Killing for an English remake: Here are 8 Hollywood films apparently inspired by Bollywood plots

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s blood-soaked thriller Kill will soon be adapted into a movie by the makers of John Wick. This is not the first Bollywood film to inspire the West. However, most of the Hindi films that have done so have not been officially adapted, but have lent their plots to Hollywood films. (Also read: John Wick producers developing English remake of Dharma Productions’ Kill, say they have ‘big shoes to fill’)

Drishyam

Panaroma Studios recently announced that Jeetu Joseph’s 2013 Malayalam crime thriller starring Mohanlal will be the first Indian film to be officially adapted into an English remake. The film has already been adapted into a Hindi language with Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Shriya Saran in the cast. It has also spawned a sequel in Hindi and Malayalam, respectively.

Darr – Fear

Yash Chopra’s romantic thriller Darr (1993), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, found a similar plot in James Foley’s Hollywood film Fear (1996), whose title is literally taken from the Bollywood film. Mark Wahlberg’s stalker character also spelled “Nicole” with a piece of glass on his chest, just as Shah Rukh spelled out his love interest Kiran’s name on his. Reese Witherspoon played Nicole in Fear.

Shah Rukh Khan in Darr; Mark Wahlberg in Fear

A Wednesday – An Ordinary Man

Neeraj Pandey’s 2008 thriller pitted the anonymous common man played by Naseeruddin Shah against the Mumbai police chief played by Anupam Kher. In 2013, Sri Lankan filmmaker Chandran Rutnam made a similar film in English, in which British actor Ben Kingsley played the eponymous common man.

Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday; Ben Kingsley in An Ordinary Man

Choti Si Baat – Harness

Basu Chatterjee’s 1976 romance, starring Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Ashok Kumar, is believed to have inspired the concept of Andy Tennant’s 2005 Hollywood film Hitch, starring Will Smith. Both films revolve around a shy man who lacks the conviction to approach a woman he loves, but is trained by a love guru to do so.

Amol Palekar in Chhoti Si Baat; Will Smith in Hitch

Leap Year – Jab We Met

Like Imtiaz Ali’s 2007 blockbuster, starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, Anand Tucker’s 2010 romantic comedy Leap Year, starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, revolves around the journey of a woman who is on her way to tell a man she loves him, but is interrupted by multiple obstacles, including feelings for another man who tries to unite them.