Bollywood films and movie-makers have always kept a keen eye on Hollywood and international films for getting an 'idea' or drawing 'inspiration' for their movies. Be it Hrithik and Katrina's Bang Bang which was an official remake of Knight and Day or Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black which had a plot which was very similar to that of a film 'The Miracle Worker'. Though Indian audience has always accepted all such ideas with open arms, critics often criticize film-makers for not being 'too original'. However, not many know that this has not been a one-way street! Apparently, Hollywood and Western Films too have picked up ideas, scenes and story lines of Indian films into their films. Here's a list of 13 International films which found its 'inspiration' from several regional and Bollywood films and trust us, you will start appreciating our Indian Cinema even more because its our films which have been THAT BRILLIANT! Check it out!
1. Hitch (2005)- Chhoti Si Baat (1975)
While Chhoti Si Baat was about a shy man who wanted to make a strong connection with a woman he liked, Hitch too was hugely 'inspired'. Will Smith's character was very similar and he took help of two men to confess his love.
2. Pearl Harbour (2001) - Sangam (1964)
The Love Triangle Drama in a war-torn backdrop shown in ‘Pearl Harbor’ (2001) was largely inspired from Raj Kapoor's classic Sangam. Even though Pearl Harbor had a name which had a significant historic context, the story was not at all about the incident of Pearl Harbor. Audience criticized it because it was about a love triangle and not the incident. Pearl Harbor was nominated for four Academy Awards.
3. Leap Year (2010) - Jab We Met (2007)
Leap Year by Anand Tucker had Matthew Goode and Amy Adams in lead roles. JWM was about a girl who goes out of the way to meet her boyfriend but ends up meets a guy who helps her complete the trip but eventually ends up "making connection" with him. Leap Year had a similar story line. Imtiaz Ali was more than happy about it and added, "I have heard that Leap Year takes inspiration from my film. I am happy and don't want to get into things such as copyright or plagiarism. It feels good to know that Hollywood films can also take elements from us." Definitely a proud thing to be happy about, Mr. Ali!
4. Fear (1996)- Darr (1993)
Shahrukh Khan's Darr was a story of a crazy stalker who wanted to win the girl he loved. This 'violent' love story inspired the Hollywood film Fear. Even though story line differs, a lot of scenes from Fear are similar to that of Darr. In Darr, SRK carves 'Kirran's name (The girl he was madly in love with) on his chest and in Fear too there is an exact scene!
5. A Common Man (2013) - A Wednesday (2008)
Starring Oscar Award winner Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross, A Common Man was an official remake of Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday! Director Rutnam re-worked the screenplay of this highly suspenseful thriller. A Common Man was so successful that it ended up winning awards like Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor awards at the Madrid International Film Festival.
6. Delivery Man (2013)- Vicky Donor (2012)
Shoojit Sircar's Vicky Donor was about a man who started donating and selling off his sperms for money. Vince Vaughn's Delivery Man too took an idea and reconstructed it into a new story for the film, Delivery man!
7. Win a date with Tad Hamilton (2004) - Rangeela(1995)
Ram Gopal Varma's cult classic Rangeela starring Urmila Matondkar, Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff was about a 'tapori' guy who loves a girl and is highly eager to confess his feelings to her. However, the girl is a struggler and is desperately trying her luck in films. She gets attracted to her co-star, who starts liking her back. Hollywood's Win A Date With Tad Hamilton had a similar story line, only exception being that the girl ends up winning a date with Tad Hamilton.
8. Kill Bill Volume. 1 (2003) - Abhay (2001)
Quentin Tarantino himself admitted while having a private conversation with Anurag Kashyap that the infamous animation-action sequence in Kill Bill was inspired from Kamal Haasan starrer, Abhay. Anurag Kashyap also later admitted in media that, "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.'
9. Just Go With It (2011) - Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005)
A romantic comedy Just Go With it resembled the Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Sushmita Sen's Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya a lot! The story line being the lead actor convincing his girlfriend that he is married but then he ends up asking his secretary to act like his wife temporarily. So basically, Jennifer Aniston=Sushmita Sen & Adam Sandler=Salman Khan. Got the point?
10. Divorce Invitation(2012) - Aahwanam (1997)
There are times when Hollywood films are recreated into Tamil films but film-maker S.V. Krishnan Reddy broke the trend. He himself recreated his Tamil romantic comedy for the Hollywood Box Office. Starring actors Jonathan Bennett and Jamie, the film was an exact recreation of his Tamil classic Aahwanam.
11. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) - Madhumati (1958)
Another supernatural suspense, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, released in 1975, was inspired from Bimal Roy's drama Madhumati. Even though the story line is not similar, some parts of the film did resemble Roy's Madhumati.
12. Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Charulata (1964) was remade into 'Forty Shades of Blue' (2005)
Forty Shades of Blue by Ira Sachs managed to take a huge inspiration from Satyajit Ray’s Charulata (also called The Lonely Wife). Ray’s film showcased a triangulated relationship between a husband, a wife, and a young man. So Ira Sachs and co-writer Michael Rohatyn took the storyline and recreated it as their version called theForty Shades of blue.
13. The Dirty Dozen (1967) was hugely inspired by Do Ankhen Barah Haath (1957)
Do Ankhen Barah Haath was a Bollywood movie which was produced and directed by V. Shantaram. The film revolved around 12 jail convicts who are transformed into good citizens. The film was released in 1957. However just after a decade, in 1967 film director Robert Aldrich made a film The Dirty Dozen which had a similar story line. The film too portrayed 12 convicts who were trained into military men.