October 20, 2010 : Although the South Indian filmmaker Priyadarshan boasts of being the best filmmaker, he has been going through remakes constantly all throughout his career.
Most of his Hindi films have been a remake of Malayalam comedy capers or inspiration from Hollywood movies. Be his Garam Masala, which was a remake of ‘Boeing Boeing’ or Malamaal Weekly adapted from Richard Holmes’ Waking Ned, it has been blatant replicas.
However his previous film Khatta Meeta starring Akshay Kumar and Trisha in lead roles was a remake of his very own yesteryear Malayalam movie ‘Vellanakalude Nadu’.
His recent release Aakrosh has been fetching good reviews across the country as it is based on the honor killings across various villages and towns in India. It was an appealing and praiseworthy theme but it turned out to be a copy of the Hollywood movie ‘Mississippi Burning’.
This crime thriller starring Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe in lead roles is about two FBI agents with wildly different styles arriving in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
Director Priyadarshan hasn’t left even the minutest details and has exactly copied it in Aakrosh. Be the characterization of Akshay Khanna wearing specs or the Burning Cross modified as Burning Shool: it has been a complete copy work.
Obviously, this leads to a guess that his upcoming Hindi film Bullet Train will be a remake of Hollywood’s all-time classic thriller ‘The Great Train Robbery’.
