Bollywood has been remaking South Indian films including Telugu movies since the early days of cinema. The filmmakers are careful enough to choose the subjects that appeal to a wide range of audiences while remaking them in other languages. So, to bring nativity, several scenes are modified to appeal to the local audience. The trend has changed and the Bollywood filmmakers no longer adapt the scripts for nativity and realism but rather glorify it to impress the fans. The following is the list of the 10 worst Bollywood remakes of Telugu movies.
10. Jai Ho
Jai Ho is the remake of Chiranjeevi starrer ‘Stalin’. The Telugu movie, Stalin, was criticized for its climax fight where Chiranjeevi beats over 100 goons which is too much to digest even for fans. The army men landing in the city with their helicopter to rescue the hero was mocked by many and the film became an average grosser. The Salman Khan starrer, Jai Ho, made Stalin look like a masterpiece. While the action was even amplified and made sillier, the theme was diluted. The bike stunts were completely unrealistic and the climax was completely spoiled. The soldiers come to the city with a tanker as if they have to fight a war. Even with all these things, Jai Ho is not the worst of all.
9. Ready
Ready is the remake of a Telugu movie with the same title starring Ram and Genelia in lead roles. It’s again a Salman Khan starrer with his trademark nonsense and over-the-top action replacing comedy and drama. The fights in the Telugu version matched the narration as the hero is meant to be smart whereas the fights in its remake don’t follow the characterization. The worst thing about Ready is a remake of the ‘Ringa Ringa’ song which received the ‘Kela’ award as the worst song of the year.
8. Rowdy Rathore
Rowdy Rathore is the remake of the Telugu movie Vikramarkudu starring Ravi Teja and Anushka in lead roles. The Rajamouli mark elevation scenes and Ravi Teja mark comedy made the film a blockbuster in Telugu. The fate of the Hindi remake was clear as soon as Prabhu Deva stepped into the project as director. The styling, comedy, and action made the film look cheap in comparison to the original despite the heavy budget. Although Rowdy Rathore was a hit, it didn’t get the success it deserves.
7. Kick
Kick is the remake of a Telugu movie of the same name starring Ravi Teja and Ileana in lead roles. The Telugu version was an action-comedy with Brahmanandam and Ali in prominent roles. However, the makers completely removed their characters from the remake and replaced comedy with action. Kick without comedy became another routine film and the audience criticized the film. The director of the original, Surendar Reddy, mentioned that the Bollywood filmmakers didn’t understand Kick and they instead translated it to happiness.
6. Youngistaan
Youngistaan is the remake of the Telugu movie Leader which was the debut movie of Rana Daggubati. The boring screenplay killed the scope of the film. The film couldn’t sustain the first weekend of its release and was instantly forgotten. Although Leader wasn’t a commercial success, it has a powerful theme and deserves a better remake.
5. Tevar
Tevar is the remake of the Telugu movie Okkadu starring Mahesh Babu and Bhoomika in lead roles. Okkadu transformed Mahesh into a mass hero from romance and adventure movies. Tevar was nothing but a boring film that has a little resemblance to the original. The performances are not convincing and in addition, there is an attitude to the hero character which is annoying. The song ‘Main hu superman Salman ka fan’ reduced the film to a commercial potboiler.
4. Baaghi
Baaghi is the remake of the Telugu movie Varsham starring Prabhas and Trisha in lead roles. The film made Prabhas into a star hero and brought overnight stardom to Trisha. Many actors and technicians who worked for the film became popular. Varsham is a pure love story with action as a part of the narration without going too far from the script. Baaghi doesn’t have much romance and is a complete action film. The audience who have not watched Varsham wouldn’t feel much difference but for those who have watched it in advance, watching Baaghi is torture. They just made the film to establish Tiger Shroff as a star hero.
3. Heropanti
Heropanti is the remake of the Telugu movie Parugu starring Allu Arjun in the lead role. Parugu is a beautiful film about the struggle of a sincere father and honor killings. The film never gets preachy and is entertaining. But the remake, Heropanti, as the name suggests, is about heroism. The film never bothers to care about what the father thinks and never cares about other characters. The hero always stands with a still popular for 90s kids in photo studios. Prakash Raj takes complete responsibility for acting while the lead actor is only bothered about one thing, Heroism.
2. Son of Sardar
Son of Sardar is the remake of the Telugu movie Maryada Ramanna starring Sunil in the lead role. Maryada Ramanna is the story of an ordinary guy who struggles for his life whereas Son of Sardar starts with the hero beating tens of guys with bare hands. No wonder a North Indian guy was saying that the film gets boring as soon as Ajay Devgan starts fearing for his life. This is what happens when filmmakers don’t understand the characterization and follow the regular song and fight sequence for hero entry. They showcased villains as buffoons in Son of Sardar. There is no seriousness in the film. The hero gets out of the home, chitchats with villains for a while, and then returns. Son of Sardar is too far from the actual story.
1. Baaghi 2
Baaghi 2 is the remake of the Telugu movie Kshanam starring Adivi Sesh in the lead role. Kshanam is an intense thriller with a lot of suspense and drama. The remake is nowhere near the original and is full of fights throughout the film. The climax is a complete rip-off of Rambo 2. They have forced unnecessary fights into the film. Moreover, the filmmakers rigged the story to insert fights. It would have been better if the makers have selected the script of an action movie instead of spoiling a thriller.
The problem with most of these remakes is unnecessary action scenes that spoiled the central theme of the films.
