Bollywood needs to pause remaking – post-pandemic numbers are the proof
The world is returning to normalcy, but the normalcy in B'wood is yet to arrive. Indeed, 2022 was not a good year for Bollywood’s box office. Most of their films were trapped in a toxic boycott campaign. The year’s box office was ruled by South Indian original stories, and B’wood needs to retrospect.
This year B’wood had many remakes released with big names associated with it. But, these movies didn’t taste box office success. From
From Shahid Kapoor's 'Jersey' to recently Kartik Aaryan’srelease ‘Shehzada’, the fate of all these flicks remained the same – they failed at the box office.
Why are remakes not going to work in Bollywood?
During the two years of the pandemic when people were caged in their four walls, online video and OTT platforms were the only providers of entertainment. Indian audiences started consuming content from various continents which enhanced their content consumption.
Not only did Indian audiences consume foreign content, but they also watched many regional movies from various states. During the confined period, people also watched many original south Indian films which were remade in Bollywood.
The advent of OTT and video streaming platforms like YouTube made it easier to access such movies. There is no iota of doubt that OTT is killing Bollywood’s remaking culture. When people can easily access original movies, why are they going to invest their time, energy, and money in the same product with different packaging?
Bollywood needs to get rid of its remaking obsession.
From 2009 to 2019, Bollywood remade 38 south Indian films, 18 of which have been hits. Tiger Shroff-starrer Baaghi 2 (a remake of the Telugu movie Kshanam), Ranveer Singh’s action comedy Simmba (Telugu film Temper), and SalmanKhan’s action-romantic comedy Bodyguard (the Malayalam film of the same name). All of these films minted huge numbers at the box office.
It is clear that remaking south Indian films is a profitable venture for Bollywood. But, the pandemic turned the table. All remakes including giant names like Amir Khan and Hrithik Roshan failed miserably at the box office.
Freshly, Bollywood’s top production house ‘T-series’ announced that they are going to remake the Malayalam hit ‘Bangalore Days '.After the announcement, the original film was removed from the OTT platform. The makers don’t want the film to be compared with the original before its release.
This is not the only case. Janvhi Kapoor’s film ‘Mili’ which is a remake of another Malayalam hit ‘Helen’ is also being removed from the OTT space.
Original stories also work at the box office
Analyzing the 2022’s Hindi box, only four movies outrightly smashed numbers at the box office. The movies are The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, and Brahmastra. Apart from these hits, 2023’s first hit was an original film – Pathan. These movies are a testament that original stories can do wonders at the box office.