Karan Malhotra’s Brothers, the official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film Warrior (2011) is part of a larger tide of foreign films hitting Indian shores, albeit with a desi tadka. For your future pleasure, here’s a list of foreign films slated to entertain you with Bollywood stars.
John Abraham is The Man from Nowhere (2010)
John Abraham will produce and act in the Indian adaptation of the Korean thriller which was a critical and commercial smash on its home turf. Lee Jung-beom’s original follows the rage of a man who vows revenge against the mafia, when they take away a little girl, his only friend. Titled Rocky Handsome, the film has been extensively shot at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. Nishikant Kamat who directed John in Force (2011) will be the director of the film.
Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Les Lyonnais (2011)
Olivier Marchal’s French crime drama will be helmed by Tigmanshu Dhulia for a Bollywood adaptation, titled Yaara, which follows the tale of two friends, notorious for their crime escapades, from young to old age. Initially, Manoj Bajpai and Irrfan Khan were pencilled in to play the older buddies while Amit Sadh and Vidyut Jamwal were locked for their younger avatars in the decade-spanning gangster saga. But Manoj and Irrfan chose to opt out, and now, Amit and Vidyut will age from young to old. Shruti Haasan has a key role in it.
Homi Adjania’s The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
John Green’s weepie bestseller, The Fault in Our Stars which gave birth to a Hollywood blockbuster will be redesigned for Indian taste. The film is still in the scripting stage. Director Homi Adajania hasn’t yet confirmed the news of Deepika Padukone and Varun Dhawan being cast for this one. The story follows two teens at different stages of cancer falling in love after meeting at a cancer support group.
Ramesh Sippy’s Beautiful Lies (2010)
Ramesh Sippy, the man behind India’s pop culture behemoth, Sholay (1975), is adapting Pierre Salvadori’s breezy romantic comedy where both mother and daughter fall for the same man. Hema Malini and Rakul Preet Singh play the mother-daughter duo while Rajkummar Rao plays the man in question. Sippy ‘s comeback with this film titled Shimla Mirchi comes after a gap two decades and is much awaited!
Prawaal Raman’s Oculus (2013)
Real life siblings Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem will be playing reel life siblings in an adaptation of the Hollywood horror movie, Oculus (2013). The plot follows the tumultuous relationship between a brother and a sister who are convinced that a mirror with supernatural powers is responsible for their parents’ death. Tentatively titled Zahhak, the film will be directed by Prawaal Raman.
Sajid Khan’s My Girlfriend Is an Agent (2009)
A massive box office success in South Korea, this film follows two secret agents who happen to be former lovers and are working together on a mission. As the name suggests, the action packed rom-com will be Indianised by Sajid Khan who has confessed on working very hard on the script to make people forget Humshakals (2014), his last ‘gem’.
Ravi K Chandran’s Point Blank (2010)
Ravi K. Chandran, who shot a diverse range of films like My Name Is Khan (2010), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Black (2005), and Yuva (2004) will be directing the remake of French film, Point Blank (2010), post his Tamil directorial debut, Yaan (2014). A gasp inducing thriller, Fred Cavayé film is the relentless tale of a man wrongly interpreted as a fugitive.
Arjun Rampal Starrer Buried (2010)
Rodrigo Cortés’ claustrophobic thriller about a man who wakes up to find himself buried alive in a coffin and races against time to save his life, will be adapted by Saurabh Varma of Mickey Virus (2013) fame. If rumours are to be believed, Arjun Rampal has given his nod for the central role, which was essayed by Ryan Reynolds in the original.
Varun Dhawan-Aditya Roy Kapoor Starrer The Intouchables (2011)
Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment are producing the desi remake of the French blockbuster that grossed over $427 million worldwide. Reportedly Varun Dhawan and Aditya Roy Kapoor will play the leads in the film. A story of an unlikely friendship between a wealthy quadriplegic and his caretaker, it will have Mohit Suri wielding the megaphone.
The Best of Me (2014)
Hollywood giant Relativity Media is working on the Bollywood remake of The Best of Me (2014), as part of a three film deal with Balaji Telefilms. The film follows two former school sweethearts rekindling their love when they visit their small hometown. Tiger Shroff has been approached for the lead role.
And A Few More
Apart from the few stated above, a few more remakes stand at different stages of production- Love Me If You Dare (2003), Priceless (2006), 3 Days to Kill (2014), Masterminds (2015), You Again (2010) etc among others.
(The writer is a journalist and screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise.)
Twitter - @RanjibMazumder
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)