Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Because Indian cinema reflects multiple styles, cultures, and languages, successful films in one market are often remade in others.
Here is a look at an original and the remake:
Original - Thuppakki
English: "The Gun"
Release Date: 13 November 2012
Director: A.R. Murugadoss
Description: Tamil action thriller. Indian army intelligence officer Jagdish (Vijay), from a Mumbai-based Tamil family, who returns home for his annual 40-day holiday. His family introduces him to potential bride Nisha (Kajal Aggarwal) who he at first rejects. As he is enjoying his time off, spending time his friend Sub-Inspector Balaji (Sathyan), he discovers a terrorist sleeper cell. Soon he is on a mission to track down and destroy a terrorist group and deactivate the sleeper cells under its command.
Note: In my DVD version, some of the voice dubbing by some of the supporting actors is poorly done in just a few small scenes - but is is noticeable and somewhat distracting.
Remake - Holiday: A Soldier is Never Off Duty
Release Date: 13 June 2014
Director: A.R. Murugadoss.
Description: Hindi action thriller. Pretty much a scene-for-scene remake, this version features Captain Virat Bakshi (Akshay Kumar) as DIA Specialist with the Indian Army and Saiba Thapar (Sonakshi Sinha) as his love interest. This remake takes the best scenes from the original and enhances them. In addition, the action sequences were made more realistic than you might see in a standard Indian action film. Add music composed by Pritam and you have an engaging film experience. This remake was just released on 13 June 2014.
What I Love About These Films: Jagdish (Vijay) looks like the boy-next-door, but there is no question that he is someone not to take lightly. Virat (Akshay Kumar) is clearly someone who is ready, willing, and able to take charge. While several people have remarked that they could do without the love story, I think it is an absolutely essential part of the film as it humanizes and connects you with the Jagdish/Virat character before he begins his mission to take out sleeper cells. The music of both films is fun - though I prefer Pritam's "Blame it on the Night" in Holiday over "Google Google" in Thuppakki as the night club song. Missing from the Holiday version is the soldier item number performed at the beginning of Thuppakki. This was probably a wise choice since Vijay is known for his dancing while Akshay is perceived as more of an action hero. Having said that, Akshay Kumar's choreography is pretty awesome. Because Murugadoss has created such an engaging story, it is definitely worth seeing both versions.
Trailers:
If you liked this, check out our other Holiday or Bollywood Remakes posts.