Laal Singh Chaddha (2022). The Indian retelling of the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump (1994) was never going to be easy. Tom Hanks’s hit about a simpleton whose life is entwined with major moments in history thrives on Americana and sap. Would Indian masalas ruin the flavour? Aamir Khan mixed in Kargil flashbacks and a Punjabi twist for his hero, Laal. But he faltered by trying to play it exaggerated. What should have been charming felt like parody. Plus, it was just too long. Pity.
Dil Bechara (2020). Any movie based on The Fault in Our Stars (2014), was going to be a tearjerker. It is, after all, a love story of the two terminally ill teens. In the Bollywood remake, the quiet pain was lost in translation as Indianapolis transformed to Jamshedpur. The performances of Immanuel Jr (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Kizie (Sanjana Sanghi) were heartfelt. But the movie struggled to find emotional maturity. The sentiment was there, but the spark was DOA.
Players (2012). Remaking is tricky. Especially when the source is a slick heist film like The Italian Job (2003), which was clever without trying too hard. It knew how to flex, but never swagger. A Bollywood remake was always going to be louder: Explosions, Russian mafia, high-speed trains, Arctic gold. But it was too much too often. It scrimped on the basics: tension, timing, emotional stakes. Instead of an edge-of-the-seat thriller, we got boring slow-motion entries and songs that killed the momentum.
God Tussi Great Ho (2008). Of course, India would take a stab at Bruce Almighty (2003). Indian men halfway believe they’re gods, anyway. So a movie in which one guy actually gets divine powers sounds like a hit. We swapped Jim Carrey for Salman Khan. And what we got was a bratty character that didn’t seem to deserve the break. We swapped Morgan Freeman for Amitabh Bachchan, and got a god who was powerful, but less of a troll. Jokes fell flat. It needed a miracle. It didn’t get one.
Radhe (2021). The Korean OG, The Outlaws (2017) was a feral crime thriller where punches landed heavier than dialogue. The tale follows a Seoul detective, struggling to hold on to peace (and sanity) as Korean and Chinese gangs wage war in a neighbourhood. It seemed so real, you almost felt the grit under your nails. Radhe, alas, glossed it up with slow-mo bullets, shiny biceps, and dance breaks. The stakes were replaced by shirtless sermons. There’s a film that talks tough but lands soft.
We are Family (2010). A fierce, no-nonsense mother, diagnosed with terminal cancer, has to make peace with her children’s glam soon-to-be stepmother. Whether you watch it as a mom, child or bystander, Stepmom (1998) is a tearjerker. It’s also a smartly told story about control and innocence, Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts play mom and stepmom. Kajol and Kareena Kapoor do the Indian version. But mom, where’s the conflicts, the messy family dynamic? Why so many montages? Why use aesthetic grief? Where are the real feels?
Action Replayy (2010). Honestly, Back to the Future (1985) is such a universal crowdpleaser, it didn’t need a local version. Nonetheless, Bollywood persisted. The time travel, family lore, revenge drama, crazy science, chaotic comedy is perfectly timed. Doc Brown had a DeLorean. Bunty’s (Aditya Roy Kapoor) time machine just looks like a pink hairdryer. And the past? It was just an excuse to unleash every ’70s costume. No tension or urgency. And no emotional arc that makes time-travel worthwhile.
Bang Bang! (2014). If you watched Knight and Day (2010), you know that movie doesn’t waste a second. Tom Cruise plays a charming rogue spy. Cameron Diaz is just on her way to a wedding, but is pulled into a dangerous adventure. It’s chaos done right. Bollywood follows the scenes, but plot is lost somewhere between the beach and the biceps. Rajveer (Hrithik Roshan) is a ‘giving’ fitness influencer, and Harleen (Katrina Kaif) is just a dance partner. They doubled down on style, but forgot the soul.
Partner (2007). Yes, we watched Hitch (2005). We saw how smooth Will Smith is, and what an adorable bumbling chonk Kevin James is as he pursues a woman out of his league. We didn’t need a Bollywood movie about a pick-up artist, because Indian men take all the wrong lessons from the screen. And yet, our remake had big names (Salman Khan, Govinda), and bigger antics. Hitch’s ethics of romantic manipulation served only as punchlines in Partner. The women were often objectified or sidelined. A hit, yes. Empty at its core, also yes.
The Girl on the Train (2021). The 2016 one follows a woman with a troubled past, who stares out of a moving train every day and imagines the lives of passersby, and stumbles into a murder mystery. Both films have suspense, layers, and psychological depth. Both give viewers a close view of alcoholism, obsession, and blurred memories. But the Indian version over-explained every twist, spoon-fed every flashback. And by the time the final twist came, all we were left with was a soap opera.
From HT Brunch, October 04, 2025
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