The first half of year 2012 gave us some interesting off-beat films which finally tasted the box office success indicating the changing taste of our Indian viewers. But still the passion of ‘Being Inspired’ continued like a never ending process among the film-makers which namely had the following movies based on all inspired content including the few official remakes of their originals.
And here goes the list…..,
1. Players - Official remake of “The Italian Job” (1969 & 2003).
2. Sadda Adda - Highly inspired and similar settings as seen in “Pyaar Ka Punchnaama” (2011).
3. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu – Takes it inspirations from “What Happens In Vegas” (2008) and the Mexican film “Recien Cazado” (2009).
4. Jodi Breakers – Takes its references from a French film “Heartbreaker” (2010), our own “Band Baaja Baarat” (2010) and “Life Partner” (2009).
5. Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya – It straight away lifts its first hour from Danny Boyle’s “A Life Less Ordinary” (1997), the petrol pump sequence from “Zombieland” (2009) and post intermission follows “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” (1995) or Jab We Met (2007) along with their Punjabi flavor, where either the boy or the girl is living with the family and starts winning their hearts.
6. ?-The Question Mark – Inspired version of the famous “The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
7. London Paris New York – Takes its inspiration from two English masterpieces “Before Sunrise” (1995) and “Before Sunset” (2004) directed by Richard Linklater.
8. Will You Marry Me – Has an exact replica publicity poster copied from the poster of American TV Series “How I Met Your Mother” (2005).
9. Chaar Din Ki Chandni – Based on second half of director Sameer Karnik’s own Hit “Yamla Pagla Deewana” (2012).
10. Kahaani – Takes it clues from Angelina Jolie’s two films namely “A Mighty Heart” (2007) made on a real life incident and “Taking Lives” (2004) having a similar climax.
11. Blood Money – Similar story progression as seen in “The Firm” released in 1993 and Vishesh films own “Jannat” (2008).
12. Bumboo - Official remake of “L'emmerdeur” or “A Pain In The Ass” (1973) written by Francis Veber. The film was also remade by Billy Wilder as “Buddy Buddy” in 1981, by Kartal Tiber in Turkish in 1982 as “Bas Belasi” and Francis himself directed its French remake with the same title in 2008.
13. Zindagi Tere Naam - All inspired from “The Notebook” (2004).
14. Housefull 2 – The basic plot of the film is straight away taken from Telugu comedy “Hungama” (2005) and Tamil film “Banda Paramasivam” (2003), which are both actually based on a Malayalam film “Mattupetti Machan” (1998). The marriage broker insult sequence also reminds you of David Dhawan’s “Coolie No.1” (1995) which was again a remake of a 1991 Telugu film with the same title.Also the other sub-plot in it, showing a resort on the other side of a lonely beach is blatantly taken from the English romantic comedy "Love Wrecked" (2005).
15. Tezz - The plot was earlier there in our own Hit “The Burning Train” (1980). But “Tezz” copies some exact sequences from “Shikansen Daibakuha” or “The Bullet Train” made in Japan in 1975. Other than this there are few more films made on the similar plot like “123 Monster Express” (Thailand) (1977), “The Cassandra Crossing” (1976), “Runaway Train” (1985), “Speed” (1994) and most recently “Unstoppable” released in 2010.
16. Jannat 2 – Has the same plot as used in Vishesh films Jannat (2008) & Blood Money (2012) with only changes in the professions of the lead hero. Plus in this they take the inspiration for its crime-plot from Nicholas Cage’s “Lord of War” (2005) and design of one of its posters from “The Mechanic” (2011).
17. Fatso – Based on a plot which first came in a 1941 Hollywood Classic “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” which was later remade twice as “Heaven Can Wait” in 1978 and “Down To Earth” in 2001. In Hindi films, the same was adapted in Rajender Kumar, Saira Banu Hit “Jhuk Gaya Aasman” in 1967.
18. Mr. Bhatti On Chhutti – Takes it basic inspiration from “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” (2007).
19. Teri Meri Kahani – Based on a borrowed idea of a love story in three different eras taken from a Taiwanese film called “Three Times” or “Zui Hao De Shi Guang” (2005).
Official Remakes from other Hindi and Regional Indian Films
1. Agneepath – An official (not an exact) remake of Mukul S. Anand’s “Agneepath” (1990).
2. Ek Deewana Tha – Hindi version of director Gautham Menon’s earlier 2 hits namely “Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa” (Tamil) and “Ye Maaya Chesave” (Telugu). Plus its intial reels also remind you of Kamal Hassan-Rati Agnihotri starrer “Ek Duje Ke Liye”.
3. Rowdy Rathore - An almost exact remake of Telugu Hit “Vikramarkudu” (2006), which was also remade in many other languages.
Inspired Movies from Real Life Incidents and Life Stories
1. Paan Singh Tomar – Based on the real life of seven-time National Champion in steeplechase race Paan Singh Tomar, who later became a rebel.
2. Diary of a Butterfly – Reportedly based on the Nira Radia 2G scam.
Inspired Movies from Literature and Books
1. Shanghai - The film is based on Greek writer Vassilis Vassilikos' political novel "Z" on which director Costa-Gavras also made his project titled "Z" (French) in 1969.
(Note: Do let me know if you are aware of any other inspired movie which came in the first half of 2012 but is not listed here by chance.)
* Thanks to Himanshu Patel for contributing in tracing one of the sources (Zombieland) for “Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya”.
