Tollywood remakes Bollywood movies

Hyderabad: Many Telugu remakes of superhit Hindi films have bombed at the box office recently. Anaamika, the Telugu remake of the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani did not impress the audiences here. Aaha Kalyanam, the remake of the hit film Band Baaja Baaraat also met with the same fate.

Yash Raj Films, which had entered the South with the film Aaha and actor Nani, who had acted in both the Telugu and Tamil versions, had left nothing to chance as far as promotions were concerned. But the subject was an unfamiliar one with the Telugu audience and the film failed miserably. It was the same last year with Mr Pellikoduku, the remake of Kangana Ranaut and Madhavan-starrer Tanu Weds Manu.

“The cultural difference is very big. If we try to remake a Hindi film as it is in Telugu, it may not work. Hindi audiences are completely different and some of their films will do well because of their music and superb songs. But when it comes to Telugu the audience don’t want to miss their regular comedy, melodrama and dancing,” says Devi Prasad, director of Mr Pellikoduku.

“In the original Hindi film, Madhavan played the main character who was a bit reserved. In the Telugu version, Sunil played the character. He is active and a good dancer. He has a different kind of image and in this film we tried something new,” adds Prasad.

There are quite a few hit Hindi films like Queen, Two States, Revolver Rani, Aashiqui 2 and Oh My God, which are in the remake pipeline.

“There are so many factors for a successful film like lead actor, subject, music or some other reason. When we remake a film it’s not good to blindly make it as it is. When I made Gabbar Singh, a remake of Dabangg, I took all these precautions,” says Harish Shankar, director of Gabbar Singh.

He adds that some of the films are successful because of the nativity. “For example some Hindi films have Punjabi accents and there are some good songs in the films. When it comes to Telugu, the culture is completely different and you can’t copy scene to scene,” says Harish Shankar. He adds that the emotions should be shown well.

“The Hindi market is international and they make films with an eye on the market. When it comes to Telugu, the market is limited and our audience mostly looks for entertainment. So sometimes those films may not work here. But few films have been exceptions because those subjects may work out anywhere,” says director Chandra Siddharth.

In Bol Bachchan, the audiences liked Ajay Devgn’s “Hinglish”, but in the Telugu version, Venkatesh’s similar act did not work.

It was the same case with Aaha Kalyanam. “In the South, marriages take place differently and in the film they were shown differently, which is not our culture,” says Chandra Siddharth. He adds that if the Telugu film too has nice songs and jokes, the results may be positive.