5 Bollywood Films You Didn't Know Were Remakes and Their Hollywood Counterparts to Watch

Do you know that many famous Bollywood films that you have grown up watching are actually remakes of equally popular Hollywood films? While a lot of films like Mukesh Chhabra’s Dil Bechara starring late Sushant Singh Rajput are official remakes, many others are “inspired” by these films.

In today’s recommendation, we have for you Bollywood films and their Hollywood counterparts so that you can choose what you want to watch.

Mann (1999) and An Affair To Remember (1957)

Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala’s super romantic film directed by Indra Kumar was based on the Hollywood film An Affair To Remember. Mann, however, is an indigenous version of the latter, improvised with a climax scene different from the original movie. Two people, who are engaged to someone else, meet on a cruise and fall in love. They then decide to meet at a pre-determined location six months later. However, a mishap changes the course of the story. While the 1957 film, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, ended vaguely, the Indian version gave a lot more backstory to the characters.

Kaante (2002) and Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Quentin Tarantino’s first film Reservoir Dogs inspired this critically acclaimed Hindi remake by Sanjay Gupta. In fact, Tarantino has also said that Kaante is his favorite among all international remakes of Reservoir Dogs.

The Hollywood version starring Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen among others is the story of a gang of strangers who are brought together to rob a bank. When the robbery goes wrong and a member gets shot, the others wonder if the mission was actually an ambush!

Kaante, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Lucky Ali and Mahesh Manjrekar, starts with The Usual Suspects-like premise of a bunch of people wrongfully placed under lock-up. Also, unlike the Hollywood version, our boys have backstories and reasons to be crooks.

Baazigar (1993) and A Kiss Before Dying (1965, 1991)

Baazigar, a film that established Shah Rukh Khan as an actor with impeccable range and also the star he is, was inspired by a Hollywood film remade twice before. In A Kiss Before Dying, a college student obsessed with the idea of being rich, dates a heiress. When she becomes pregnant and informs him that her father will take away her share of inheritance, he resorts to murder and stages it like a suicide. Her twin sister, then investigates the case.

Baazigar, also starring Kajol and a debutante Shilpa Shetty, made SRK’s character a cold-blooded killer and gave him a backstory that made him seek vengeance upon his dead girlfriend’s family. Baazigar is much more complicated than the original, but also quite fun to watch.

Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995) and Kramer Vs Kramer (1979)

Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala’s hit pairing was first seen in this film inspired by the courtroom drama Kramer Vs Kramer. Akele Hum Akele Tum is the story of two aspiring singers who fall in love and marry in a whirlwind. When the wife’s career takes a backseat and the husband becomes more and more disinterested in household affairs, she walks out on him and their son. The father and son eventually form a close bond. However, after Kiran (Koirala) becomes a celebrity, she claims full custody of her son in a nasty legal battle.

While the Hindi version deals with the backstory and the father-son bond, the Hollywood original, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, mostly focuses on the courtroom and is much more balanced in its depiction. Both Hoffman and Streep won Academy Awards for their performance.

Heyy Baby (2007) and Three Men and a Baby (1987)

Leonard Nimoy’s classic comedy Three Men and a Baby starring Ted Danson, Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg was remade by Sajid Khan with Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh Fardeen Khan and Vidya Balan.

Three bachelors live their best Casanova life without fear of consequences, until one day a mysterious baby is delivered on their door step. The boys then try to find out which one of them is the father of the baby, and in a chaotic manner, contact all of the women they have had relationships with.

On the way, each of them form an unlikely yet strong bond with the baby till the mother comes into the picture. The hilarious comedy was successful in both Bollywood and Hollywood and even had a sequel called Three Men and a Little Lady.