I’d recently done a feature (Bollywood’s Script Thieves) on how the Hindi film industry lifts stories and tries to pass them off as original. Here’s a reader, sharing his disenchantment:
“I was so impressed by Bluffmaster that I even showed it to my foreigner friends as an example of a self-aware Bollywood movie with a post-modern twist. All that changed when a few weeks ago I saw the Argentinian movie, Nueve Reinas. Right from the beginning, it felt like a reincarnation, and I felt I knew the story beforehand. But by the end, it was so clear that Bluffmaster was simply lifted from this movie. I feel cheated, and hate the bloody filmmakers who made Bluffmaster. It leaves a bad taste to realise the fakeness of a movie I liked and for spoiling my appreciation of an original and cool movie, which I’d probably have liked if I hadn’t already seen an imitation.”
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AccountabilityWill We Ever Know the Truth? -
CENSORSHIPNonsense and Sensibility -
AssignmentSame Old, Same Old -
PropagandaHow My Conscience Was Abducted in Dantewada -
ExtractThe Puzzle of Gilbert Hill -
Irrigation PoliticsThe Rot Has Been Revealed -
CYBERFAMEMiss Malini Dot Who? -
HeritageRed Alert: College Street in Danger -
RevivalThe Red Heat Is On -
THE GREATESTRonaldo or Messi? -
CWG SCAMThe Sheila Shield -
STRUGGLEThe Revolutionaries Who Are Now Refugees
OLDER COMMENTS FIRST
4 COMMENTS
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Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na = Billy Crystal's Forget Paris.
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Eh... he should watch John C. Reilly in the 'remake' of Nueve Reinas called "Criminal' - it shows how to make a decent remake.
Remake themselves are not the problem - problem is how Bollywood turns any great movie into another shitfest of dance and songs, and even more with how they never give credit to the original makers.
But why have I even bothered to write about Bollywood? Had it not been for few gems like Dev D, I would have completely forgotten Indian cinema ever existed.
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I have watched the Engilsh version Criminal, and frankly Bluffmaster was a better version. This, I could say about just one more movie remade from Hollywood - kamal Hassan's Chachi 420 remade from Mrs. Doubtfire.
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Of course, 'Criminal' is the Hollywood remake of Nueve Reinas and was co-written by the original writer. I failed to see any form of credit to the original creators in Bluffmaster. The biggest con was the movie itself. The above mentioned Chachi 420 (like innumerable others) also refused to give credit where due.
How difficult it is to merit the work of con artists and thieves. Do these movies even deserve to be called remakes? They are illegal copies. They mock the very idea of creation and intellectual property. And we wonder why the industry does not throw up better ideators. Original ideas are accorded no respect out here.
'We Are Family' is a remake. It is a bad one, but at least it is honestly made. The distinction needs to be made clear.
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