Posted: 12 Nov 2010 08:57 PM PST

Film makers all over the country are on a purchasing spree of hit movies from other languages. Movie makers from Bollywood are purchasing Tamil and Telugu movies to remake them in Hindi, while producers down South are making minor changes to Hindi hits to suit South Indian cinema. Swapping stories between industries has become the order of the day since a hit in another language is a 'safe bet' than risk crores on a fresh local script.

Salman Khan is busy shooting for "Ready" a movie which was a blockbuster hit in Tollywood while Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan are competing with each other for the rights of Ravi Teja starrer "Don Seenu". Boney Kapoor who made moolah remaking the Telugu superhit "Pokiri" as "Wanted" in Hindi, is negotiating for the rights of "Bommarillu" and "Nuvostanante Nenodhantana". Meanwhile, Tollywood star Mahesh Babu will soon start shooting for the Telugu remake of '3 Idiots' while Pawan Kalyan is working on the remake of 'Love Aaj Kal'.

The list of Telugu movies whose rights are in demand in B-town is endless and ditto with Hindi films wanting to be made in Telugu. Actors say it is easy for producers to convince big stars to do a project which is already a hit elsewhere.

"If a film is a hit in regional language, Bollywood movie makers would want to emulate the success on a national level. Besides, A-list heroes can be easily convinced to act in such movies," says actor Sonu Sood whose recent movie "Dabanngg" was a blockbuster hit and sources say Chiranjeevi is planning to remake it in Telugu.

The remake rights of "Kick" starring Ravi Teja was reportedly bought by Sajid Nadiadwala to be made in Hindi and the rights of Puri Jagannath directed "Golimaar" is also in demand. "Salman is interested in buying the rights of "Don Seenu". Talks are on but we haven't finalised the deal yet," says Suresh Reddy, co-producer of the movie.

Producers and directors admit that given the rise in production costs, remakes are less risky, hence the mad rush for purchase of rights across film industries. "The confidence of the crew goes up while working on a script which is already a hit," says Sushil Kumar, director of 'Mallanna' who is planning a Hindi remake.
Jayant Paranjape who is remaking "Love Aaj Kal" with Pawan Kalyan and Trisha seconds Sushil. "I make a few changes in the script to suit the image of the local star and as it is a tested script it can't go wrong.There is a huge dearth of 'out of the box' story lines so buying the rights and making changes to suit our audience is the only way out" he says.

Critics claim that despite the movie being a hit in Hindi and being watched by lakhs of audience, it could still be a hit in the regional language as not many watch Hindi movies down south. ""Devdas" was made by Bimal Roy, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and several others in many languages all of which were hits. Similarly, if '3 Idiots' is being done by Mahesh, people will watch it to see their local star even if they have seen the original film. Swapping stories between industries is a win-win situation for all," Taran Adarsh, Bollywood trade analyst opines.

The swapping of stories between Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries have become very common of late. Venkatesh is all set for the release of "Nagavalli" a remake of the Kannada "Aptharakshaka". At least half a dozen Telugu movies are being remade in Tamil and Kannada and vice-versa. The scripts might be swapped between film makers of diverse language but they are in unison in their hope to rake moolah at the box office.

Courtesy: TOI