Akhilesh C.
10. Ghajini (2005)
Language: Tamil
Remade Version(s) – Ghajini (Hindi, 2008)
Director – A.R. Murugadoss
With Asin and Pradeep Rawat (the actor who portrayed the spiteful Ghajini on screen) being the only common actors in both the versions of the film, I’d still rate the Hindi version a notch higher than the Tamil one. The ending is to blame. It won’t be wrong to say that Murugadoss improvised a great deal and corrected all the apparent drawbacks of the original with his Aamir Khan starrer remake. The story of a business tycoon, who after the brutal murder of his girlfriend and an attempted murder of his own, suffers from retrograde amnesia and spends most of his time to track, pursue and eliminate Kalpana’s killers is heartbreaking. More than an action film, ‘Ghajini’ is a beautiful and eternal love story and the chemistry between Suriya and Asin is unbelievably amazing (and between Aamir and Asin isn’t bad either).
9. Vikramarkudu (2006)
Language: Telugu
Remade Version(s) – Veera Madakari (Kannada, 2009), Siruthai (Tamil, 2011), Rowdy Rathore (Hindi, 2012), Bikram Singha: The Lion is Back (Bengali, 2012)
Director – S. S. Rajamouli (Telugu), Siva (Tamil), Sudeep (Kannada), Prabhu Deva (Hindi), Rajiv Biswas (Bengali)
A film which is close to attaining its cult status, ‘Vikramarkudu’ is the story of a petty thief Sathi Babu, who finds a young girl in a suitcase that he stole. The young girl starts thinking of Sathi Babu as her father which confuses the latter. The premise – she is the daughter of DCP Vikram Singh Rathod, who soon succumbs to his injuries in a confrontation against some goons. Sathi Babu then takes it upon himself to eliminate all the filth and turmoil caused by Bavuji, a local extortionist-politician and adopts the girl in the end. A classic case of Presentation winning over the Plot, ‘Vikramarkudu’ is replete with superb action sequences and foot tapping numbers.
8. Ramji Rao Speaking (1989)
Language: Malayalam
Remade Version(s) – Arangetra Velai (Tamil, 1990), Hera Pheri (Hindi, 2000), Dhanalakshmi I Love You (Telugu, 2002), Trin Trin (Kannada, 2004)
Director – Siddique-Lal (Malayalam), Fazil (Tamil), Priyadarshan (Hindi), Siva Nageswara Rao (Telugu), T Chikkanna Kampli (Kannada)
Out of all the versions, I think ‘Hera Pheri’ made in Hindi surely managed to reach the unexpected zenith despite initial setbacks. ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ is premised on a wrong number, wherein one of the protagonists receives a phone call asking for a ransom in exchange for the release of the daughter (granddaughter in the Hindi version) of a business tycoon. Plans are hatched to extort double the ransom amount, retrieve the tycoon’s daughter and give the original sum to the kidnapper instead. Pathbreaking and quirky, no other movie has made us laugh more than this one.
7. Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010)
Language: Tamil
Remade Version(s) – Ye Maaya Chesave (Telugu, 2010), Ekk Deewana Tha (Hindi, 2012)
Director – Gautham Vasudev Menon
I don’t know where or how things went wrong, but all the three versions are definitely polarised in all of their aspects. The Tamil version was a game-changer and it won’t be wrong to call it an extremely soulful and engaging film. I’d rate the Telugu version a bit lesser than the Tamil version and the Hindi remake sucked at best. Revolving around the love-hate relationship between a Hindu boy and a Catholic girl, though Karthik is deeply in love with Jessie, the latter never seemingly reciprocates (except for a few moments). There are moments of great chemistry between the two leads, combined with their confusing portrayal of their relationship which mostly swings on the negative side. A near-subjective ending does the rest of the job. Confusing, erratic at times yet beautiful, this love story is none like we have seen before in any of the Indian movies. And P.S. Simbu rocks!
6. Hey Ram (2000)
Language: Tamil, Hindi
Remade Version(s) – None
Director – Kamal Hassan
Despite Kamal Hassan at the receiving end of the flak for the movie, ‘Hey Ram’ speaks of ingenuity and thoughtfulness from a filmmaking point of view. Brilliant performances, cinematography, production design and the overall plot are absolute show-stealers of this magnum opus which was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi. The story is a telltale of Saket Ram’s journey to Bengal during partition and afterward the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse. In his journey, Saket Ram witnesses religious extremism, moral biases and flailing relationships, combined with an atmosphere of fear, famine, and perils all around. Nail-biting and terrific in all its departments, ‘Hey Ram’ surely is an underrated milestone in Indian cinema.
