“From my childhood, I was just in the awe of this great classic and was eager to revisit it again in the present era for the new audience” OR “I truly adore the original and simply wished to bring it back for the current generation” OR “I watched that brilliant movie more that 20-30 times in my school days and had a big dream to make it again, with some new settings as my own tribute to the classic”……………These are the lines which one might have heard in the interviews of directors who go on making remakes of all the greatest hits of the past, without any appreciable vision or motive. The directors, who are supposedly in love with that trendsetter original hit from years and now are willing to re-live their childhood passion once again, with a lousy version of the same, playing both with the time and money of the viewers, quite arrogantly. So before moving further, I would just like to ask these energetic directors and their production houses that if they are so much eager & confident to make such cult hits once again then why can’t they make them as a fresh project with A NEW TITLE completely different from that famous and cult, hit NAME of the past. In other words if you are so much in love with that old movie, then why not keep its respected status intact and make a new version of the same, with A DIFFERENT TITLE of your own, for all the new age viewers?
But NO, they cannot even think of doing so, because the whole game here is actually in the title only and if you take away that famous name from the project then it will simply fall flat and would not able to generate any kind of curiosity around the project, as desired. So in my opinion, there is no respect, no passion, no love or no emotional tribute being given here to our cult classics but its sheer business and a well planned earning motive working behind these visionless remakes to make some quick bucks for their producers and nothing else.
In fact, this is the easiest (or laziest) way of making some interesting projects, wherein there is a readymade script and template available to follow and all you have to do is go for a interesting cast and then shoot it right away without any doubts in mind. More importantly, the moment you announce a cult-remake project, the film instantly gets some free publicity in the media with speculations being made all around, without spending even a single penny in just few days. And these are precisely the reasons why there are so many remakes being made nowadays which are all commercially viable and pretty safe projects as compared to the ones made on some new ideas & scripts.
Coming to the latest addition in this questionable trend of re-visiting the Classics, it will be a big disrespect towards Prakash Mehra, Amitabh Bachchan, Pran & Jaya Bachchan’s original ZANJEER if I even go for writing a few paragraphs on this Apoorav Lakhia’s ridiculous version. So instead of a review I will mention some great features of this well publicized project (including SPOILERS) and then you can decide on your own that whether you wish to take it as a description of a film or a JOKE loudly cracked by its makers in a proud style.1. The film opens with a long credits song showing a half naked lady, which straight away puts you off as far as the excitement factor is concerned.
2. Within next three minutes you have a fight sequence of Ram Charan with the background music of “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” going in a vague manner, which keeps on playing in the entire film as if its a patriotic venture made by the likes of Jha.
3. Priyanka Chopra enters with dance sequence in the Pinki song, whereas in the script she is supposed to be a well educated NRI girl visiting India for a friend’s marriage.
4. Including the credits track, the film features five songs before the interval quite absurdly.
5. Prakash Raj plays Teja in his repetitive style and Mahie Gill is Mona playing it like a silly girl knowing only one thing, i.e. Mona aur Sona (Completely clueless why did she even opt for it in the first place).
6. In one scene of the film, both Teja & Mona are sitting on a couch watching the original ZANJEER scenes of Ajeet and Bindu together. And here Mahie (Mona) says to Teja (Prakash Raj), “Tumhara Chehra Is Teja Se (Ajeet) Kitna Milta Hai?????” Indeed a great insightful thought in a remake.
7. In another scene Mona comes in with a tablet pack for Teja on which its written VIGRA.
8. Sher Khan (Sanjay Dutt) deals in stolen cars and a garage doing their makeovers??
9. Both Vijay (Ram Charan) and Sher Khan (Sanjay Dutt) are shown playing play station games sitting on the same couch in one scene.
10. One of the most bizarre sequences in the film is when Ram Charan straight away drives his car into the slum crashing into people’s homes and crushes them blindly like a mad man. Now he is a suspended ACP who does not really care that there are poor people including old, women, children and animals too living in that congested slum area. And he drives a good distance right into the slums with bombs exploding side by side?????
11. In the climax scene, when Teja’s hand is covered by his shirt’s sleeve then he simply pulls it up deliberately so that Vijay can see the tattoo on his arm and remember his parents murder!
12. Moreover, what can be said about the below average mediocre qawaali which has been added on the lines of the incomparable “Yaari Hai Imaan Mera” so lavishly.
13. Last but not the least, there is one particular dialogue in the film which is disgustingly written in a cheap manner just to bring in that kinky humor pointing towards the sexual relationship between Teja and Mona, which I find highly disgraceful to even mention in this write-up very frankly.
Reading the above mentioned points myself, I don’t think there is anything else required to write about this complete avoidable movie made by a questionable creative team. Putting it bluntly, this is not the work of any film-makers to be precise, but only a planned marketing product by some businessmen who are just looking for a project to get them fair returns. And in the process, they damn care about any respect for the original or creative aspects of the remake which is clearly visible throughout the film till the end.
However, I have no complaints of any sort from its director, writer or producers because firstly there are no creative minds involved here and secondly they have obviously done this with a business motive just like the commercial builders who knowingly use inferior material in their constructions without caring about any drastic outcome.
But yes, I do feel pity for Ram Charan who is a Superstar in South and must have said yes to this ‘first project of his’ in Hindi films just as a respect towards Amitabh Bachchan, Pran and Jaya Bachchan. I loved his brilliant act in MAGADHEERA (2009) and really wished he had made his debut with another worth watching project based on a fresh subject. Plus it was also much painful to watch a renowned actor Atul Kulkarni acting in such visionless venture seriously.
Anyway, what disturbs me the most after watching such nonsensical and not-required kind of remakes is the impact they are bound to make on the current generation, who haven’t watched those famous original classics ever before. To give you a clear idea, just try to imagine what would come to the minds of young boys & girls in the age group of 16-30 years, after watching this brainless new age version of ZANJEER? Unarguably they would think that, “Was this the one movie which turned the ‘not-in-demand’ Amitabh Bachchan into the ‘much-in-demand’ angry young man of the 70s?”. And “Was this the movie which became a cult hit, making way for a new trend in that decade, without having anything substantial in its storyline, content or execution?"
No doubt there questions all seem to be logical but the point is that,
“Who would make them aware of the painful anguish felt in the eyes of its original characters in Prakash Mehra’s version of the 70s?”
“Who would make them aware of the landmark confrontation scenes between Vijay and the delightful Sher Khan in a fabulous get-up?
“Who will make them feel the subtle romance between the helpless Jaya and Vijay?”
“Who will introduce them to the cunning enigma enjoyed for years around Ajeet and Mona Darling?”
“Who will bring forward the “real friendship” depicted on screen in those years so impressively?” and……
“Who will make them listen to the memorable ageless track, “Yaari Hai Imaan Mera, Yaar Meri Zindagi” which still forces all to dance and feel the magic of music and relationships together?”
I hope somebody takes that step and brings back the magic once again on the silver screen soon. May be, by taking an initiative of organizing “Exclusive Classics Festivals” at some selected theaters, screening all those precious gems proudly like they used to in the 80s. But even if it doesn't happen, we still have got our DVDs at home, so please spare us and stop making such disrespectful remakes of all our loved, reputed classics.
Rating : 0.5 / 5 (and that too just for Ram Charan’s sincere efforts put in.)
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