amazement of the industry. But, we definitely do know
that a star alone cannot make a movie a Rs.100 crore
success. There was something about the making and
the concept that attracted the hearts of audiences
all over the globe.
That is the point of wonder here. There are very few
stories that transcend populations, languages, tastes
and cultures, to be liked by everyone. Bodyguard seems
to be one of them. First made in Malayalam as Bodyguard
itself, then in Tamil as Kaavalan and now again in
Hindi as Bodyguard! We hear that Telugu and Kannada
versions are in the pipeline, but not helmed by Siddhique,
the original director, anymore. The biggest surprise
factor here is that the scale of the films success,
even after accounting for the difference in the sizes
of the industries, has only magnified every time the
story has been remade. The Malayalam Bodyguard was
considered an above average grosser, a moderate hit
at best, a film that took more than a year to complete
(an inordinate delay by Malayalam standards) and one
that was beset by problems. Kaavalan was declared
a hit, but not a big one. It was spoken about more
because it ended a long line of poor results for Vijay.
At that point, one thought that the last about this
story had been heard. But, then came news that Salman
Khan was interested in the story and had called Siddhique
to make it in Hindi. And, today, it is the biggest
hit in the history of Indian cinema. Yes, amazing
for a very simple and touching love story. Perhaps,
it goes to show that the simplicity of stories is
still something that the audiences love. Though we
may occasionally get an Endhiran or Ghajini or Dabangg
which rely on technology, action and star charisma
(not essentially in that order) to wow the audience,
we also get films like Bodyguard and 3 Idiots, which
use nothing but normal human emotions.
Getting back to the crux of the matter; the dearth
of stories that can cut across cultural borders. There
are many examples of films that have been successful
in two languages, Telugu and Tamil for example. It
always seems safe to take a Telugu hit and bring it
to Tamil, it has not usually failed. The Malayalam-Tamil
remake has also had its fair share of success. But,
it is very rare that the same story finds widespread
acceptance in more than two languages. And, even rarer
that those films replicated, or even bettered their
success with each remake.
Munnabhai MBBS, the first and original was the biggest
success amongst all its offshoots; Tamil followed
at some distance while the Telugu remake managed to
hold fort solely because of Chiranjeevi’s mass
pull, whereas the Kannada version couldn’t do
much. The success of Devar Magan, and Kireedam (Malayalam)
could never be repeated in other languages, in spite
of earnest remakes by experienced film makers. Even
a hugely exciting concept like Mudhalvan fell flat
in Hindi despite Shankar handling the remake himself.
Many more such examples abound.
But, look at Bodyguard. It has courted success at
all places. What are the other movies that have managed
to do that? Remember, Pokkiri, the Vijay superhit,
which was remade from the Telugu blockbuster of the
same name and how it then went to Hindi as Wanted
with Salman Khan. Come to think of it, Salman does
seem to have the knack of picking up universally appealing
stories. That is why he perhaps did Bodyguard and
before that Ready which again was a Telugu superhit
to start with (under the same name) and was then remade
in Tamil as Uthamaputhiran which met with a fair degree
of success.
Speaking of such successes, we can never forget Billa,
the one story that not only transcended languages,
but also eras. Starting with the original Don in Hindi
in the late 70s, to the unforgettable Superstar avatar,
the SRK-Ajith remakes and now their upcoming sequels-
the character never seems to die. Or there is the
Chandramukhi story which began its journey in Malayalam
in 1993 as Manichithrathazhu, went to Kannada as Apthamithra,
came to Tamil and then went to Hindi as Bhool Bhulaiya,
superhits at all places, cult hits at some.
Really, no one knows the secret behind why a story
is liked or not. We cannot explain why a wonderful
account of friendship like Naadodigal could never
hit it off with the Telugu audience or why the cult
hit Udhayananu Tharam (Malayalam) could not leave
a mark in Tamil (Vellithirai) or Hindi (Short Kut).
We might never understand! But, let us hope for more
stories that are liked by all.
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