To be sure, the Hindi film industry, which started focusing on narratives directed at multiplex audiences, is lining up remakes of mass-market south Indian films to bring audiences back to theatres.
Banijay owned production house EndemolShine India has acquired the rights to two Tamil hits, Vijay-starrer Master and romantic fantasy film Oh My Kadavule. Meanwhile, Rajkummar Rao will feature in the Hindi remake of Telugu cop thriller HIT. Ajay Devgn too has announced the remake of Telugu hit Naandhi.
Filmmakers and studios point to the universally appealing genre of these films, irrespective of language. “It is not really about south Indian or Hindi films, but good content which will entertain audiences. The two films that we have recently acquired Hindi rights for, are very different, in terms of narrative style or genre but appealed on a mass level to the audience,“ Abhishek Rege, CEO, EndemolShine India had said in an earlier interview.
Content for the mass market has always seen strong demand and that will continue, as is evident from the impressive box office numbers that Master had garnered last January. Rege had said that in the post-pandemic era, where cinemas are straining to get back on their feet and require strong footfalls, there will be demand for popular films.
Trade experts point out that while Bollywood has looked to south Indian films for inspiration earlier, and with much success, be it Kabir Singh (a remake of Arjun Reddy), Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam or Shahid Kapoor’s sports drama Jersey, filmmakers down south are far more keen to push their original films up north now.
