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By Sushama Shelly Š2004 Bollyvista.com |
The seasoned copy-masters, the Bhatts' latest flick 'Murder' is a faithful copy of Hollywood's 'Unfaithful' and so is Karan Razdan's 'Hawas'.
Bole to, copyright ka funda kya hai? Right to copy, very simple! Well, that undeniably was the mantra some time back till Barbara Taylor Bradford sued a desi-writer for 'A Woman of Substance' starring Karisma Kapoor, and left Sahara totally besahara. At least that's how it seemed to outsiders, as Sahara continued with their shoot for 'Karishma' unfazed and undaunted. And what finally happened was no less than a karishma! Yes, not only did Sahara win the legal battle that literally boomeranged on the claimant but the court ordering Barbara to pay damages to Sahara for holding up their mega TV serial!
'Karishma' is indeed a miracle of destiny that has absolved Bhatts, Chopras and Guptas of film industry of even feeling guilt - for having indulged in copy writing. Look back in anger, sorry in disbelief, when we tell you that so many of our Hindi films are actually copied from Hollywood. But tell a Bollywood director, 'Sir aapki yeh film to Hollywood ki copy hai' and pat will come the reply, 'Inspired hai bhai, inspired'. So that's the inspiration that makes us tell you of a few films that are a little more than inspired. They are copied.
Bhatt. Mahesh Bhatt. Original, till a point in time 'Bhatt' not of late. He did some wonderful work in 'Saaransh', 'Arth' and 'Naam', but what to do, 'Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin' and 'It Happened One Night' when he too succumbed to Xeroxing Hollywood. Next Bhattman made Nagarjuna a 'Criminal' as he sat down cyclostyling 'Fugitive'. Our desi Robert De Niro version of 'Taxi Driver' was 'Sadak' where Sunju baba drove taxies and fought the eunuch queen Sadashiv. But 'Sadak' had a few scenes from the Mel Gibson-starrer 'Lethal Weapon' and climax from the Van Damme film, 'Cyborg'. 'Saathi' starring the Pak opening batsman Mohsin Khan drew inspiration from Brian De Palma's violent gangland saga 'Scarface'. 'Bangkok Hilton' turned 'Gumraah' with Sanju baba and Sridevi. From the shed of Bhatts also came 'Jism' in which Bipasha Basu sizzled and smooched John Abraham. 'Body Heat' had Kathleen Turner doing similar things though not to John and certainly not under the Bhatt supervision. All those who want originality and want to see autobiographical films of Mahesh Bhatt raise your hands. All hands raised.
Bhatt again. This time Vikram Bhatt. Vikram loves English movies especially when he makes them in Hindi. This Bhatt has to his credit a number of hits in recent times and did we mention that a number of copies too. Marlon Brando, good actor. Aamir Khan, also a good actor. 'On the Waterfront' - good film. 'Ghulam' - good copied film. 'The Whole Nine Yards' has nothing to do with a navvari saree but definitely a lot to do with Vikram Bhatt's 'Aawara Paagal Deewana'. 'Fareb' was a remake of 'Unlawful Entry', the Kurt Russell-Madeline Stowe-Ray Liotta film about a cop obsessed with a married woman. 'Fareb' was an unexpected hit while the other copy Naseer-Sunil Shetty-starrer 'Takkar', was a miserable flop. Lisa Ray decided to do only Hollywood instead of just doing the Hollywood remake of 'Jagged Edge' in the guise of 'Kasoor'. Finally we let you on a 'Raaz'. It follows this trend as well and gives us a retelling of Harrison Ford thriller 'What Lies Beneath'. So Vikram Bhatt. What lies beneath a little inspiration? But copy or no copy, Vikram Bhatt makes films that offer a lot of cheer to the industry.
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