Bollywood has a tendency to be ‘inspired’ by movies that are successful in other languages. And they don’t always do a good job at it, here’s looking at you Laxmii. However, here are 10 Bollywood remakes that were as good, if not better than the originals. And no, we aren’t looking at problematic films like Kabir Singh and Garam Masala, but actual cult classics that we’ve grown to love.
1. Hera Pheri (2000)
This cult classic comedy film is a copy of the 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking, which in turn was loosely based on the 1971 television film See The Man Run.
2. Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007)
This Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan film was an official remake of the 1993 Malayalam film, Manichitrathazhu. The Malayalam film was also remade in Tamil as Chandramukhi (2005) and in Bengali as Rajmohol (2005).
3. Swades (2004)
This Bollywood hit based on the a real life story penned down by K. Shivaram Karanth in his novel, Chigurida Kanasu – which was adapted into a Kannada film of the same name in 2003.
4. Ghajini (2008)
The original 2005 Tamil film was also directed by A R Murugadoss and starred Suriya, Asin and Nayanthara in the lead roles. Both the films turned out to be huge hits.
5. Drishyam (2015)
The original Malayalam version of this film released in 2013 and was later remade as Drishya (2014) in Kannada, Drushyam (2014) in Telugu, Papanasam (2015) in Tamil and Drishyam (2015) in Hindi.
6. Nayak: The Real Hero (2001)
This film directed by S. Shankar was a remake of his own Tamil film Mudhalvan (1999). The music, composed by A. R. Rahman was also reused from the Tamil version with Hindi lyrics.
7. Virasat (1997)
8. Sadma (1983)
Written, directed and filmed by Balu Mahendra, this movie was a remake of his own 1982 Tamil film Moondram Pirai. Both the films starred Kamal Haasan and Sridevi in lead roles.
9. Paheli (2005)
Based on a folktale, this story has many adaptations. The movie took references from a short story written by Vijayadan Detha in Rajasthani and was also inspired by the 1997 Kannada movie Nagamandala based on the play of same name by Girish Karnad.
10. Saathiya (2002)
This Mani Ratnam hit was a remake of his own work, the 2000 Tamil film Alaipayuthey starring Madhavan and Shalini in lead roles. However, the Hindi version was directer by Mani Ratnam’s former assistant, Shaad Ali. The music for both the films was composed by A. R. Rahman, and the lyrics for the Hindi version were changed later, penned down by Gulzar.
Have you watched them all?