Bollywood remakes: 10 Instances of the same movie being remade with new actors.
Doosra Aadmi was a 1977 movie starring Rishi Kapoor, Nitu Singh, and Raakhee in which the latter is reminded of her dead boyfriend, played by Shashi Kapoor — who incidentally happens to be the real-life uncle of Rishi Kapoor — by her new employer, Rishi Kapoor.
Feeling dizzy?
Well, now you know how we feel when we see these movies, all with the same titles, mostly the same stories, but completely different leads and, ultimately, different outcomes in terms of audience response. It turns out that Bollywood won’t only remake movies from other industries; the urge to rehash the same formula is so strong that throughout history, there have been countless examples of the same movies being remade over and over again. And we’re not talking about the theme or plotline. We mean just using the same title, story, everything. Think of it as when your mom would reheat leftover food from last week and make you eat it as if it were a brand-new dish.
To be fair, there are times when the experiment has worked, and the new version has even outshone the original, but more often than not, it’s a case of laziness, risk aversion, and going back again and again until the well runs dry.
Sadly, the list below is by no means exhaustive and doesn’t even begin to cover the scope of the problem with Bollywood right now. More and more companies are becoming risk-averse, which has led to a dearth of fresh stories, new faces, and groundbreaking cinema. In trying to keep a balanced perspective, though, we’ve listed remakes that did well as well as those that should never have been attempted.
Let’s get into it; here are 10 times Bollywood made us watch the same story:
Don (1978) and Don (2006)
- Don (1978): Starring Amitabh Bachchan Zeenat Aman; Directed by Chandra Barot.
- Don (2006): Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra; Directed by Farhan Akhtar.
What trumps the great Amitabh Bachchan’s suave Don and his doppelganger Vijay with his Khaike Pan Banaras Wala? The answer, it turns out, lies with the original movie’s writer’s talented son, Farhan Akhtar, who, with his 2006 Don, catapulted Shahrukh Khan into an even higher stratosphere. And then, just to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, the sequel, Don 2, has kept us waiting with bated breath for the next installment of what has proven to be an outlier in terms of rehashes that have actually done justice to the source material.
Agneepath (1990) and Agneepath (2012)
- Agneepath (1990): Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty; Produced by Yash Johar.
- Agneepath (2012): Starring Hrithik Roshan Sanjay Dutt; Produced by Karan Johar.
Let’s face it: Nobody would ever top that raspy voice, the kohl-lined eyes, and that languid, laid-back style that got Amitabh a host of accolades, such as the National Film Award. Then there was Mithun, portrayed as Krishna, the loyal sidekick. Some things are better left untouched. Agneepath is in that category. If there was ever an intro classier than Bond’s intro, it’s Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, as he lists his lineage. We have goosebumps just remembering that scene. You can feel the agony and pain in Amitabh’s voice even as his eyes hold an almost weary nonchalance.
By the way, did you know that the title of the movie is based on a poem of the same name, written by Harisvansh Rai Bachchan, a poet who, as it turned out, was the father of one Amitabh Bachchan? Let that stew in your mind a bit as you marvel at how life works.
Now, coming back to the remake. Not only did the Hrithik Roshan starrer do a fantastic job by paying homage to the original, but by reimagining the 1990 classic in a more modern setting, it retained the core plot of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan’s quest for revenge. And we never thought we’d say this, but Hrithik’s Vijay Chauhan had its own tortured soul yet man of steel appeal. Kudos to the excellent performances by Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, who both went against the images we had built of them over the years.
Also Read: The Curious Case of Rajkumar Hirani
Devdas – Multiple Versions
- Devdas (1936): Starring K.L. Saigal
- Devdas (1955): Starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala
- Devdas (2002): Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai
Apparently, you can’t go wrong with a love story — even better if it’s a failed one. It’s almost as if the audience keeps coming back to watch, hoping against hope that Devdas may get Paro this time. All three versions were obviously based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1917 Bengali novel, and to be honest, they all were good in that they represented the story faithfully and in a manner that made the source material proud.
Umrao Jaan (1981) and Umrao Jaan (2006)
- Umrao Jaan (1981): Starring Rekha, Farooq Shaikh; Directed by Muzaffar Ali
- Umrao Jaan (2006): Starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan; Directed by J.P. Dutta
Both films draw upon Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada, though the 1981 version is often cited as the more acclaimed. There’s something timeless about the music and songs of the 1981 Umrao Jaan. No disrespect to Aiswharya Rai Bachchan, who is a legend in her own right but what Rekha managed in this role was something else entirely. The remake, even though it had big names of the time, never ever came close to capturing the same magic. It’s a common problem in some other remakes where perhaps the actors never grasped the mannerisms and the nuances of the era they were portraying.
What we, the audience, got to see was a very wooden and artificial depiction of someone imagining how people must’ve been in the past. Period pieces are a very niche subset within films, and if you fail to get the vibe right, the whole edifice falls apart. This is what happened with this remake, which did a great disservice to both the original movie and the source material. The remake ended up seeming like a vanity piece and made us miss the original even more and appreciate the effortless perfection of Rekha, the late Farooq Shiekh, and everyone else involved.
Himmatwala (1983) and Himmatwala (2013)
- Himmatwala (1983): Starring Jeetendra, Sridevi
- Himmatwala (2013): Starring Ajay Devgn, Tamannaah; Directed by Sajid Khan
There’s not much that we need to say in addition to whatever’s already out there about how Sajid Khan predicted his remake of the 1983 version would be a blockbuster. While the movie took plenty of liberties with the original source material, Sajid Khan’s prediction, which turned out to be completely wrong, was the only noteworthy feature of this doomed venture.
Hero (1983) and Hero (2015)
- Hero (1983): Starring Jackie Shroff Meenakshi Seshadri; Directed by Subhash Ghai
- Hero (2015): Starring Sooraj Pancholi Athiya Shetty; Produced by Salman Khan
Besides launching two newcomers, the two movies are as poles apart as North and South. The Subhash Ghai-directed original version gave us Jagoo Dada and Meenakshi, not to mention unbeatable melodies, with the best one from Pakistan’s melody queen Reshma and her soulful Lambi Judai. The second Hero was a reboot and a vessel for nepo babies who came and left without leaving a trace on our collective memory.
Coolie No. 1 (1995) and Coolie No. 1 (2020)
- Coolie No. 1 (1995): Starring Govinda, Karisma Kapoor; Directed by David Dhawan
- Coolie No. 1 (2020): Starring Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan; Directed by David Dhawan
There was a time when Govinda was popping out movies like there was no tomorrow, and his most successful collaboration was with director David Dhawan. However, when the relationship faltered, it was only a matter of time before Dhawan remade the 1990 superhit with his son in the role made famous by Govinda. In the end, Chi Chi had his revenge, as the remake attained the unwanted distinction of registering a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978) and Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019)
- Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978): Starring Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha; Directed by B.R. Chopra
- Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019): Starring Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday
Both revolve around marital comedy and extramarital confusion, though the 2019 version updated the premise for contemporary times. The remake was a success; there is even news of a sequel in the pipeline.
Zanjeer (1973) and Zanjeer (2013)
- Zanjeer (1973): Starring Amitabh Bachchan Jaya Bachchan; Directed by Prakash Mehra
- Zanjeer (2013): Starring Ram Charan Priyanka Chopra; Directed by Apoorva Lakhia
The 1973 Zanjeer is often seen as Amitabh Bachchan’s breakthrough role in “Angry Young Man.” How can you recapture the smoldering anger of peak Bachchan? The come-what-may fearlessness of Pran as Sher Khan? The innocence of Jaya Bachchan?The 2013 film is a remake that is now infamous for Ram Charan’s “Where Did He Go” role, as the burden of going up against Bachchan proved a tall order, pun intended.
Karz (1980) and Karzzzz (2008)
- Karz (1980): Starring Rishi Kapoor Tina Munim; Directed by Subhash Ghai
- Karzzzz (2008): Starring Himesh Reshammiya, Urmila Matondkar
The ’80s were a great time for Rishi Kapoor in terms of unforgettable songs and some really iconic movies that we grew up watching. So, just the thought of his movie Karz being remade was a tough pill to swallow. Once we saw the remake, the extra “z” s in the title made sense. They were to put us to sleep in case the performances didn’t.
Bonus Entry: Chashme Buddoor (1981) and Chashme Baddoor (2013)
- Chashme Buddoor (1981): Starring Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval; Directed by Sai Paranjpye
- Chashme Baddoor (2013): Starring Ali Zafar Taapsee Pannu; Directed by David Dhawan
We had to slip this one in because not only did the remake do well commercially and stay faithful to the original, but in Ali Zafar, it also lived up to the ideals of collaboration and no boundaries regarding art and creativity.
So, while the spelling of the remake changed slightly (Buddoor → Baddoor), with the theme and story remaining the same, let’s all also focus on the bigger picture and embrace the things that bind us as friends rather than focusing on the differences that draw us apart.
