There is something about remakes that makes them count. As there are a few more lined up for 2023, here’s what experts opine about their success mantra

Sheetal

Being the last big film of 2022, Ajay Devgn-starrer Drishyam 2’s success story definitely underlines the fact that remakes will never go out of fashion. Before Drishyam and its sequel — remakes of Malayalam films with the same name — there have been a number of hit Hindi films that have been a remake, including Son Of Sardaar, Singham, Bodyguard, Bhool Bhulaiya and Rowdy Rathore.

In 2023, a couple of remakes are in the pipeline.

Despite OTT having the original regional versions, what makes remakes tick?

Filmmaker Ashwini Chaudhary levels it to OTT giving exposure to vast content. ” In 2020, we witnessed a tectonic shift with the advent of pandemic-induced lockdown, which has worked brilliantly for regional cinema and then reflected in their Hindi remakes later. “

About Drishyam’s success, he points out, “Drishyam is a blockbuster, as is its sequel. Its subtitled or dubbed version was not available on OTT. People were waiting for the sequel and it’s a well-made film, so it became a success.”

Producer Munish Sahni opines, “Regional films are getting pan-Indian response because their stories offer rooted content. Since many of the Indian languages from the South like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada aren’t accessible to Hindi language speaking belt, the remakes are bringing those into mainstream.”

Bollywood for long has felt that star-audience disconnect has probably led to their films failing. “Bollywood has realized this and now just as the case of Shehzada, the cast is coming to cities like Jalandhar to rebuild that connect,” offers Sahni, who has produced Singham’s Punjabi remake. “Singham in Punjabi didn’t work because Hindi and Punjabi are very similar languages. Now is the time for Punjabi producers to try some South-Indian films’ remakes,” he adds.

Watch out

Here are some South-Indian film remakes that will release in 2023.

Shehzada

The first in line is Kartik Aaryan-starrer Shehzada. It is the remake of hit Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, which featured Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles. Kartik was also in news last year for rumours of walking out of the project had Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo Bholaa’s Hindi dubbed version got released before Shehzada. But look at the original Drishyam 2, which was readily available in dubbed language, and yet Ajay Devgn managed to profit from the remake. Shehzada is directed by Rohit Dhawan, and features Kartik Aaryan,

Kriti Sanon, Manisha Koirala, Paresh Rawal, Ronit Roy and Sachin Khedekar. It is set to release on February 10, 2023.

Bholaa

Ajay Devgn will be hitting the theatres with another South-Indian remake on March 30 this year. It’s a remake of successful Tamil film Kaithi, which was released in 2019.

While the original had Karthi as the lead hero, the Hindi version will have Ajay Devgn and Tabu. It will also star Amala Paul, Sanjay Mishra and Deepak Dobriyal. Devgn is also directing this ambitious project, while Kaithi was helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj.

Selfiee

In another remake, Selfiee, actors Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi will be sharing screen space for the first time. It is the remake of 2019 Malayalam film Driving License, which had Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu in the lead roles. Actor Akshay Kumar announced the trailer launch of Selfiee on Tuesday and it will be hitting the theatres on February 24.

Untitled yet

Two other remakes are likely to release this year, The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam, 2019) and Soorarai Pottru (Tamil, 2020). The former will star Sanya Malhotra in the lead role and in the other Akshay Kumar will reprise the role of South star Suriya. The latter will be seen in a cameo.

Remakes in the pipeline

• Joseph (Malayalam, 2018); Sunny Deol (yet untitled)
• Veeram (Tamil, 2014); Salman Khan (Titled: Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali)
• Thadam (Tamil, 2019); Aditya Roy Kapur (Titled: Gumraah)
• Master (Tamil, 2021); Salman Khan (yet untitled)
• Naandhi (Telugu, 2021); Ajay Devgn (yet untitled)
• Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru (Tamil, 2016); Varun Dhawan (Titled: Sanki)
• Anniyan (Tamil, 2005); Ranveer Singh (yet untitled)
• HIT: The Second Case (Telugu); Rajkummar Rao
• F2: Fun and Frustration (Telugu, 2019); Arjun Kapoor (yet untitled)