‘Anamika’, ‘Toofan’ and ‘Aag’… can you guess the similarity between these three movies? These three movies happen to be the Telugu remakes of Bollywood superhit movies ‘Kahani’, ‘Zanjeer’ and ‘Sholay’ respectively. The original movies made in Hindi are considered to have reached cult status and are being worshipped by the audience for their strong enduring appeal. But their Telugu remake versions proved to be disastrous. In fact, the remakes have spoilt the cult status of the originals.
Not only from Hindi to Telugu but a few Telugu cult movies remade into Telugu again faced the same fate. ‘Panduranga Mahatyam’ starring late NTR was a superhit devotional movie released in 1957. It is considered a classic movie for both its content and its enduring appeal. NTR’s son Balakrishna remade the film with the same title and released it in 2008. The film met with negative reviews from critics and was declared a big flop at the box-office. Despite this experience, sources close to Balayya Babu say, he still has the remake of the classic ‘Nartanasala’ on his mind.
One more classic film’s remake is on cards reportedly. Producer Ashwini Dutt is keen on remaking Chiranjeevi-Sridevi starrer ‘Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari’. It is common sense to understand that Ram Charan Tej would do the lead role as Jagadeka Veerudu and the makers are on look out for a face which can be as mesmerising as Sridevi’s to be called as ‘Athiloka Sundari’. Which is a herculine task indeed!
Many instances proved that touching a classic or a cult movie is dangerous. Nothing new is achieved since the story is known and only the narration is different. To achieve the feel of the original is like spoiling the face totally and trying to get back to the original beauty performing a plastic surgery. In case of mass and routine comedy entertainers, these remakes might have worked. Be it Bollywood or Tollywood, till date any cult movie remake could never reach the status of the original. Can ‘Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari’ remake break the jinx? Hope it does so…
