South Indian films that were a remake of Bollywood movies

• Murtuza Nullwala
• 06 June, 2019

Follow Us

By: Murtuza Nullwala

Rowdy Rathore, Bodyguard, Singham, Ready, Wanted, Ghajini, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Saathiya, Nayak, Hera Pheri and many other Bollywood movies are a remake of South Indian films. Bollywood filmmakers are always targeted for not having originality in their movies. However, it is not just Bollywood filmmakers who get inspired by South films, there are many films down South which are a remake of Hindi movies.

Today, let’s looks at some of the famous South films that were a remake of Hindi movies.

Shankar Dada MBBS/Shankar Dada Zindabad  –  Munna Bhai MBBS/Lage Raho Munna Bhai

Sanjay Dutt starrer Munna Bhai series is one of the best franchise movies made in Bollywood. We are waiting for the third installment of the film eagerly. But well, you might not know that Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, both were remade in Telugu with Chiranjeevi in the lead role titled Shankar Dada MBBS and Shankar Dada Zindabad.

Bhale Dongalu – Bunty Aur Babli

Bhale Dongalu starring Tarun and Ileana D’Cruz in the lead role released in 2008. The Telugu film was a remake of Yash Raj Films’ Bunty Aur Babli which starred Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role. Now a sequel to Bunty Aur Babli is said to be in the making, we wonder if that one will too have a remake down South.

Kanden Kadhalai – Jab We Met

2007 release Jab We Met is one of the best romantic-comedies that we have seen in Bollywood. The movie starred Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead roles and the latter won many awards for her performance in the film. In 2009, the movie was remade in Tamil titled Kanden Kadhalai. It starred Bharath and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead roles and just like its original film; here too the lead actress received a lot of appreciation.

Unnaipol Oruvan – A Wednesday

Neeraj Pandey’s A Wednesday is a cult film. The movie was remade internationally and also got a remake in Tamil. Titled Unnaipol Oruvan, the movie starred two of the most talented actors from South film industry, Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal. While A Wednesday was a sleeper at the box office, Unnaipol Oruvan turned out to be a blockbuster.

Teen Maar – Love Aaj Kal

Looks like filmmakers down South love to remake movies that are directed by Imtiaz Ali. Teem Maar starring Pawan Kalyan, Trisha Krishnan, and Kriti Kharbanda was a remake of Love Aaj Kal which starred Deepika Padukone, Saif Ali Khan and Giselli Monteiro.

Nanban – 3 Idiots

Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan starrer 3 Idiots was a pan India film and had done wonders at the box office. But well, filmmaker Shankar decided to make it in Tamil. Titled Nanban, the remake starred Vijay, Jiiva, Srikanth, Ileana D’Cruz, Sathyan, and Sathyaraj. Though it did very well at the box office, it wasn’t a blockbuster like 3 Idiots.

Gopala Gopala – Oh My God

Religion is a subject that not many filmmakers would like to touch, but director Umesh Shukla made Oh My God, a movie in which a man files a case against god. Starring Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar in the lead roles, it was a super hit at the box office. In 2015, OMG was remade in Telugu with Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh in the lead roles. Just like the original one, the remake was also a super hit at the box office.