We live in a world of remakes and remixes. With rapid advances in technology, sadly there have not been parallel advances in creativity and originality. Filmmakers and musicians are busy ‘remaking’ old films and ‘remixing’ old songs.
This is a phenomenon which I have never been able to understand. There is no need for them to do so. The only reason behind this can be lack of new ideas. Why else would one pick up on a film that has already done well years ago and then go about making a hash of itIJ Why cannot they make a flop film of their own instead of spoiling the name of the original film and also tarnishing memories of it which we carry in our heartsIJ
A film or a song has its own place in our hearts and minds. We cherish our favourite movies and songs and then one fine day, we suddenly find that they have been remade or remixed into some strange concoction which is almost an insult to their original beauty and uniqueness.
Himmatwala was remade and two of the film’s original songs were also retained in the remake. And those were the only songs from the new film which were noticed! The others may not well have been there. What was the entire exercise aboutIJ If someone of this generation wished to see Himmatwala, he or she would have seen the original. If the ‘remakers’ feel they are going some kin of noble service to the film industry by their ‘efforts’, they are sadly mistaken. The films that come to mind in this context are Karz, Agnipath, Chashme Baddoor, Don. And now Aashiqui, the fresh film which brought back melody after years to cinema, has come our way as a remake. And this one claims that its is not a sequel and does not have the same story. Then why could it not have been named something elseIJ Why should a filmmaker publicise his film by taking advantage of the popularity of an old titleIJ Classics are not meant for remakes. Remaking may not be a new idea in Bollywood. But there have been too many remakes recently that have received flak from film critics. The main idea is to lift the storyline and not capture to the spirit of the classic.
The Rajshree people have remade their own films and even they have not been successful every time. Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, based on Nadiya ke Paar was the exception. Both films were blockbusters — one had a rural background (Nadiya ke paar) and the other an urban backdrop. But the same formula did not work when it came to Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (which was an ostentatious remake of the lovely and simple Chitchor). The successful Tapasya of the seventies became the recent flop film title Ek Vivah Aisa bhi. These films were not even pale shadows of the originals. Every film has an atmosphere and a soul and trying to make it all over again, in my opinion, is trying to replace its soul. In the process, you may kill it or injure it seriously. Films based on novels like Devdas have been made several times. Even then, the one which was closest to the spirit of the novel was the one with Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vaijayanti Mala. Bhansali’s Devdas, with its lavish sets an an ‘Oxford-returned’ Devdas was a far cry from Sarat Chandra’s extremely simple and frugal world. Same goes for Umrao Jaan. The 80s version was the original and the remake was something else altogether.
The remixed songs have louder music, deafening percussion and certain added inputs which make them lose their character and rhythm. They sound rather strange to people who have grown up on the original sweetness and melody of these songs.
One sincerely hopes that nobody ventures to remake Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Waqt, Pyaasa, Pakeezah or any of the great classics of Indian cinema. Their sanctity must be respected. Is there nobody who can make an original film which can match with these classicsIJ If there is nobody who can do it, then nobody should think of remaking them. leave them alone, let them keep shining in the firmament as its brightest stars. Perhaps that would be the best tribute they could give to the world of Indian cinema in its centenary year .