HIJACKING LAUGHTER: A MALLU REMAKER’S TAKEOVER OF BOLLYWOOD COMEDIES
Mallus and B-towners have still not settled the superiority debate between Manichithrathazhu and Bhool Bulaiyaa. But only a few from both parties know about an era when Malayalam movie remakes almost took over Bollywood comedy. The man largely responsible for this was the same one behind Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a guy in black shades named Priyadarshan. A brilliant director who mastered the art of remaking more than filmmaking and a cunning business mind who made a fortune out of it.
REMAKE MAESTRO OF MOLLYWOOD
Priyadarshan is no stranger to the Malayalam audience. With over a dozen classics, he was a household name that peaked in the 90s Malayalam industry. His films like Thenmavin Kombathu, Vettam, Vandanam and Kilukkam are still close to every Malayali’s heart. Nevertheless, amongst critics, he was a person unashamed of plagiarism. That reputation is no surprise considering his director debut Poochakkoru Mukkuthi(1984) was a remake of the Telugu movie Gopala Rao Gari Ammayi(1980) mixed with Charles Dickens’ play The Strange Gentleman and Koteeswaran Magal from Tamil.
Many of his celebrated Malayalam movies had their plots lifted from Hollywood hits of that time. Vandanam (based on the 1987 film Stakeout), Vettam (based on French Kiss(1995) with climax from Hungama) and Chandralekha(While You Were Sleeping) make the tip of an iceberg.
Uncredited remakes or partial adaptations accounts for over 30 in his filmography of 80 movies. But what still made him a sought-after director was his uncanny ability to fit the lifted plots into Kerala’s social scenario. His remakes were so in sync with the Malayali milieu that they sometimes outperformed the originals. Priyadarshan also had original classics written by him like Thenmavin Kombathu and Chitram but his love for plot-lifting constrained this number into fingers. However, by the end of the 90’s, he had brought a revolution in Malayalam cinema with well-worked mindful remakes and expert slapstick comedies, mostly starring his good friend Mohanlal.
THE CARAVAN TO BOLLYWOOD
After years of Hollywood adaptations, it was when Priyan decided to go B-town that a long chain of Malayalam-to-Hindi remakes started to manifest. Despite the criticism, Bollywood had high hopes for his entry due to the hits he gifted to Malayalam cinema. Priyan’s road was initially rough, with his Bollywood debut Muskurahat(1992)(Remake of his own Kilukkam) becoming a financial disaster.
But he returned next year with a remake of the Malayalam classic Kireedam(an original by Sibi Malayil) as Gardish starring Jackie Shroff and scored a hit. With Gardish he became a part of B-town and made 25 films in the next three decades, all remakes without exception. Like Gardish, he also remade films of other Malayalam directors which sometimes performed better than remakes of his own films. Siddique-Lal, Fazil and Sibi Malayil were his favourites in this category. While Gardish(Kireedam), and Mere Baap Pehle Aap(Ishtam) were based on Sibi Malayil’s Movies, Hulchul(Godfather-1991), Bhagam Bhag( Mannar Mathai Speaking) and the legendary Hera Pheri(Ramji Rao Speaking) were remakes of Siddique-Lal’s works.
Priyadarshan was a second unit director for Fazil’s classic Manichithrathazh, which he remade as Bhool Bhulaiyaa. De Dana Dan (Vettam), Hungama(Poochakkoru Mukkuthi),Khatta Meetha (Vellanakalude Naadu), Saat Rang Ke Sapne (Thenmavin Kombath) and Kyon Ki(Thalavattam) were remakes of his own Malayalam movies. Malaamal Weekly was a straight-to-Hindi remake of Waking Ned which was later remade as Aamayum Muyalum in Malayalam. The list can go on for a one hour read.
While some of Priyan’s remakes (Dhol, Saat Rang Ke Sapne, Dholi Sajaake Rakhna, Kyon Ki etc) failed either critically or financially or both, films like Hera Pheri, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Bhagam Bhaag were milestones in Bollywood comedy. He was able to deliver these movies with a well-done direction despite belonging to another language and industry. His films ruled the slapstick and screwball comedy genre of Bollywood in the 2000s. It also created the Priyadarshan-Akshay Kumar-Paresh Rawal chain that gifted many nostalgic movies.
Despite having a controversial percentage of plagiarism in his filmography, Priyadarshan still managed to be respected among directors and loved by the audience. He was a man who delivered acclaimed originals like Kanchivaram(2008) but chose his identity to be something else. He made some notable movies, earned a fortune and adorned our childhood in the process of renovating the art of remaking. Directors like Priyadarshan remind us that the Cinema industry doesn’t need to be idealistic. Even if Manichithrathazhu is a classic, Bhool Bhulaiyaa can also be good on its own. Plagiarism, even though not ideal would always exist in one way or another but the craftsmanship is what matters.
