THE SIX HINDI FILMS I WOULD LOVE TO REMAKE

Before you start reading it, there is a statutory warning. Please don't expect the names of great Indian classic films in this list. The reason I want to remake these films is because I think I could make these a wee bit better than the originals. That doesn't mean that these are trashy films. To some people, these are cult films, I've known people who swear by the dialogues and know each scene by heart. Undoubtedly, I am one of them and from the time I have watched these films, i have always thought about remaking them. Just the actors kept changing over the years.

Remaking a film is a great art, not only you will have a lot of expectations from people who have already seen it, but critics are also there to have a shot at your expense. For me one of the best remakes among Bollywood films would be 'Don'. The genius called Farhan Akhtar, kept the essence of the movie intact, and then played with the storyline. And the result was a brilliant thriller. Sajid Khan got it terribly wrong in Himmatwala. Two of the most remade films in Bollywood, 'Parineeta' and 'Devdas' are like algebra formulas. The directors contained themselves within those formulas and didnt take the risk to break those. Anuraag Kashyap did that with Dev.D, which is easily another great remake of all time. The list of remade films will go on, let us just come to those six films that I would love to remake







6. KALICHARAN: (1976)

Director: Subhash Ghai

Cast: Shatrughan Sinha (double role), Reena Roy, Danny, Prem nath, Ajit

What is it all about :Subhash Ghai's first film which launched Shatrughan Sinha into stardom. Classic 70s tale of a gang lord killing a police officer and then a look alike criminal taken into the force to fight the evil lord. Kalicharan is more famous for the dialogues of Ajit as the immortal LOIN, "Saara sheher mujhe Loin ke naam se jaanta hai" 


What do I want to change: I would take out the emotional play with the kids bit. Not really my type. I wanna make this a proper pulp story of look alikes, evil lords, police-mafia tussle, revenge and the victory of the good. All of these, without using any of Prabhudeva's (or his followers) style. A clean, commercial remake without any cable-actions/vfx bomb blasts/over the top dialogue deliveries.

Dream Cast:  

Ranvir Singh replacing Shatrughan Sinha. (Dont worry, there's no 'Khamosh' in this film)
Sonakshi Sinha replacing Reena Roy ( You know why)
Naseeruddin Shah replacing Prem nath (To cut out all the frenzies of Prem nath)
Sonu Sood replacing Danny  ( He does look like someone named Shaaka, right?
Abhay Deol replacing Ajit (Eat that. A suave LOIN)




5. DOLI SAJAKE RAKHNA: (1998)

Director: Priyadarshan

Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Jyothika, Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher, Aruna Irani, Moushumi Chaterjee, Mohnish Behl, Tej Sapru

What is it all about : This film is actually a remake of a Malayalam film called "Aniyathipraavu". This film is one of the biggest hits of Malayalam Film Industry. But the Hindi version fared quite poorly in the box office despite of a great storyline. Personally, I love this film and watched it almost seven- eight times. The story is a pretty simple one, where a guy from a wealthy family, falls in love with a girl from an equally wealthy family. They fall in love, but the three brothers of the girl play spoilsport and that fuels them to elope. In a few days they start missing their respective families and they decide to return home, relinquishing their feelings, but ultimately their families accept their love, and they are reunited.

What do I want to change: The film's a painstaking 176 minutes long. I would really want to cut at least 30 minutes out from the film. I love the music of the film, it's by the pre Saathiya, un-polluted A.R.Rehman. I would keep all for the album, but I would take out a couple of unnecessary songs from the main film, especially 'Khewa re Khewa'. The build up of their love story is not portrayed satisfactorily, so would really want to concentrate on that. I would make the characters a little older. Especially the guy's character. But I would really like to keep the ending as it is, The moment with the two mothers were absolutely adorable.

Dream Cast: Ranbir Kapoor replacing Akshaye Khanna
                     Alia Bhatt replacing Jyothika
                     Arya Babbar replacing Mohnish Behl
                    Sudesh Berry replacing Tej Sapru
                     Ronit Roy replacing Paresh Rawal
                    Dimple Kapadia replacing Aruna Irani
                    Supriya Pilgaonkar replacing Maushumi Chaterjee
                    Dont even wanna replace Anupam Kher



4. ITTEFAQ: (1969)

Director: Yash Chopra

Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Nanda, Madan Puri, Bindu, Iftekhar

What is it all about : This film is also a remake, but the original is a British film called "Signpost to Murder". Ittefaq is regarded as a cult film in the history of Hindi movies. This was one of the first Bollywood movies to be made without any songs and dance numbers. Yash Chopra even bagged a best director Filmfare award for this film. One of my all time favorites, this film was not a commercial success though. But undoubtedly this film is one of the best thrillers made in Bollywood.


What do I want to change: Storywise, mostly nothing, except the painter can be a graphic designer. I would want to add a couple of theme songs for the characters, which would mostly be used as background music. Will set this story in a small town, preferably a place on the hills. The background music has to be by Ranjit Barot and no one else.

Dream Cast:   

Akshaye Khanna replacing Rajesh Khanna ( Only Akshaye can match the best of Kakaji)
Anushka Sharma replacing Nanda ( I really wanna see the dark shades of her)
Gauhar Khan replacing Bindu
Mukesh Khanna replacing Madan Puri
Gaurav Chopra replacing Iftekhar
                    



3. SABSE BADA KHILADI: (1995)
 
Director: Umesh Mehra

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Mamta Kulkarni, Mohnish Behl, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Gulshan Grover


What is it all about : Undoubtedly the best of the Khiladi series. Classic 90s at its best. The charisma of Akshay, the oomph factor of Mamta Kulkarni and one of the best Indian pulp. Twin brothers get separated during childhood because of a conspiracy of the villain and the story of redemption. Umpteen twists and turns, make this film a must watch for all the thriller junkies.


What do I want to change: As far as the story goes, frankly, nothing. I would love to stylize a little bit, make it a little more pacy. Would love to keep the original songs as well with new voices and some minor tweaks. I would also want to make it a little more erotic, would definitely want to keep it edgy. Would also want to make Gulshan Grover & Mohnish Behl's character a bit more.

Dream Cast:  

Vidyut Jamwal replacing Akshay Kumar ( On a second thought, I should leave 'zeher hai ke pyar hai' out of the film)
Priyanka Chopra replacing Mamta Kulkarni
Aditya Roy Kapoor replacing Mohnish Behl
Ram Kapoor replacing Sadashiv Amrapurkar ( me lord, bade bahut achhe lagte hain)
Suniel Shetty replacing Gulshan Grover ( Anna as Kekda)
                    
 



2. BULUNDI: (1981)

Director:Esmayeel Shroff

Cast: Raaj Kumar, Danny Denzongpa(double role), Raaj Kiran, Asha Parekh, Kader Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

What is it all about : WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? HOW CAN SOMEONE EVEN ASK THIS QUESTION? Its the immortal tale of Praafessar Khurana (khh from the epiglottis). Seriously, all people remember from this film is the legendary dialogue " Humko mita saakey, yeh zamane mein dum nahi, humse zamana khud hai, zamane se hum nahi". But besides all of that, Bulundi is a great concept based on college politics. Just that the director smoked something weird, and went on to make a superhero-esque film out of it. This film is about how a college professor, changes the lives of the sons of three gang-lords, and THEN he creates a squad with them to beat the s*#t of the evil force of these gang-lords


What do I want to change: Mainly, heavy changes should be done in the story and screenplay. I would not want my professor be the superhero and beat everyone to pulp. The only power he should possess is the power to inspire students. It should be brought to the modern context. Maybe a fight against drugs ( How about some crystal meth, eh!). I would NOT give Danny (or Tiger Shroff) a double role and call them Ranjit Singh Lobo and Manjit Singh Lobo respectively. This could very well turn into a student political thriller ( We havent had any good one other than Yuva). All I am saying now, that it has scope, and Professor Khurana is definitely one character I want to play with

Dream Cast:  Anil Kapoor replacing Raaj Kumar (Come on, dont tell me that you were expecting Brian Cranston)
                      Arjun Kapoor replacing Raaj Kiran
                      Ali Fazal replacing Beta Danny
                     Jackie Shroff replacing Papa Danny ( Alas! no Batla Danny)
                     Kay Kay menon replacing Kader Khan
                      Rajesh Sharma replacing Kulbhushan Kharbanda








1. GUMNAAM: (1965)

Director: Raja Nawathe

Cast: Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Pran, Helen, Madan Puri, Manmohan, Tarun Bose, Mehmood, Dhumal

What is it all about :Based on the classic Agatha Christie's classic 'whodunit' story 'And then there were none', Gumnaam is by far one of the most interesting and intriguing thrillers that's been made in Bollywood. I watched it more than twenty time since it first came on DD-1, almost nineteen years ago. Gumnaam is about a group of people stuck on an island, getting killed one by one. The killer is one of them, and everyone is hiding something from their pasts

What do I want to change: I would like to set it up in the 60s itself, keep the backdrop as it is. Some more twists and the end action scene should be a mindboggling one.

Dream Cast:  Siddharth Malhotra replacing Manoj Kumar
                     Shradhha Kapoor replacing Nanda
                     Emraan Hashnmi replacing Pran
                      Chitrangada Singh replacing Helen
                     Manoj Bajpayee replacing Tarun Bose
                      Manoj Pahwa replacing Dhumal
                     Ravi kishen replacing Manmohan
                     Pawan Malhotra replacing Madan Puri
and our very own Sharib hashmi replacing Mehmood              

   

AND that brings us to the end of the list. Honestly there are a few more movies that I wanted to put in the list, but none of those were closer to me than these six. Like my other features, you may not agree with my choice of cast, but you will definitely visualize these characters while reading it (Oh, of course, you have to know these movies). If you yet haven't watched any of these movies, please don't even think of going to piratebay.com. Please buy DVDs, it will be cheaper than your next meal at Mcdonalds (Come on, these are Hindi films). Anyway lets stop blabbering about remakes and move onto other stuff, who is the kid dating Chloe Moretz, by the way?...