I have always been
watching hindi remakes of tamil/ telugu/ english movies and always wondering
how the two compare. One of the things which baffles me at times is why the
remake is not successful. But usually not too much. However, RHTDM was an issue
which had been on my mind for more than ten years. Maybe because it was a movie
from my prime youth. But I always wondered why did RHTDM not work despite the
same director, same lead actor and the same wonderful music. I have searched on
the net many times in vain but no-one really gives any reason regarding why Minnale worked and RHTDM did not. This is my
attempt after recently having seen Minnale. I
would really appreciate it if Tamil bi-lingual people would share their
opinions regarding the two movies.
Well. This has been
a movie which played its part in one of the happiest periods in my life. The
thing which helps it the most is the music. I had seen RHTDM first. I did know
even then that it was a remake of Minnale
but never really bothered to watch Minnale.
I was almost forced to see RHTDM movie by one of my seniors. He happened to
love it. And I didn't exactly hate it. In fact I might have liked it then.
The movie had been a
flop already but the music was very good. It was one of those rare non-A.R. Rahman
albums that I had liked. And that had been my primary interest in watching the
movie (not to mention that the senior in question was buying the tickets).
First of all the
things I had liked about the movie…
Music as already
mentioned. It seemed to be ARR. The instruments, the interludes, the heavy
bass, the non-traditional rhythms. And the song which impressed me the most
was…not Zara Zara in fact none that are songs in
themselves but the one song which kept cropping up in the background..Kaise main kahoon tujhse, RehnaSS hai tere dil mein.
Maddy..I had liked
R. Madhavan even before on TV. He was one of the very few South Indians who
could speak Hindi without an accent. At times I felt that he actually had to
put on the accent for the sitcom Ghar Jamai.
Madhavan acted very well according to me though in some scenes things seemed a
bit forced. Especially the ones establishing his relationship with his Mumbai
friends. His intro was cool at the time. And though it was a copy, his
signature tune blended well with what was being shown on screen.
Dia Mirza looked
awesome.
Saif Ali Khan.
Somehow this was the character that I identified with. The eternal nice guy.
But unlike me this character did not shy away from a physical fight and perhaps
that was why he was the hero.
Anupam Kher---very
rarely does he disappoint
And now the main
reason I'm writing this. To explain, perhaps, why Minnale
worked while RHTDM did not? And why this
movie and others like this have probably been a bad influence overall?
The main reason
RHTDM did not work was the director. Time and again I have observed that
directors like Mani Ratnam and Gautham Menon work very well in Tamil but almost
always falter when remaking their own works in Hindi. The language does play an
important part. One cannot just translate the dialogues and be done with it.
The idioms are different. The way a situation is perceived is different.
I believe one of the
biggest mistakes he made was to make Sam, Maddy's senior. Their first fight
really had no context in the Hindi version. The way Abbas humiliates Maddy in
public is more natural and a better cause for Maddy to seek payback. This puts their on-upmanship into perspective. This tells us that even Sam is not above the petty game of dressing maddy down. Unfortunately that is not the case with RHTDM. Also,
deleting the sequence where Sam and Maddy get into a scuffle outside a
restaurant when Sam and reena are on a date also affected the narrative a little bit. Editing could definitely
have been better. Situations like the one when Sam comes to give his wedding
card to Maddy could have had better dialogue. Most importantly the one line
which made the movie (according to me) has been deleted. I am a better
man than you. Brings out the irony that despite being a better man he
lost to the one person he detests the most.
I also felt that a
few scenes looked more natural in Minnale
because of the point of view the shot was taken. In most of the scenes in Minnale Maddy is on the right side of most characters which I felt was a more natural
position. Another reason could be that one or two mellow songs were replaced.
The replacements were good but perhaps too pop-y for the movie.
Maddy was the natural choice and he was fine.
His problem was that he was FAT. Even between the two versions which released
within months of each other, he had gained a lot of weight and in some scenes
looked pathetic instead of menacing as he was supposed to.
Dia Mirza. Her face
and voice were perfect together….absolutely expressionless. She did not even
know how to speak properly. She only looked good but man did she look good or
did she look GOOOOOD.
But I believe the
casting decision which cost the movie was actually Saif. Yes he looks good,
regal, gentlemanly but too chiselled. Somehow he is not fit as Rajiv Samra.
Abbas looked more natural. The way usually toppers do. Also, Saif's character was made out to be too perfect and somehow (to me) he came across as too polished. But it may be the voice. And
specifically the last scene is one where he is totally ineffective
perhaps due to the absence of the line mentioned above.
But despite its many
flaws this movie remains one of the favourites because of when I watched it and
the state of bliss I was in at the time. Not in terms of a girl but overall. I
had a bunch of good friends. Also, the movie was a little different at the time
as the villain got the girl and still the girl was happy.
As I have grown old,
I realise that perhaps such movies should not be made. It plants an idea that
even if you are a rowdy and you do not respect any female, you deserve to be
loved back by one who has caught your fancy. Even though you lie through your teeth
about yourself, do everything that an anti-social person would including stalking, assaulting not just her but people around her, and still you deserve the girl. If he had tried to become a better person perhaps this could have been
overlooked but he does not even try. In fact he abuses her verbally in public
effectively telling her that she is a whore and he could've done anything and
gotten away with it. I find this disturbing. Perhaps the reason RHTDM did not
work in Hindi was because people realised this pattern.
Perfect, i really liked the way of your narration.
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