Finding inspiration can be tough. But when people do find it, they go on to do great films. And sometimes, those great things are either great and pretty crap. Case in point, these filmmakers who found their inspiration from others’ work.
1. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S and Patch Adams
Munna Bhai is a beloved film franchise in India and people have really loved the heart in these films. But the fact remains that the first instalment of this film series has been heavily inspired by Robbin Williams’ Patch Adams.
2. Zinda and Oldboy
Park Chan Wook’s masterpiece remains one of the greatest action thrillers ever made and has inspired more than one remakes. In Bollywood, that remake would be Sanjay Dutt’s Zinda. However, the Hindi film doesn’t go deep into the darker territories of Oldboy and thus feels a bland haphazard adaptation at best.
3. Qayamat and The Rock
The Ajay Devgn starrer is a complete rip off of Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage’s The Rock. Other from some side stories, everything about the film, from plot to graphics to action scenes are almost identical.
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4. Taxi No. 9211 and Changing Lanes
Both films followed the premise of a wealthy young man being at the mercy of a mercurial cab driver. Except, Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson’s Changing Lanes released much before its Hindi counterpart.
5. Shaurya and A Few Good Men
Despite being an adaptation of the Tom Cruise military courtroom drama, Shaurya draws up its own plot and bases the story around Islamophobia. Does it do justice to the original film? That’s for you to decide.
6. Partner and Hitch
While both the movies are ridiculous slapstick comedies that work in their own ways and have multiple subplots different from each other, both rigidly follow the same concept to the very end and so feel more alike than they should. Also, Hitch was released much before Partner.
7. Judwaa and Twin Dragons
Jackie Chan’s Twin Dragons was the tale of two identical twin brother who had been separated as children and grow up in completely different worlds until they reunite at a different point in life. Sounds like a fun movie, right? For the 90s, at least? Yeah, well it sounded quite fun to the makes of Judwaa as well.
8. Salaam-e-Ishq and Love, Actually
This had to be the most obvious remake of all time. Even the posters are identical. While the subplots run in different directions, the film follows a similar theme throughout its run time and thus feels like Love Actually but not nearly as good.
9. Dostana and Now I pronounce you Chuck and Larry
As attractive as Dostana‘s cast was, they simply were not on the same level of comedic genius as Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Not to say that that the original film was much better but hey, it was still less cringe to watch.
10. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Breaking Away
Sure, the films have differences but the central themes again, look far too similar to each other. And as much as we love Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Breaking Away just did all that in 1979.
11. A Common Man and A Wednesday
It is rare that other film industries come knocking on Bollywood’s doors for scripts to copy but this was one of those times. The Sri Lankan film stars Academy Award Winner, Ben Kingsley is Naseeruddin Shah’s role.
12. Sangam and Pearl Habor
The Ben Affleck-starrer was nominated for four Oscars after it released. But it seems to have been inspired by Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, a film about a love-triangle in the backdrop of war. In case, you were wondering, both films are actually pretty good dramas. So you can give either one a go.
13. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale and Hachiko Monogatari
The heartbreaking story of Hachiko is of course inspired by the actual events that took place but it is also influenced by the 1987 Japanese film Hachiko Monogatari. The film revolves around an Akita dog who waits for 9 years at a train station waiting for his human, not knowing that he’s dead.
14. Kimba the White Lion and The Lion King
And we thought The Lion King was an adaptation of Hamlet. But since its release, people have been asking Disney to give credit to the creators of Kimba for being a serious influence on its characters. That said, the creators of Simba and Co have repeatedly denied having any connections to Kimba. However, when the movie released in Japan, over 400 Japanese animators and cartoonists signed a letter urging Disney to acknowledge and credit Kimba.
15. Paprika and Inception
Yup, you heard that right. Precious fanboys will have trouble believing this but Christopher Nolan’s Inception had been inspired by Satoshi Kon’s animated film Paprika, where the characters use technology that allows them to navigate dreams.
16. Miracle and Chak De India
Both films are about hockey teams beating all odds to win the Olympics gold/ World Cup. Both SRK and Kurt Russell give similar speeches that allow their teams to do so. Naturally, the subplots aren’t the same given the multitude of characters in both the films, in heart, they are one and the same.
Inspirations do come from obvious places, after all.