Dhannu bani Laila

A red diary becomes a CD in Don; Dhannu the horse turns into Laila the auto in Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag; at the same time, those who remade Victora No. 203 retained the tonga from the original script because they felt it was integral to the film.

Bollywood has caught the remake bug. It’s all about taking a market-tested formula and giving it a fresh perspective, says actor-director Ramesh Aravind. That’s what Farhan Akhtar did with Don, Ram Gopal Varma with Sholay, Ramesh with Sati Leelavati and Satish Kaushik is planning with Karz.

The reason a filmmaker picks an old story is because he is inspired by it. Rama Shama Bhama too was a tribute to Balu Mahendra. But I kept the spine of the film intact and gave it a new viewpoint, he says. Ramesh did tweak the script a little. I made it racier. In the original, Kamal Haasan does not make an appearance till 50 minutes into the film. In RSB he enters just 14 minutes into the script. I also did away with a lot of fluff, he explains.

Ramesh says that even if you are remaking an old story, you should put it in a contemporary setting. You are, after all, making the movie for a modern audience. Even a seemingly small element in RSB, like the central romance developing over SMSes, made an impact, he says.

You can use modern ideas to perk up a film, but it still depends on a strong script, according to director Prakash. That’s why I believe in creating something new, he says. With remakes there’s the added burden of comparisons with the original. That’s probably why a Don made it, but an Aag fell flat, he says. PR professional Benazir Akthar says that remakes in modern settings work when handled well.

Even those who had grown up watching Amitabh Bachchan’s Don were simply amazed by the style and technical brilliance of the remake, she says.

VJ and actor Gaurav Kapur says modernised remakes must still keep the core of the original that audiences have identified with. In the remade Don, even though there is a major twist in the tale, the essence was the same, he says.

While Pran ropewalked with a body double, Arjun Rampal pulled off a great stunt across the Petronas. But the scenes were there for a specific reason and that did not change. In Victoria No. 203, they probably couldn’t think of a suitable replacement for the tonga.

Movie buff Madhumita agrees, saying, Hema Malini’s Dhannu in Sholay gets as much screen space as she does. And the coin Amitabh and Dharmender keep tossing has character in itself. So also, if someone remakes a Deewar, they cannot do away with the number plate, she says.

According to model Ritu Mazumdar, Changes are necessary, but they need to be grounded in the storyline. It can’t be so drastic that the audience finds it difficult to accept. A woman driving a three-wheeler is too far-fetched. And the core of Umrao Jaan was Rekha you can’t replace her. I also can’t imagine Karz without a Kali Mandir.

The new Karz is supposed to be set in Europe instead of Ooty. There won’t be a Kali Mandir there; so will it be a church maybe?