The phenomenon of remaking Bollywood movies in various South Indian languages is not something new. From the 60’s many hit Bollywood movies were remade in the South. In fact, South superstar Rajnikanth at the beginning of his career did many remakes of Amitabh Bachchan blockbusters. In recent times, the trend has declined but still, many Hindi movies were remade in south India. Here is the list of five south Indian movies adapted from Bollywood.
Andhadhun (2018) - Telugu Remake: Maestro (2021) Malayalam Remake: Bhramam (2021)
Andhadhun starring AyushmanKhurrana is a mystery thriller and did well both critically and commercially when released. It was later remade into Telegu and Malayalam languages.
Andhahun was directed by SriramRaghavan and it starred AyushmannKhurrana, RadhikaApte and Tabu. It is one of the latest Hindi films that were remade in various South Indian languages. It was remade in Telegu language named Maestro and starred Nithin, NabhaNatesh and Tamannaah. Malayalam remake starred Prithviraj, RaashiKhanna and Mamta Mohandas and titled Brahmam.
MunnaBhai MBBS (2003)- Tamil Remake: Vasool Raja MBBS (2004) Telugu Remake: Shankar Dada MBBS (2004) Kannada Remake: Uppi Dada MBBS (2006)
Munnabhai MBBS was a cult classic directed by RajkkumarHirani and starred Sanjay Dutt, ArshadWarsi,Gracy Singh and BomanIrani in pivotal roles. It was remade in various south Indian languages Tamil, Telegu and Kannada.
Munnabhai MBBS is an iconic movie in every sense and it gave us immemorial characters like Munnabhai and Circuit which became household names. It became so popular that it was remade in three south Indian languages. The Tamil remake was titled Vasool Raja MBBS with Kamal Haasan, Telegu remade starred Chiranjivi and titled Shankar Dada MBBS and the Kannada remake was named Uppi Dada MBBS starring Upendra and all these movies were hits in their respective languages.
Jab We Met (2007) - KandenKadhalai (2009)
Jab We Met directed by Imtiaz Ali was a big hit when released and it became so popular that it was remade in Tamil as KandenKadhalai.
KandenKadhalai is the Tamil remake of the romantic drama Jab We Met starring ShahidKapoor and KareenaKapoor which was released in 2007. The Tamil remake had Bharath and Tamannaah in the lead roles. The Tamil remake had the same effect as the original on the Tamil audience and did quite well at the box office.
3 Idiots (2009) – Nanban (2012)
Nanban directed by famous Tamil director Shankar was an official Tamil remake of the 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots. It did very well commercially when released.
3 Idiots is the second movie on this list that is directed by RajkumarHirani. The original movie starred Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and KareenaKapoor in lead roles. In the remake released in 2012 in the Tamil language, the lead actors were Vijay, Ileana D’Cruz, Sathyan, Srikanth, and Jiiva. The 3 Idiots remake was a big hit in the Tamil film industry. It is the only movie by director Shankar that is a remake.
A Wednesday (2008) Tamil Remake: UnnaipolOruvan (2009) Telugu Remake: Eenadu (2009)
A Wednesday is directed by Neeraj Pandey and it had Naseeruddin Shah and AnupamKher in lead roles. It was a sleeper hit of that year and it was later remade in Tamil and Telegu languages.
A Wednesday is a thriller; after getting an unidentified tip about a bomb, a police commissioner must make a deal with the terrorist, who demands the release of four militants. It was remade in Tamil as UnnaipolOruvan starring Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal. It was remade in Telugu as Eenadu with Kamal Haasan again and Venkatesh in the lead roles.
