10 Hollywood movies which are a direct copy of Indian films

‘Rangeela’ (1995) is about a lovable loser who can’t compete with a famous actor when it comes to winning the affections of a certain girl. ‘Win a Date With Tad Hamilton’ (2004) is about the exact same thing. The biggest difference is that in ‘Win a Date With Tad Hamilton’ the girl wins a date with Tad Hamilton. In ‘Rangeela,’ the girl earns an audition for a part in the actor’s new movie.

‘Darr’ is one of Bollywood‘s biggest successes. Shah Rukh Khan created a character no one will copy. Only in ‘Darr’ do you wish the crazy stalker would win the girl and the protective husband would die. ‘Darr’ inspired ‘Fear,’ but many scenes are very similar. The biggest difference is the stalker becomes the boyfriend, whereas in ‘Darr’ the poor crazy stalker doesn’t get a chance with the girl. The obvious proof that ‘Fear’ is a remake is when the stalker carves the girl’s name on his chest, which famously originated in ‘Darr’.

‘Hitch’ (2005) was inspired by the Bollywood film ‘Chhoti Si Baat,’ although no one has said so publicly. ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ (1975) is about a shy man who wants to woo a certain woman. He tries to mimic a charming, suave ladies man, but fails hopelessly. He gets help from a man who makes it his business to help people change their lives. ‘Hitch’ takes the two characters supporting the lovelorn guy and turns them into one, played by Will Smith.

It seems Tarantino was inspired by the animation sequence in the 2001 Tamil film ‘Aalavanthan’ (Hindi: Abhay) . The Kill Bill ‘O-Ren Ishii Japanese’ animation sequence was adapted from that. Apparently Tarantino admitted in a private conversation with Anurag Kashyap that the celebrated animation-action sequence in Kill Bill was inspired from 2001 Tamil film, Kamal Haasan starrer, Aalavanthan. Kashyap says, ‘Yes, Sight and Sound critic Naman Ramchandran first told me this. So when I met Quentin in Venice I asked him whether the Manga sequence in Kill Bill was inspired from an Indian film and he excitedly remarked, ‘Yes, I saw this Indian serial-killer film which showed violence as animated.’’ Kashyap explains, ‘There is only one Indian serial-killer film which was made before Kill Bill where violence was animated, and that was Abhay/Aalavanthan.’

‘Just Go With It’ (2011), the Jen Anniston and Adam Sandler movie is a copy of ‘Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya’ (2005)? Though both of them have been inspired ‘Cactus Flower’, they still differ from the original considerably. The resemblance between ‘Just Go With It’ and ‘Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya’, however, is uncanny.

Hollywood saw the 1997 Telegu film ‘Aahvaanam’ being remade into ‘Divorce Invitation’. Both the movies had the same director, SV Krishan Reddy. Who ventured into Hollywood with the 2012 English romantic comedy, Divorce Invitation.

The Delivery Man (2013) was loosely based on Vicky Donor (2012). Both the movies have the heroes donating their sperms for money and giving birth hundreds of kids. The central plot of the movies are the same.

A Common Man is a 2013 thriller film starring Oscar Award winner Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross and directed by Sri Lankan film makerChandran Rutnam. The film is an official remake of the Indian thriller A Wednesday! (2008), but Rutnam reworked the screenplay of this highly suspenseful thriller. A Common Man is an award winning movie that won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor awards at the Madrid International Film Festival and bronze medal in the Feature Films category at the New York Festivals’ International Television and Film Awards, three of the 119 Gold World Medals, 145 Silver, 104 Bronze, and 327 Finalist Certificates awarded that day.

The creators of ‘Leap Year (2010)’ claim it is not a remake of ‘Jab We Met (2007),’ but the plot and scenes are way too similar for us to believe it. Both are about a talkative, silly girl who is determined to get to her boyfriend so she can propose to him. Along the way, she has to get help from a young down-on-his-luck man. They argue. They stay at a hotel and have to share a room. They fall in love. They separate. Their lives are forever changed because of their brief time together. They reunite. The end. The only differences are that “Leap Year” takes place in Ireland and focuses on Irish tradition and “Jab We Met” has musical numbers.

The Love Triangle Drama in a war-torn backdrop shown in ‘Pearl Harbor’ (2001) is horridly influenced from the Indian Classic ‘Sangam’ (1964). The Hollywood movie was heavily criticised for its misleading name as it was based on a love triangle rather than on the incident of Pearl Harbor itself.