Bollywood loves remakes of southern films, but the same is not true the other way around. Why?

Bollywood may have chosen several films originally made in southern languages ​​to remake over the years, but South Indian producers prefer not to remake Hindi films. A rare example in recent years is Mr. Bachchanthe Telugu dub of the film starring Ajay Devgn RAIDfailed to attract box office attention. Industry experts attribute this to a different target audience, star appeal and greater familiarity with original Hindi content.

‘Hindi films don’t have much demand for remakes’

“There is not much demand for remakes of Hindi films in the South anymore because these are industries known for their mainstream cinema and their own way of storytelling. They may not see the value in remaking Hindi films for their audiences,” said Rahul Puri, CEO of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas.

Viewers in the southern states are also particular about what they want their stars to do on screen and seeing top-notch actors taking up roles already played by big Bollywood names may not go down well with fans, Puri said.

Hindi films have increasingly begun to cater to niche, upmarket audiences, rather than adopting universally appealing themes that Southern cinema typically prefers.

Certainly, in the 70s and 80s, actors like Rajinikanth had appeared in a number of remakes of Hindi films, such as Shankar Salim Simon (a new version of Amar Akbar Antonio), Billa (Gift) and Velaikkaran (Namak Halal), among others. In recent years, few Hindi films have been chosen for remakes in southern languages, except for the one starring Amitabh Bachchan. Pink which had some success in Tamil (Nerkonda Paarvai in 2019) and Telugu (Vakeel Saab in 2021 versions).

The failure of films like Mr. Bachchan “This shows a poor selection of content,” says Girish Johar, a film producer and trade and exhibition expert.RAID “It was an urban thriller anyway, which may not appeal to the sensibilities of third- and fourth-tier audiences,” he said. “So trying to market that kind of subject matter may have been counterproductive.”

Unlike several southern-language films whose release may be limited to their native markets, Hindi films are shown more widely in territories as diverse as Hyderabad, Kochi and Ernakulam, ensuring that viewers are already familiar with the original films, Johar said. “At least major multiplexes in these regions screen Hindi films.”

On the other hand, apart from a few popular or critically acclaimed titles, films made in regional languages ​​do not always reach Hindi-speaking audiences, he said.

Even in Bollywood, the box office failure of films like Jersey, HIT: The first case, tadap, Vikram Vedha and Bachchan Paandeyall copies of Tamil and Telugu films, has created uncertainty about the formula that has been so widely used in the last two years.

Industry experts point out that the increased adoption of video streaming services during the pandemic has made original films, dubbed into different languages ​​or with subtitles, readily available to audiences. However, many still see value in new releases if they are marketed and localized well.

“There will be exceptions from both sides,” said film distributor and exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, “but if the remake is marketed and presented well, there could be some novelty in the film despite the dubbed OTT versions.”