Offering a very few off-beat gems like HIGHWAY, QUEEN and ANKHON DEKHI (the first two ironically also included in the list!), the year 2014 was not a great one in terms of path-breaking movies and the trend of inspired as well officially remade films once again (more loudly) revealed that we are seriously short of good writers, new ideas and the willingness to support the innovative cinema unfortunately. Plus for records this time we have a much longer list as compared to 2013.
And here are the details…..!
1. Yaarian – A mix and match concept inspired from “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ (1992),
Ugly Betty” T.V. serial plot (2006) and “Student of The Year” (2012).
2. Hasee Toh Phasee – A reverse gender version of “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” (2011)
3. Darr @ The Mall – Another loosely inspired version of “Grave Encounters” (2011).
4. Bewakoofiyaan - Its basic plot reminds you of the famous “Meet The Parents” (2000)
series of films.
5. Ragini MMS 2 – Takes the 2 small kid girls in its narration straight from “A Tale of Two Sisters” (2003).
6. O Teri – Has a very strong influence of “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” (1983) in its various sequences.
7. Disco Singh (Punjabi) – Entirely based on French Comedy “The Valet” (2006), which was earlier copied by Govinda & David Dhawan in “Do Knot Disturb” (2009).
8. Jatt James Bond (Punjabi) – Based on a plot borrowed from “Charley Varrick” (1973) which was too based on John Reese’s novel titled “The Looters”.
9. Queen – Partially inspired from “The Art of Travel” (2008) and faced allegations too for the same.
10. Fugly – Borrows the basic inspirations for its (mix-n-match) overall format and execution from films like “Paanch” (2003 – Unreleased officially), “Shaitan” (2011), “Fukrey” (2013) and “Rang De Basanti” (2006).
11. Humshakals - Takes one scene from the famous “Marx Brothers” (mirror sequence), one from “Amar Akbar Anthony” (1977) and a whole phrase from Kishore Da’s “Half Ticket” (1962) wherein he constantly says, “Main Paagal Nahin Hun, Mera Dimaag Kharaab Hai”.
12.Ek Villain – Reworked Indianised version of the Korean film “I Saw The Devil” (2010)
13. Lekar Hum Deewan Dil – Begins with a tribute to “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” (2008), followed by a mixture of ideas taken from “Socha Na Tha” (2005), “Jab We Met” (2007) and even “Highway” (2014) quite casually, also reminding you of Sachin’s “Prem Deewane” released in 1992 featuring an eloping couple. Later goes back to the ages old theme of post (love) marriage misunderstandings, seen in numerous movies ranging from “Avishkaar” (1974), “Priyatama” (1977), “Saathiya” (2002) to Shahrukh’s “Chalte Chalte” (2003).
14. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya – A cleverly made rehashed version of the cult trendsetter “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” released in 1995.
15. Hate Story 2 – The early part of the script borrows heavily from Quentin Tarantino’s cult revenge thriller “Kill Bill”and the soundtrack also comes up with an average new-age version of the late 80s path breaking track “Aaj Tumpe Pyar Aaya Hai” from “Dayavan” (1988).
16. Amit Sahni Ki List – Another reworked version of “Mr. Yogi” (80s TV Series) looking for a perfect girl with some specific qualities written in his so called list. Plus speaking right into the camera (conversing with the audience) takes its clear clue from Kavin Spacey in “House Of Cards” American TV Series.
17. Singham Returns – The basic plotline reminds you Chiranjeevi’s 1990 hit “Pratibandh”.
18. 3 AM - Taking its clear inspirations from a films like “Grave Encounters” (2011) and TV serials like “Ghost Hunters”.
19. Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami – Makes you recall another classic comedy of the past “Jaane Bhi Do Yaron” released in 1983.
20. Happy New Year – Its main revenge plot straight away reminds you of “Dhoom 3” many dialogues make you remember the previous films by the team quite clearly. Plus the catchy number “Main Lovely Ho Gayi Han" is highly inspired from a Punjabi composition having identical notes "Main Yaar Manani Ni" from “Daag” (1973).
21. Kill Dil – Takes its title inspiration ‘only’ from Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” series of 2003-04.
22. Happy Ending – References for certain insertions (like the book reading one) from “Before Sunset” (2004).
23. Zed Plus - The first half can easily be drawn parallels with films like “Peepli Live” and the latter makes you recall some earlier much famous political satires such as “Kissa Kursi Ka” (1978) and “Aaj Ka M.L.A. Ram Avtar” (1984).
24. Zid - Loosely adapted from a German film, “Unter Nachbarn/The Good Neighbour” (2011).
25. Action Jackson – Not anything related to the storyline but ACTION JACKSON takes it major inspirations for its sword fighting and all colour scheme and graphics used in the promos from Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”.
26. Main Aur Mr. Riight – Based on the same ages old concept of a boyfriend/fiancé/husband hired by a successful lady for her own reasons for a specific period of time and then couple eventually falling in love as usual.
27. PK – Talks about the same theme earlier explored in “Oh My God” released in 2012 (that was also an official Indianised remake of the English film “The Man Who Sued God” (2001). Plus it takes all its major inspiration for the characters from “Mork & Mindy”, an American T.V. series aired between 1978-1982 featuring Robin Williams in the lead, which also had its roots in an episode of another series “Happy Days” aired before “Mork & Mindy” and the American sitcom telecast in 1963-66 titled “My Favorite Martian”. In addition, another film titled “Epsilon” (1997) was also based on a similar premise as there in PK.
Official Remakes of the West as well as Hindi and Regional Indian Films.
1. Jai Ho – Official remake of a Telugu Film “Stalin” (2006).
2. Heartless – Reportedly an official remake of English flick “Awake” (2007)
3. Highway – Remake of one of Imtiaz Ali’s T.V. Serial episode of the series called “Rishtey”
with the same title “Highway” aired more than a decade back.
4. Total Siyapaa – Remake a Spanish comedy “Only Human” aka “Seres Queridos” (2004).
5. Gang of Ghosts – Remake of Bengali hit comedy“Bhooter Bhabishyat” (2012).
6. Main Tera Hero – Remake of 2011 Telugu hit “Kandireega”.
7. Heropanti – Remake of 2008 Telugu hit “Parugu”.
8. Citylights - Remake of a widely acclaimed gem titled “Metro Manila”made in Tagalog language in the year 2013.
9. Holiday - Remake of the Tamil hit “Thuppaki” (2012).
10. Pizza – Remake of Tamil hit with the same title “Pizza” (2012).
11. Kick - Remake of Telugu hit with the same title “Kick” (2009).
12. Khoobsurat - Official but not a straight remake of Hrishi Da’s classic and much more meaningful “Khubsoorat” (different spellings) released in 1980.
13. Bang Bang – Remake of English thriller “Knight And Day” (2010)
14. Super Nani – Based on hit Gujarati play 'Baa Ae Maari Boundary', the basic plot also reminds you of Sridevi’s “English Vinglish” (2012)andRekha’s own 1988 hit “Khoon Bhari Maang”.
15. The Shaukeens – Again an official but not a straight remake of 1982 much enjoyable “Shaukeen”.
16. Badlapur Boys – Another remake of a South film “Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu” (Tamil – 2009),
Inspired Movies from Real Life Incidents and Life Stories
1. Gulaab Gang – Supposedly based on the true story of Gulaabi Gang’s leader Smt. Sampat Pal who also filed a case against the film for the same.
2. Lakshmi – Reportedly inspired from real life incident in Andhra Pradesh.
3. Youngistaan – Straight away reminds you of a leading political party and its young leader.
4. Manjunath – Based ontragic as well as shocking happening in the year 2005.
5. X-Pose – Has a whole list of real life events used in the film related with the Hindi Film Industry. (So do read the detailed review for all instances incorporated in the script.)
6. Mary Kom – Based on still active in sports, May Kom winning many more competitions.
7. Rang Rasiya – Based on the life and works of renowned painter Raja Ravi Varma.
8. Bhopal A Prayer For Rain – An account of the unfortunate catastrophe that happened in the ugly night of December 1984 in the city of Bhopal and its consequences.
Inspired Movies from Literature and Books
1. Dedh Ishqiya – The writers pay a very smart and hidden tribute to the famous progressive Urdu writer “Ismat Chugtai” by intelligently adapting her controversial story “Lihaaf” in the script partially and mentioning the name too in one of its dialogues.
2. 2 States – An official adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s novel with the same title.
3. Haider - A film based on Shaekspeare’s “Hamlet” mixing it with another serious issue of Kashmir.
(Note: Please do let me know if you are aware of any other inspired movie which came in 2014 but is not listed here by chance.)
