Raja Sen writes an amazing ode to the copycats, especially to Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay known for shot-by-shot unauthorized remake of hollywood films in Hindi, is on the hot seat. His recent flick, Zinda seems to be an outright rip-off from famous Korean flick, Oldboy.
I read about Oldboy on Hemanth’s Instant Kaapi. Someone had commented there about Sanjay Gupta re-making Oldboy as Zinda. Seems like this has come to the limelight, finally. Even if Sanjay Gupta originally concieves a film, the next time, people would be trying hard to find a similar match from the hollywood world.
This one is a well rounded column. A must read. From the column, Why I won’t watch Zinda[Via - Sunny] -
Cinema belongs to no one, Mr Gupta, and when we watch a film that excites us, we want to share. There is a school of thought which actually says that you are being altruistic, by remaking films most Indians have never seen, and ‘bringing them good cinema.’ I disagree vehemently. When Tarantino is thrilled by something like Iron Monkey, he doesn’t make a version of it himself, he just makes sure enough people in the US know about it when he re-releases it.
It would be incredible if you pioneered such efforts here in India, ensuring people get to see quirky, incredible, violent, earth-shattering films in theatres, instead of just the standard Hollywood popcorn fare. Get Sanju to redub them in his groovy voice, have rocking press-conferences, talk about why the movie is so special. Fans will freak out. I’ll wear a ‘Sanjay Gupta Rocks’ t-shirt, I swear.
Sen has every right to feel outrageous about blatant plagiarism. Such lifts only shows that the movie maker takes his audience for granted. It wouldn’t have been a big deal in 60s or 70s, but now with DVD players becoming affordable and bootleg DVD shops making a whale of a money, even movies that are not box office hits available to public - I was able to get a copy of “Vera Drake” and “Hotel Rwanda” in my neigbourhood. And lifting from popular movies like “Usual Suspects” or “Memento” is just plain stupid.
Posted by:Thanks Lazy for digging and bringing my post to light. I believe those who agree with Raja (no matter how few) should stop supporting the copycats. Yes, lets stop watching the shabby trace jobs and ask for a fair chance for us to enjoy original creative excellence.
Posted by:LG,
Off topic:
You don’t want to miss the latest issue of Vikatan. 2 good items - an interview with Ravi K.Chandran about the Hindi-vs-Tamil cinema; he makes several interesting points and is similar to the interview he gave to Kumudam some time back. Second is the article by Jnani comparing Hindi-Tamil cinema - quotes some scary #s and talks about corporatisation os movie making etc. If you are already knew about this, pl ignore this post.
Posted by:I am very much disappointed after reading Ravi K.Chandran’s interview…. i think he didn’t compare right things….
Posted by:very similar article in Hindu about Sanjay Gupta
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/01/20/stories/2006012002530300.htm
copycat writers in the making? after Gautaman bhaskaran, our suspicion cannot be faulted
Posted by:“And lifting from popular movies like “Usual Suspects” or “Memento” is just plain stupid.’
Krithika,so if Selvaraghavan lifts from a remote German/Italian film,its smart and OK?!!
Posted by:I have seen OldBoy and this is nothing new from Sanjay Gupta.He did it with Kaante a copy of Reservoir Dogs and Musafir a copy of possibly Oliver Stone’s worst movie ever,Wrong Turn.I still dont believe how one can copy OldBoy in the Indian Perspective.The Narrative and Casting simply cant match the one sin the Korean Flick.But it is one of the movies where i was amazed and Entertained at the sametime,simply glued fro 3 hours so and on top of it I was sick when i was watching it.I had already posted comments on some previous post here.
@Vijay
Pudhupettai has not even released and I am sure Selvaraghavan wont copy a movie frame to frame,ppl say Nayakan is a copy of Godfather but If u have seen both movies carefully u can see the trivial lifting of a few scenes than any concept as such.
Posted by:I am not very sure why are you guys bothered about films being lifted. I am also pretty sure that the idea of blogs was also “lifted” and everyone is writing one.There are lot of Hollywood films too that are lifted from all over the world.I also do not agree with Raja Sen’s view that if you credit the guy who you are copying you can remake a film, which means that there is no originality.
I think that such columns should be just banned. The media has its own yardstick for measuring foreign films and a totally different yardstick for measuring Indian films.
Posted by:It is not OK to lift from German films. Did I say it was OK? I’m not a supporter of lifting from original and Anumalik’s niece. Which is more ridiculous/stupid - lifting from “Klassenfhart” or from more popular “Usual Suspects” or for that matter “Gladiator”?
Posted by:@ganesh
I know critics tend to go overboard but u just watch both movies and see how Sanjay Gupta has left no stone uncovered.It is not some Independent movie maker’s story that helifted but the hugely popular OldBoy which was raved by critics at Cannes and is hugely popular all over the world.No one can copy better than him.
Posted by:“Which is more ridiculous/stupid - lifting from “Klassenfhart” or from more popular “Usual Suspects” or for that matter “Gladiator”?”
so you are more worried about the “smartness” of the lifts or about the director getting caught than about the lifts themselves?
BTW, For an average filmgoer in TN, Usual suspects might be as alien as an European film. Murugadoss laughed all the way to the bank with Ghajini. So lifting parts of Memento wouldnt sound “stupid” to him, would it? Gladiator is a different story. I dont think anyone will remake that in Tamil :-)
Posted by:In an interview, On being asked ” why dont you ever make original movies ?”.. Sanjay Gupta replied with pride “Thats because i am a direcor not a screenplay writer ” !! ………….huh !!!
Posted by:Your site works on my sidekick2
Posted by:I was refering to the scene in Ghajini when Asin dies. It’s a lift from the scene in Gladiator when Maximus’ wife and children are murdered. Same. Ditto. Yeah, smartness matters, from where you lift. Chances of people watching German flicks are pretty slim than a movie that figures in most of the “Best of Hollywood” list. (I’m NOT a fan of Selvaraghavan.In case you’re wondering)
Posted by:“Yeah, smartness matters, from where you lift. Chances of people watching German flicks are pretty slim than a movie that figures in most of the “Best of Hollywood” list.”
Matters to whom? You, probably. Ghajni was a blockbuster hit. So apparently it doesnt matter to our audiences. Thats the point. The average fan for these films in Madras wouldnt have even heard about Memento much less care about what films are there in top 250. Magalir mattum,Avvai shanmughi etc. were even more balatant lifts and both of them were BO successes. So our audiences dont care as long as the film is well adapted for local consumption. And so Murugadoss doesnt have to worry about where he lifts from. If he is worried about critical acclaim then he shouldnt lift at all.
Posted by:I don’t believe Kamal’s claims about this movie. I loved this movie and was in Madurai at that time - It was a hit, though not a humongous one. You need to take Kamal’s statements with a karandi full of salt - they are often manipulative and aimed at a very gullible audience.
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