Upcoming Bollywood remakes: Baaghi 2, Fanne Khan, Simmba and Dhadak on the list

When Karan Johar presented SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali: The Conclusion for the Hindi speaking audience in 2017, film experts saw it as the emergence of a new trend. Many even called it as a move by Indian cinema towards producing all-India films instead of giving blockbusters in different languages which reach out to only a section of the audience. But this is something which has been there in Bollywood for a long time now. Be it the West or home-borne superhits, Bollywood filmmakers have been taking inspiration from cult films produced in the regional and overseas film industries.

Bringing out Bollywood’s fetish with south cinema is this week’s big release Baaghi 2 starring Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani. The Ahmed Khan directorial is, reportedly, a remake of Telugu film Kshanam. Not only Ahmed Khan, there are other filmmakers too who are spinning new yarns from pre-existing plots. Several reboot projects are either in talks or in the development stage. But the big challenge for them is to match the cult status achieved by the already existing film. Now, whether they will cross the benchmark set by them or will fall flat on the face will be known soon.

In times, when the trend of remakes or we say revivals is at its peak, we bring to you a list of upcoming Bollywood releases which either take inspiration from the West or from regional cinema.

1. Baaghi 2

Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani’s tale of love draws inspiration from Telugu filmmaker Ravikanth Perepu’s mystery thriller Kshanam. The superhit film starred Adivi Sesh and Adah Sharma in the lead roles and its successful run at the box office also inspired Tamil filmmaker Pradeep Krishnamoorthy who remade the film with actor Sibi Sathyaraa and titled it Sathya. Kshanam, a story about the disappearance of a young girl and the events that follow, was made on a budget of Rs 1.1 crore and had struck gold at the box office, collecting almost Rs 5 crore within 10 days of its release. Now, if Baaghi 2 will follow suit or not will be known this weekend.

Hit filmmaker Rohit Shetty created much furore in the world of cinema when he signed the livewire of Bollywood Ranveer Singh and Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara Ali Khan for Simmba, the remake of Telugu actioner Temper. While Ranveer will reprise the role of Junior NTR, Sara Ali Khan will step into the shoes of Kajal Aggarwal. Temper is a story about a corrupt police officer who aims to rake in moolah by joining hands with a smuggler. The film released in 2015 was a commercial hit and did a business of Rs 74.3 crore.

Shetty, who has acquired the rights of the Telugu film, says that only a few portions of the film will be inspired by Junior NTR’s hit film Temper. “We have bought the rights of Temper but our film is not exactly a remake. We wanted to take four-five scenes from Temper but we thought it’s better to buy the rights. It’s what we did with Singham. Our film was different from the original Singham except for a few scenes. Here also, we have written our own film taking the exact idea,” Rohit said in an interview. Simmba will release in December.

Apart from being Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor’s Bollywood debut, Shashank Khaitan directorial Dhadak is also the remake of Marathi blockbuster Sairat. Released in 2016, Sairat is the story of a girl from a powerful family who falls in love with a fisherman. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Sairat became the first Marathi movie to collect Rs 100 crore worldwide. It was also remade in Kannada, Odia, Punjabi and Bengali. While Sairat was set in Maharashtra, the story of Dhadak is based in Rajasthan. Dhadak will hit the theatres on July 20.

Hollywood film The Fault in Our Stars, which won accolades and hearts of millions across the globe, will soon have its Hindi remake. The remake will star Sushant Singh Rajput and debutante Sanjana Sanghi. The remake of 2014 hit film will be produced by Fox Star Studios, and the shooting of the project will commence from the first half of 2018. The romantic drama was an adaptation of a novel of the same name by John Green. The novel is about Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer patient who meets Augustus Waters, another cancer patient, at a support group.

5. Rambo

Tiger Shroff has taken upon himself the challenge of slipping into Sylvester Stallone’s character in the remake of cult Hollywood film Rambo. The remake will be directed by Siddharth Anand of Bang Bang fame. The Rambo franchise first came to life in 1982 with First Blood, which minted over $125 million worldwide. It was followed by a number of successful remakes, including the most recent Rambo in 2008, which earned $113 million globally. The Indian Rambo will be a story about the last surviving member of a special unit of Indian Armed Forces who will return to his home only to find it ravaged by the ongoing war, reported Hollywood Reporter.

Amid the entire fan frenzy, the film also got a thumbs up from original Rambo Sylvester Stallone. Sylvester took to Twitter and showed his support for the Indian remake in his own style. His short, crisp message also carried a caution. Here’s what Sylvester wrote: “I read recently they are remaking Rambo in India !! .. Great character.. hope they don’t wreck it.” The Hindi version of the film will go on floors in November 2019.

6. Fanne Khan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao and Anil Kapoor starrer Fanne Khan is an official adaptation of 2001 Oscar-nominated Dutch film Everybody’s Famous! The film starred Josse De Pauw, Eva Van Der Gucht and Thekla Reuten. The original film is about a father who wants to fulfil his daughter’s dreams of becoming a singing sensation. He manages to kidnap the country’s reigning superstar just so his daughter can get famous in exchange. The trailer of the 2000 film is hilarious but we’re yet to know if Fanne Khan will be treated along the same lines. It is scheduled for July 13 this year.

7. Vikram Vedha
R Madhavan’s superhit crime thriller Vikram Vedha also starring Vijay Sethupathi as Vedha will be remade in Hindi by Reliance Entertainment. The film will be directed by the original director duo Pushkar and Gayatri and Aiyaary director Neeraj Pandey has joined the team as the writer and creative producer. With the original film being critically acclaimed, the comparisons of the remake with it are bound to happen. Vikram Vedha is a neo-noir action crime thriller inspired by the mythological characters of Vikram and Betaal. The film tells the story of a tough police officer (R Madhavan) who sets out to track down and kill an equally tough gangster (Vijay Sethupathi). The title of the remake and the cast is yet to be announced.

8. Arjun Reddy

A contemporary take on Devdas, Arjun Reddy created a buzz in Tollywood last year. The film was received well by the critics for its perfect storytelling. Actor Vijay Deverakonda played the titular role in the movie and gave a brilliant performance as the depressed and madly-in-love Reddy. He was a medical surgeon who had anger issues and turns to alcohol and drugs when the girl he is madly in love with is forced to marry another man. Now, in the Hindi remake, who will play the titular role is yet to be known. Most likely it will be Shahid Kapoor who will reprise the role of Vijay. Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who made a debut with Arjun Reddy, will direct its remake as well.

9. Woh Kaun Thi?

Prerna Arora and Arjun N Kapoor of KriArj Entertainment, in order to pay tribute to veteran superstar Manoj Kumar, are remaking the 1964 Bollywood thriller Woh Kaun Thi? Considering how the remake of 1969 film Ittefaq with the same title starring Sonakshi Sinha and Sidharth Malhotra was received by the audience, the makers of Woh Kaun Thi? need to pay extra attention to how they present cinephiles a film which already enjoys a cult status.