an award ceremony.

More blasphemy: Before Ram Gopal Verma broke all records of bad remakes, that spot was occupied by J.P. Dutta's version of Umrao Jaan (2006). Aishwarya Rai played the title role, while Shabana Azmi played Khanum.

The real glam girl: Rekha played the title role in Muzaffar Ali's 1981 film Umrao Jaan and won a National Award for Best Actress. This version was closer to the novel by Mirza Haadi Ruswa than J.P. Dutta's, which took wild liberties with the novel. Shabana Azmi's mother, Shaukat Kaifi had played the role of Khanum in this film.

Priyanka everywhere: 2008 has been Priyanka Chopra's year - as she seems to be in every film. Now she will be seen in Rituparno Ghosh's remake of Sahib Biwi Ghulam. Initially John Abraham was selected to play the role of Bhootnath, but he is no longer a part of the project.

The master stroke: Meena Kumari and Guru Dutt played the two central roles of Chhoti Bahu and Bhootnath in the 1962 Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam. The film was directed by Abrar Alvi and produced by Guru Dutt. Waheeda Rehman played Guru Dutt's love interest Jabba, that role will be portrayed by Vidya Balan in the Rituparno Ghosh remake.

Devdas again: One of the most popular films in Indian cinema has been Devdas. The film has already been made three times, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's version in 2002 is the latest. It stars Shah Rukh Khan (Devdas), Aishwarya Rai (Parvati/Paro) and Madhuri Dixit (Chandramukhi).

Deva in the middle: Bimal Roy made Devdas in 1955 with Dilip Kumar in the central role. This however, wasn't the first time Bollywood had adapted Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novella.

Devdas debuts: The first Devdas was made by P.C. Barua, it starred him in the title role, and his wife Jamuna Barua as Parvati. Bollywood's tryst with the film however is far from over, Anurag Kashyap's Dev D is in post-production, and Sudhir Mishra is planning a politically charged film based on the Devdas story.

Present Parineeta: Pradeep Sarkar's 2005 version of Parineeta was the debut film of Vidya Balan. Her co-stars were Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Raima Sen.

Parineeta in the past: In 1953, Bimal Roy, clearly a die-hard Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay fan, adapted Parineeta, with Meena Kumari playing Lalita, and Ashok Kumar as Shekhar Rai (the role played by Saif Ali Khan in the remake). Meena Kumari got the Best Actress Filmfare Award and Bimal Roy was declared Best Director.

Bollywood copied: Remaking Hollywood films is now the norm in Bollywood, but there was one time when Hollywood copied Bollyood. The Parent Trap (1998), was one of Lindsay Lohan's biggest hits, but it was originally a Bollywood film called Do Kaliyan.

The child star: As a child star, Neetu Singh acted in Do Kaliyan in 1986. Biswajeet played the father while Mala Sinha played the mother of the twins. In The Parent Trap, which was made thirty years later, Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson played the parents.

The blockbuster: This one doesn't really qualify as a remake, because it is a spoof, but the climactic scene of the Shah Rukh-Deepika starrer Om Shanti Om (2007) is strikingly similar to a film called Madhumati (1958).

Man remade: In 1958, Bimal Roy and Ritwik Ghatak put their energies together for Madhumati. Roy directed the film while Ghatak wrote the sceenplay, and the film starred Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala. The film was about reincarnation.

Remake or copy?: Aamir Khan may be a perfectionist, but the detail of Akele Hum Akele Tum, of which he was the star, that he failed to notice was that it was a frame by frame copy of the immensely popular Hollywood flick Kramer vs. Kramer. Now of course the team claims it was a remake. It's a fine line really.

Original vs copy: Two of the most formiddable Hollywood actors - Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman came together for the critically acclaimed Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). In the Bollywood 'remake', Manisha Koirala played the mother, Aamir Khan the father and Master Adil the son.

Bollywood's disgrace: Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors began as a spoof of the legendary Harry Potter series, inviting a lawsuit from Warner Bros. They won that battle, but lost the war, as the film flopped badly at the box office. The film starred Zain Khan, Swini Khara and Sarika. It now turns out that Hari Puttar had almost nothing to do with Harry Potter, it was instead a shameless copy of another Hollywood film.

Macaulay mania: Child actor Macaulay Culkin starred in the immensely popular Home Alone. Hari Puttar was cashing in on the success of this film more than any other - as proven by the two thieves, played by Saurabh Shukla and Vijay Raaz. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern played the robbers in Home Alone.

The dilemma: The Shah Rukh-Rani starrer Paheli (2005) was a remake of Mani Kaul's modernist film Duvidha (1973). It is however debatable whether it is a remake because both films are based on a short story by Vijaydan Detha called Duvidha.

It isn't over: Unfortunately, the remake ride isn't over in Bollywood. A remake of the superhit Amar Akbar Anthony is in the pipeline. None other than David Dhawan has decided to make this one.

Guided remake: The other remake on the cards is that of Guide. Pritish Nandy is the person who has decided on this venture and it will star Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan. While Dev Anand has expressed and objection to this remake, Waheeda Rehman, the original leading lady, is all for it, but with the statutory warning, 'They will have to cast a real good actor and a dancer for the role of Rosie.'

The Pirate: The most unabashed remaker in Bollywood is Priyadarshan. After remaking a number of Malayalam films, he has now announced his decision to remake Iranian director Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven. Given the worldwide popularity of the original, he better tread carefully.