Amrita Arora Bikini,Picture from Kambakkht Ishq Movie

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Kambakkht Ishq inspired by a Tamil Movie?

The Hindi film industry is infamous for lifting Hollywood movies, but it has often been inspired by cinema content from southern India as well. With forthcoming movies like Kambakkht Ishq, Short Kut - The Con Is On and Wanted, Bollywood seems to be on a spree of remaking films made down south.

Releasing Friday, Akshay Kumar- Kareena Kapoor's romantic comedy Kambakkht Ishq is the remake of Kamal Haassan's 2002 Tamil hit Pammal K. Sambandam.

The film was earlier to be remade in Hindi by writer-turned-director Anees Bazmee for south-based production house G.V. Films, which had acquired the remaking rights for Rs.500,000.

But it was producer Sajid Nadiadwala who finally made it after buying remaking rights of the same film by reportedly shelling out Rs.7.5 million.

Short Kut, another forthcoming comedy, is a remake of Roshan Andrews' Malayalam movie Udayananu Tharam. Similarly, southern dancing star Prabhu Deva's directorial venture Wanted, which has Salman Khan in the lead, is a remake of Tamil film Pokhiri.

"Bollywood has always survived on the pillars of inspiration and remakes... whether it is the west or the south, it has always copied content. While half of it has been successful, others have been blunders," said a trade analyst from Mumbai on condition of anonymity.

But Anil Kapoor, who is producing Short Kut, described the trend as a consumer-driven call.

"Actually it was not my idea to adapt a south Indian film... as a consumer I had seen this film in Malayalam and loved it. I thought it will be great to make the film in Hindi. I spoke to Anees Bazmee (who has written the script) about it and he too liked the idea of adapting it for a Hindi film," the actor-turned-producer said.

While "Udayananu Tharam" starred Mohanlal, Sreenivasan and Meena, its Hindi version, directed by Neeraj Vora, features Arshad Warsi, Akshaye Khanna and Amrita Rao.

"We made some changes in the script to suit Bollywood sensibilities and made it more appealing for north Indians or say core Bollywood audiences. After the script was ready, we thought Neeraj Vora would be the best person to direct the film. I called him up and he was on board," Anil added.

A recent example of a successful Bollywood remake of a south Indian film becoming a huge hit is A.R. Murugadoss' "Ghajini" (2008) that was a remake of the 2005 Tamil film of the same name.

Starring Aamir Khan in the lead, the film went on to rake in more than Rs.290 crore (Rs.2.9 billion) worldwide, making it one of the biggest grossers in Bollywood.

Remaking southern hits is not a new trend in Hindi cinema. There have been hit films earlier like "Nayak", "Saathiya", "Viraasat" and "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein" that were remakes respectively of Tamil films "Mudhalvan", "Alaipayuthey", "Thevar Magan" and "Minnale".

Multilingual filmmaker Priyadarshan, known for remaking his own films in Hindi, had said: "My Hindi films are mostly inspired from Malayalam comedies."

His popular films like "Bhool Bhulaiyaa", "Kyon Ki..." and "Garam Masala" are remakes respectively of Malayalam films "Manichitrathazhu", "Thalavattom" and "Boeing Boeing". His other Hindi remakes include "Virasaat", "Billu" and "Ye Teraa Ghar Ye Meraa Ghar".

Tamil and Telugu filmmaker L.V. Prasad's Hindi films "Sharada", "Miss Mary", "Chhoti Bahen" and "Ek Duuje Ke Liye" were also adaptations of Tamil films. A. Bhimsingh's "Bhai Bahen" was a remake of Tamil hit "Pasamalar".

Bollywood saw a series of remakes in the late 1970s and 80s with Jeetendra in the lead in movies like T. Rama Rao's "Lok Parlok", "Judaai", "Maang Bharo Sajana", "Himmatvala", "Swarg Narak", "Jyoti Bane Jwala" and "Pyaasa Sawan".

Films like "Solva Sawan", "Sargam", "Sadma", "Wo Saat Din", "Aakhri Raasta", "Andha Kanoon" and "Eeshwar" were also inspired by southern hits.

Bollywood saw its first anti-woman slant in the 1980s Rajesh Khanna-starrer "Red Rose" adapted from Tamil film "Sigappu Rojakal". And in 1992, Indra Kumar remade "Enga Chinna Rasa" as "Beta" as part of the continuing 'south inspires north' trend.

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Akshay, Kareena Can't stop kissing!

Looks like Mallika Sherawat finally has competition when it comes to the number of kisses. While Mallika had a record 17 kisses in her debut film, grapevine has it that Kareena Kapoor has done 10 kisses in Kambakkht Ishq.

Now that's some daring do on part of Kapoor Khandaan's beautiful daughter.

Before its release on July 3, the trial runs of the movie have generated a crazy buzz around these 10 steamy lip locks between Akshay and Kareena.

Apparently the producers are keeping it under the wraps for a final surprise for the audience once the movies releases.

Though we wonder if it has something to do with Kareena's nawabi boyfriend, after all if Saif is to be believed, Bebo is already Begum. And for the royal begum to indulge in such profanities with the international khiladi may not go down well with the royal family.

One man who seems to be in a win win situation here is Akshay Kumar for sure! Recently only, he was hailed as Bollywood s best kisser by Denise Richards and now we hear of these kisses with Kareena. Well now that s some mouthful of excitement for Akshay!

Blame it on Kambakkht Ishq!

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Kambakkht Ishq expected To Be A Massive Hit In Bollywood

Ishq producer Sajid Nadiadwala admits, “I never thought ‘Kambakht Ishq‘ would turn out to be a massive film. Of course, with Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the cast, it was meant to be a big budget movie, but the movie grew in size and stature the moment we finished scripting and began casting”.denying that everyone keenly watching “Kambakkht Ishq” for various reasons. One of the prime reasons being, the film is expected to bail out the industry from its current crisis ridden situation. Hence, the expectations are huge.

Kambakkht Ishq is helmed by first time director Sabbir Khan, who has been an apprentice to Mahesh Bhatt and also David Dhawan (during the making of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi). Incidentally, Sajid’s last three movies have been helmed by debutants like Jaan-e-Mann by Shrish Kunder, Heyy Babyy by Sajid Khan and now Kambakkht Ishq. Sajid explains, “They (newcomers) add so much freshness to a film. They come up with innovative ideas and their approach to work is unadulterated”.Ishq stars three Hollywood celebrities like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards. The prolific producer admits, “Actually, their names cropped up while scripting the film. Little did we realize then that they would eventually star in the film”. Was it tough getting them on board? He states, “A lot of pre-production work and detailing went in to it. It took us several months of planning to get them on board”.

While “Kambakkht Ishq” is slated for release next week, Sajid Nadiadwala is getting ready to launch three more projects, with Sajid Khan (Housefull), Siddharth Anand (Ranbir-Priyanka starrer is not titled yet) and Imtiaz Ali.

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