Bollywood isn't exactly known for making a lot of original films. In fact, a significant chunk of Hindi movies every year comes from the remakes or ripoffs of films from the other languages, primarily South Indian languages and Hollywood. Some are successful while many bite the dust. Many of the Hollywood remakes, even those which are highly successful, aren't actually the official remakes i.e. the official remaking rights are not bought from the producers of the originals. On the other hand, as recent history suggests, the official remakes have mostly not done well at the box office. It is difficult to
point out one reason for that, but most of the times it is the fault of the director/writer who end up doing unwarranted changes in the script to make it more suitable to Indian sensibilities. Here are five official remakes of Hollywood films in Hindi that failed at the box office.1. We Are Family (2010) - Arjun Rampal, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor starrer this film was a remake of Julia Roberts starrer 1998 flick Stepmom. Now the original isn't exactly a much loved movie, but upon its initial release it had done fairly well. The story of an ailing mother who helps the second wife of her husband in getting acceptance from her kids as her days are numbered sounds very Indian. However, instead of telling an emotionally compelling story, the director relied more on gloss and melodrama that just didn't find resonance with the Indian public. Movie didn't open well and sank thereafter.
2. Players (2012) - Abhishek Bachhan led multistar cast movie, a remake of The Italian Job, was a big disaster when it was released in January 2012. The director duo of Abbas Mustan are notorious for ripping off Hollywood films for most of their projects. This time they decided to remake one officially and then proceeded to make sweeping changes into the script when they had the license to just replicate the scenes, something that they had done so blatantly in their earlier films. The end result was a giant mess called Players that turned out be
a debacle for everyone involved.3. Bang Bang! (2014) - Frankly, Bang Bang! wasn't a flop at the box office. However, after the kind of opening it had taken, one of the biggest that time, the final collections were just so-so. The remake of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz 2010 movie 'Knights and Day' had the red hot pair of Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif along with some very cool visuals. However, the director lost it in the screenplay in a bid to add typical Bollywood tropes. In the end the movie could manage an average business only after the humungous opening weekend.
4. Brothers (2015) - 'Warrior' isn't exactly a very well known film outside nerd circle and wasn't a box office success either. The plot about two brothers getting pitted against one another though had a lot to offer in terms of drama for Indian audience. The trailer aroused curiosity due to the presence of Akshay Kumar in the lead. The movie opened well only to fizzle out on weekdays. The film was thrashed by the critics for being overtly melodramatic and stereotyped. The film couldn't retain the spirit of the original and in the end turned out to be a failure.
5. Dobara:See Your Evil (2017) - Oculus, comparatively, is a rather unknown Hollywood horror film so buying its remake right was a bit strange decision. Still, since the original had some really chilling sequences, it was expected that the remake will offer something that the other recent Hindi horror films have failed to do. The hopes were dashed on day one itself as the critics ripped apart the movie. With virtually no big stars and zero word of mouth, the film just couldn't take off and turned out to be another official remake to miss out at the Indian box office.
