Indian Movies That Remade in Two or More Languages: India is a huge country with people from varying cultures, languages, religions, or communities. In spite of such barriers or boundaries set all across this largest democracy of the world, there is one media or platform that connects us all. This media is Cinema.
The Indian Film Industry is also divided into different regions based on their specific languages. Nevertheless, we are still connected because of Cinema as we like similar entertainment, whether it’s a musical romantic film, action comedy, or suspense thriller, we enjoy it all. To some extent, Bollywood, which is the core of Indian Film Industry, has brought us together as one community, but it also had its limits owing to the language barriers, especially in the South.
Lately, this barrier has seemed to vanish with a series of remakes for some of the popular movies across the country. Indian Film Industry is already an expert in following the trend of formula movies.
Once a genre is successful in any industry, it prompts every filmmaker across the country to produce different movies targeting the same genre in different languages. Following such trends often turns out to be fruitful in the long run because the audience who don’t understand a specific language now can watch a popular movie in their own language with their own superstars and enjoy it.
These trends have also encouraged many film producers to remake movies that are either vastly acclaimed by critics or set major records at the box office.
So, here is a list of such special movie remakes which are Indian Movies That Remade in Two or More Languages.
List of Indian Movies That Remade in Multiple Languages
Don (Hindi Original)
Billa (Tamil)
Billa (Telugu)
Don (Hindi) Starring Shahrukh Khan
Shobaraj (Malayalam)
Don was a blockbuster Bollywood film of the 70s, it was remade in Tamil as Billa starring Rajnikanth after so many years, Don was remade in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, Starring Shahrukh Khan, Ajith Kumar, and Prabhas in lead roles. Other than the main story of the film Ajith Kumar’s Billa is a prequel movie that shows the making of Billa by a Common man. SRK’s Don has a sequel that shows the different story of the film. Don 3 is announced Starring Shahrukh Khan in the Lead role.
Also Read : Amitabh Bachchan’s Blockbusters Remake by Rajinikanth
Billu
Kadha Parayumbol (Malayalam) (Original Film)
Kauslen (Tamil)
The first film on our list is Billu which is actually the official remake of a Malayalam movie titled, Kadha Parayumbol starring Srinivasan and Mamooty in pivotal roles.
In the Hindi remake of the movie, these actors were replaced by Irrfan Khan and Shahrukh Khan respectively. Owing to the impact of the emotional story, the movie was also remade into Tamil as Kuselan in 2009.
The role of Mamooty was done by the Southern Mega Star, Rajnikanth while Pasupathy played the role of Srinivasan.
Wanted
Pokiri (Tamil)
Pokiri (Telugu) (Original film)
Proki (Kannada)
Rajotto (Bengali)
Wanted is a 2009 Bollywood movie directed by Prabhu Deva and starring Salman Khan in the lead role. The film, which actually rebuilt the failing career of Salman Khan, was actually an official remake of the Telugu blockbuster Pokiri starring Mahesh Babu in the lead role.
The popularity of the theme of the movie garnered accolades from every corner of India and prompted the filmmakers to remake the movie in multiple languages.
Other remakes of Pokiri include Pokkiri in Tamil starring Vijay in the lead role and Rajotto in Bengali starring Darshan in the main role.
Rowdy Rathore
Vikramarkudu (Telugu) (Original film)
Ulta Palta 69 (Bengali)
Veera Madakari (Kannada)
Siruthai (Tamil)
Action Jasmine (Bengali)
Yet another South Indian remake of Bollywood directed by Prabhu Deva is Rowdy Rathore starring Akshay Kumar in double roles alongside Sonakshi Sinha as the main female lead in the movie.
The movie was the official remake of 2006 Telugu blockbuster Vikramarkudu directed by S.S. Rajamouli, starring Ravi Teja in dual roles while Anushka Shetty played the female lead. The success of this Telugu blockbuster encouraged filmmakers from major regional film industry.
It was remade in Tamil as Siruthai, Kannada as Veera Madakari, Indian Bengali as Action Jasmine and in Bangladeshi Bengali as Ulta Palta 69.
Drishyam
Drishyam (Malayalam) (Original Film)
Drishya (Kannada)
Drushyam (Telugu)
Papnasanam (Tamil)
Drishyam is one of the latest films that released in 2015 sharing remakes in multiple languages. Originally, the remake of a 2013 Malayalam movie with the same title was later remade in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi owing to its huge success in the Malayalam Film Industry.
In the original version of Drishyam in Malayalam, Mohanlal played one of his best roles as the main lead.
The iconic character was donned by mega stars such of their respective industries such as Kamal Hassan in Papanasam (Tamil), Daggubati Venkatesh in Drushyam (Telugu) and Ajay Devgn in Drishyam (Hindi).
Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Manichitrathazhu (Malayalam) (Original film)
Apthamitra (Kannada)
Chandra mukhi (Tamil,Telugu)
Rajmohol (Bengali)
Bhool Bhulaiya is an official remake of 1993 Superhit Malayalam thriller Manichitrathazhu, starring Mohanlal, Shobhana and Suresh Gopi in the lead roles.
The original movie came out to be the highest grosser of the year and was well acclaimed by the critics. After the success of Manichitrathazhu, it was officially remade in Kannada as Apthamitra, Telugu and Tamil as Chandramukhi, Bengali as Rajmohol and lastly in Hindi as Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
Bodyguard
Bodyguard (Malayalam) (Original film)
Kaavalan (Tamil)
Bodyguard (Kannada)
Bodyguard (Telugu)
Bodyguard (Bengali)
Bodyguard is one of the earliest top grosser movies of Salman Khan’s running golden era. As we all know that, most of his movies that made it to the 100-Crore club are the remakes of superhit South Indian cinema.
Similarly, Bodyguard was also an official remake of Malayalam movie with the same title, starring Dileep and Nayanthara in the lead roles. In its Hindi remake, these roles were reprise by Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor.
The movie was also remade in Tamil as Kaavalan starring Vijay and Asin in the lead roles. Owing to its success, the movie was then remade in Kannada, Telugu and Bengali with the same title.
Tere Naam
Sethu (Tamil) (Original Film)
Huchcha (Kannada)
Seshu (Telugu)
In this list of remakes, we will be seeing a lot of Salman Khan movies as he must be credited for the popularizing the trend of South Indian remakes in Bollywood, if not started it.
Yet another Salman Khan starer, that made in this list is a 2003 romantic drama, Tere Naam. Directed by Satish Kaushik, Tere Naam was actually an official remake of Tamil blockbuster Sethu, starring Vikram in the lead role.
Owing to its success in the Tamil and Hindi version, the movie was remade in Kannada as Huchcha and Telugu as Seshu.
Dabangg (Original)
Osthi (Tamil)
Gabbar Singh (Telugu)
Salman Khan is known for remakes, but his superhit blockbuster film Dabangg was original and it was remade in Tamil and Telugu Languages.
Tamil Remake of Dabangg was just average and Telugu Remake of Dabangg was a blockbuster film Telugu Comedy Film Gabbar Singh starring Pawan Kalyan earned more than 150 crores at the box office. Gabbar Singh is one of the highest-grossing Telugu movies ever.
Ready
Raam (Kannada)
Uthamaputhiran (Tamil)
Ready (Telugu) (Original Film)
Although not as successful as the others, Ready had been yet another Salman Khan starrer film, which was an official remake of the Telugu blockbuster with the same title, starring Ram and Genelia in the lead roles.
The lead roles were reprised by Salman Khan and Asin in its Hindi remake. The movie was also remade in Tamil as Uthama Puthiran starring Dhanush and Genelia while in Kannada as Raam.
Singham
Singham (Tamil) (Original Film)
Kempe Gowda (Kannada)
Shotru (Bengali)
Singham is a 2011 Bollywood action film directed by Rohit Shetty, starring Ajay Devgn, Kajal Agarwal and Prakash Raj in pivotal roles.
The film was the official remake of the Tamil super hit action drama of the same title, starring Surya and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles. Owing to the film’s huge success, the movie was later remade in Kannada as Kempe Gowda, Hindi as Singham, and Bengali as Shotru.
Also Read: Supercops in Bollywood films
Gabbar Is Back
Ramanaa (Tamil) (Original film)
Tagore (Telugu)
Vishnu Sena (Kannada)
The South Indian movie remakes are fully dominated by the likes of Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar in Bollywood. Gabbar is Back is one such movie starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role as Gabbar.
The movie is an official remake of Tamil film Ramanna, starring Vijaykanth in the lead role.
The film garnered huge success at the box office and acclaimed positive reviews from the critics. As a result, it was remade in Telugu as Tagore with Chiranjeevi as the lead, in Kannada as Vishnu Sena with Vishnuvardhan in the lead, and later in Hindi as Gabbar is Back with Akshay Kumar.
Tevar
Okkadu (Telugu) (Original Film)
Ghilli (Tamil)
Ajay (Kannada)
Jor (Bengali)
Tevar was a disaster at the box office. However, it finds a place on this list because it is an official remake of the Telugu action blockbuster Film Okaddu, starring Mahesh Babu in the lead role.
It is also known as the movie that led Mahesh Babu to stardom instantly. The movie repeated its success when it was remade in Tamil as Ghilli, starring Vijay in the lead. Later, the movie was made in Hindi as Tevar, starring Arjun Kapoor and Bengali as Jor, both of which were a disaster at the box office.
A Wednesday (Original)
Unnaipol Oruvan(Tamil)
Eeenadu (Telugu)
A Common Man (Hollywood/Srilankan Film)
A Wednesday is a 2008 Bollywood thriller drama directed by Neeraj Pandey, starring veteran actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in the lead roles.
The film is one of the best movies produced in India It included no big stars or heroes in the movie but fully focused on characters that were brought to life by the great acting skills of Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher.
This inspiring movie was later remade in Tamil as Unnaipol Oruvan and Telugu as Eeenadu, starring Kamal Hassan reprising the role of Naseeruddin Shah in the Hindi version while Mohanlal and Daggubati Venkatesh donning the role of Anupam Kher in Tamil and Telugu version respectively.
It was one of the first Bollywood films, that was not only remade in different regional languages but also as an independent English movie in Sri Lanka titled as A Common Man, starring Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross.
Khushi
Kushi (Telugu)
Khushi (Tamil) (Original Film)
Khushi (Kannada)
Khushi is yet another box office failure that couldn’t repeat the huge success garnered by its original version in Tamil titled Kushi, starring Vijay and Jyothika in the lead roles.
These roles were reprised by Fardeen Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the Hindi remake. The movie was also remade in Telugu under the same name and twice in Kannada as Chandu and Eno Onthara.
Khudgarz (Original)
Annamalai (Tamil)
Prana Snehitulu and Kondapalli Raja (Telugu)
Khudgarz is a 1987 Bollywood movie based on friendship, starring Jeetendra and Shatrughan Sinha in the lead roles along with Amrita Singh, Bhanupriya, Govinda and Neelam in pivotal roles.
The theme of the movie was derived from Jeffrey Archer’s best-selling novel, Kane and Abel. The movie also marked the directorial debut of Rakesh Roshan and was considered a hit at the box office.
The movie was later remade in Tamil as Annamalai with Rajnikanth and Sarath Babu in the lead roles as well as it was also remade twice in Telugu as Prana Snehitulu and Kondapalli Raja.
Damini – Lightening (Original)
Priyanka (Tamil)
Nari Nuhen Tu Narayani (Oriya)
Damini – Lightening is a 1993 Hindi film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi starring Meenakshi in the titular role as Damini along with Sunny Deol and Rishi Kapoor in supporting roles.
The film tried to deliver a strong social message that reached the mass owing to the incredible acting of Meenakshi Sheshadri and Sunny Deol and amazing dialogues penned by Rajkumar Santoshi himself. The film was an instant hit at the box office and is even today considered to be the one of the Best Women-Centric Films after Mother India.
The movie was later remade in Tamil as Priyanka with Revathi reprising the role of Meenakshi Sheshadri. The movie was also remade in Telugu as Urmila and Oriya as Nari Ninu Tu Narayani.
Hera Pheri
Arangetra Velai (Tamil)
Dhanalakshmi I Love You (Telugu)
Trin Trin (Kannada)
Ramji Rao Speaking (Malayalam) (Original Film)
Most of the movies on the list are either official remakes of South Indian movie or a Bollywood movie. The common factor is that the original movie is always the best of the lot.
However, that is not the case with Hera Pheri. Although the movie was an official remake of Ramji Rao Speaking, Hera Pheri is considered to be a better movie than its original version. The movie established the career of Paresh Rawal as a comedian and a Character actor while helping the failing career of Akshay Kumar.
Ramji Rao Speaking, on the other hand, had Innocent, Mukesh and Sai Kumar in the lead roles who were played by Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty in its Hindi remake.
The movie was also remade in Tamil by the original film’s director Fazil as Arangetra Velai as well as in Telugu as Dhanlakshmi I Love You and in Kannada as Trin Trin. Hera Pheri has gained cult status amongst the audience and Hera Pheri is one of the best Cult Comedy Films of Bollywood.
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (Original)
Vasool Raja MBBS (Tamil)
Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.(Telugu)
Uppi Dada M.B.B.S.(Kannada)
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. started a new trend in Bollywood of making comedy movies that share a strong social message through the film. The movie talked about the relation between a patient and a doctor as well as the importance of compassion among the doctors for their patients in addition to their professional attitude.
The movie also gave us a hit pair of Munna Bhai and Circuit, which were portrayed by Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi respectively. The theme of the movie made the audience laugh and cry at different moments as well as won the hearts of many people along the way.
The success of the movie provoked the regional film industry to remake the movie for its audiences. The movie was officially remade in Tamil as Vasool Raja MBBS starring Kamal Hassan in the lead role, in Telugu as Shankar Dada M.B.B.S. with Chiranjeevi as the lead and in Kannada as Uppi Dada M.B.B.S with Upendra in the lead role.
Seeta Aur Geeta (Original)
Vani Rani (Tamil)
Ganga Manga (Telugu)
Although, it wasn’t the first-ever movie to star a leading actor or actress in double roles, Seeta Aur Geeta, somehow set the right example for many future Bollywood films starring the main lead in dual roles. In Hindi itself, there were many different remakes of this 1972 comedy film starring Hema Malini double role along with Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar in important roles.
The movie inspired movies like Jaise Ko Taisa starring Jeetendra, Chaalbaaz starring Sridevi, Kishen Kanhaiya starring Anil Kapoor, Judwaa starring Salman Khan and Duplicate starring Shahrukh Khan.
The success of this concept was widely accepted all across India and filmmakers in the South remade this movie in multiple languages such as Ganga Manga in Telugu and Vani Rani in Tamil.
Amar Akbar Anthony (Original)
Shankar Salim Simon (Tamil)
Ram Robert Rahim (Telugu)
John Jaffer Janardhanan (Malayalam)
Amar Akbar Anthony gave life to the hit trend of multi-starrer movies in the late 70s and early 80s. Starring Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, and Amitabh Bachchan in the titular roles, the movie directed by Manmohan Desai was an instant hit at the box office breaking all the previous records. Owing to its huge success as a multi-starrer Bollywood action comedy film, the movie was remade in multiple languages in the South Indian film industry. The movie was remade in Tamil as Shankar Salim Simon, in Telugu as Ram Robert Rahim, and in Malayalam as John Jaffer Janardhanan.
Gol Maal (Original)
Thillu Mullu (Tamil)
Aasegobba Meesegobba (Kannada)
Simhavalan Menon (Malayalam)
Thillu Mullu (Tamil)
Gol Maal is one of the iconic movies directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee starring Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt in pivotal roles. The movie is termed a classic because of its unique storyline, melodious music by R.D. Burman and great chemistry displayed by the lead actors in the movie.
The movie was well appreciated both critically and commercially without any big star cast. The success of the movie was repeated with its official remake in Tamil as Thillu Mullu starring Rajnikanth in the lead roles.
Later after a decade, the movie was officially remade in Kannada as Aasegobba Meesegobba, in Malayalam as Simhavalan Menon, and again in Tamil as Thillu Mullu starring Shiva and Prakash Raj who reprised the roles of Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt from the original Hindi version respectively.
Policegiri
Lakshmi Narasimha (Telugu)
Barood (Bengali)
Ayya (Kannada)
Saamy (Tamil) (Original Film)
Policegiri is yet another South Indian remake of a 2003 Tamil cop movie, Saamy starring Vikram and Trisha in the leading roles.
In the Hindi version, the role of Vikram was reprised by Sanjay Dutt while Prachi Desai was roped in to play the leading lady in the movie. Due to its huge success, Saamy set the trend of police films in Tamil cinema following a huge list of successful cop movies.
Later, the movie was remade in Telugu as Lakshmi Narasimha starring Balakrishna and Asin, in Bengali as Barood starring Mithun Chakraborty, and in Kannada as Ayya starring Darshan.
Band Baaja Baaraat (Original)
Aaha Kalyanam (Tamil/Telugu)
Jabardasth (Telugu)
Band Baaja Baaraat is a 2010 youthful romantic comedy directed by debutante Maneesh Sharma starring Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh in the lead roles. The film was a surprise hit despite its initial clash with multi-starer movies like No Problem and Tees Maar Khan.
The film was well received by the audience owing to its youth-oriented storyline, excellent screenplay, great music, and brilliant acting performance by debutante Ranveer Singh and 2 films old, Anushka Sharma.
The popularity of the movie among the youth prompted Yashraj films to produce an official remake of Band Baaja Baaraat in Tamil/Telugu as Aaha Kalyanam starring Nani and Vaani Kapoor in the lead roles. Another remake in Telugu titled Jabardasth was also made in Telugu starring Siddharth and Samantha in the lead roles.
Eeshwar
Swati Mutyam (Tamil) (Original Film)
Swathi Muthu (Kannada)
Eeshwar is one of the most innocent movies I have watched to date. The movie, starring Anil Kapoor in the titular role and Vijayshanti as the female lead, is the official remake of the Telugu movie Swati Mutyam starring Kamal Hassan in the lead role.
The Telugu movie was also selected as an official entry to Oscars from India in 1986. Being a musical blockbuster, the film was received widely in all major centers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
The huge success of the movie prompted filmmakers in other industries to remake the movie in their respective languages. It was remade in Hindi as Eeshwar and Kannada as Swathi Muthu.
Some Notable Mentions:
In addition to these multi-lingual successful movie remakes, I would also like to add a few more. These mentions don’t qualify for the above list, however, they do deserve notice because of their popularity and influence in different languages.
The first on this notable list is OMG – Oh My God!, which was recently remade in Telugu as Gopala Gopala starring Daggubati Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan donning the respective roles of Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar. Although, the movie is based on the popular Gujarati play titled, “Kanji Virudh Kanji”, many few know the fact that its story also resembles a 2001 Australian movie, “The Man Who Sued God”.
Another movie that needs a mention is Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya starring Salman Khan and Kajol. The movie was first remade into Telugu as “Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana” featuring the directorial debut of Prabhu Deva starring Siddharth and Trisha Krishnan. The Telugu version was yet again remade into Ramaiya Vastavaiya by the same director starring Shruti Hassan and Girish Kumar in the lead roles. Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya was also remade in Bengali as I Love You starring Dev and Payal Sarkar. The interesting point to be noted here is that all these movies were adapted or influenced by the 1989 super-hit movie, “Maine Pyar Kiya”.
Apart from these, there is also Ghajini both in Hindi and Tamil which was originally inspired by a Christopher Nolan thriller Memento, and remade in Hindi and Tamil starring Aamir Khan and Surya in the respective versions. Another notable mention is Amitabh Bachchan’s starer, Trishul which was remade into Tamil as Mr. Bharath starring Rajnikanth. The interesting fact here is that before Mr. Bharath, Trishul also inspired Kamal Hassan Starer, Kadal Meengal, and the Malayalam movie Meen.
So These are the List of Indian Movies That are Remade in Two or More Languages, these Indian Films are not dubbed versions they are remade in multiple languages with different cast and directors.
