In Defense of Sequels

An ex-filmmaker, who made big waves in the late 1970s and early 1980s with his Muslim-oriented cinema, rich in taizeeb, tameez, mood and mellifluous music, is disgusted with the new, fashionable trend of sequels and re-makes. “These jokers are in dire need of a brain transplant. Is there such a desperate bankruptcy of ideas that they are forced to look back and do remakes? Has imagination in this field of creativity been completely hijacked by the desire to take the easier way out? Most importantly, beyond the project-walas obsessed only with return on investment, why are even smart and gifted filmmakers succumbing to this deadly disease? It’s frightening and reduces the mystique and magic of this great medium to a shorthand, designed to provide bucks, riding on instant gratification. Is nothing sacred?” he laments.

Says trade analyst Vikas Mohan: “Two things drive this movement. One, really good writers who know the pulse of the audience —as the great duo of Salim-Javed Akhtar once did — are almost an extinct species. Hence the high volume of copies from western or local sources. The other aspect is that it appears risk-proof. Unlike earlier times, moviemaking today is an extremely expensive business and flops can spell the ruin of the producer and director. Sequels and remakes seem to be safe because there is a ready-made reference to context and connect to the basic storyline. If it’s smartly updated and cleverly promoted with the right mix of stars, you are off and running.”

The last six months have seen at least six sequels and two remakes and if reports are to be believed, 20 more similar projects are in the making. Race 2, Murder 3, Aashiqui 2, Chashme Baddoor and Shootout at Wadala, among others, have all garnered neat successes with Aashiqui 2, the biggest of them all, raking in over Rs. 100 crores against a production cost of a meager Rs.10 crores. Got the message?

“Not really,” retorrs an ardent foe of this trend, 60-year-old retired engineer Prakash Tandon. A Delhi-based movie buff, he is shocked at the recent blitz of remakes and sequels. “I remember the charming Chashme Badoor of Sai Paranjpye made in the early 1980s. Totally delightful. Out of both loyalty and curiosity, I went to see the remake. God, it was atrocious. They have completely destroyed the magic and innocence of that class and replaced it with cheap jokes and dubious glamour. I am told the film did decent business. Where has audience taste nose-dived?”

Other traditionalists join him to berate Umrao Jaan — the Ash-Abhishek remade version — insisting that it should have never been redone, because “that film was a true classic all the way with Rekha’s charismatic presence and those deathless songs. This one was so cosmetic and filmy. At every point, comparison would creep in — willy nilly — and render the new version, hugely wanting.”

Traditionally sequels are a globally tried and tested phenomenon, from Rocky, Godfather, Die Hard, Mission Impossible, they’ve all been hugely successful. Remakes too have frequently worked. Here two aspects need to be considered in the debate: the issues of nostalgia and the nature of the new-age audience. Viewers who have seen Mughal-e-Azam, Sholay, Padosan, Mother India, Awara, Hum Dono, Mere Mehboob or any other classic are likely to be upset at the very thought of a remake, right? Remember how people were stunned when Ram Gopal Verma announced his tribute to Sholay with Aag, in which Amitabh Bachchan plays Gabbar? Remember the fall out and how it burnt at the box office in record time? Why? Some films are too iconic to even touch and Verma’s flamboyant, over-confidence flopped. He was much more successful with the Sarkar sequel, in which he re-told the Godfather story, his way. So filmmakers need to be very careful of the nostalgia backlash while attempting remakes.

Zanjeer is reportedly being re-made. So is Angoor. Both will be very tough acts to follow, because the first will forever be associated with the opening salvo of the momentous Angry Young Man movement, which made Salim-Javed and Amitabh Bachchan superstars. The second, because of the amazing quirky theme of three oldies lusting for a young nubile girl who already had a boyfriend. Can the unforgettable performances of Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and Hangal ever be matched? Nostalgia says … impossible!

However, for many, nostalgia too has an expiry date, because the remake of the so-called iconic original Agneepath (with the towering inferno in the lead) was much better received at the box office (with Hrithik Roshan doing the Big B and Sanjay Dutt replaying Danny) than the original. Chashme Baddoor too may have received chappals from the seniors, but youngistan clearly liked it enough to get the cash counters rocking. The majority of the kids who loved it, incidentally, weren’t born when Faroukh, Ravi and Rakesh were line-maroing a fresh and sweet Deepti Naval in the original. Such sequels are clear winners. Be it Race, Jism, Murder, Raaz, the reason they rocked the box-office is because the first was riveting enough to motivate fans to see the second. The follow-up too, has obviously been smartly crafted and packaged to take the story forward in a manner that has provided the required thrills and satisfaction to the audiences.

The pressures and challenges of providing more thrilling and exciting content than the first is no joke. Rejuvenating, refreshing, re-inventing and retelling the story in an engaging way to keep the audience hooked, demands a lethal mixture of understanding both market forces and the ability to provide audiences the two critical factors required for success: surprise and delight.

The very fact that the strike rate for sequels is very high, demonstrates Bollywood’s quantum leap in that direction. Remakes are trickier, but these are early days and Bollywood dudes are quick learners. Besides, we live in a time when sanctity for the original among the young is almost non-existent, allowing them to offer their very own takes on the film. If Umrao bombed — it was a disappointing film anyway — Chashme clicked.