Whenever a new remake arrives in theatres, questions about originality and creativity quickly follow. The debate has become even more common in today's OTT era, when audiences can easily watch films from different languages with subtitles and dubbing.
Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan's Haiwaan, the Hindi remake of Mohanlal's Malayalam thriller Oppam, has once again brought the remake debate into the spotlight. But the practice is far older than modern Bollywood. The history of Indian remakes goes back more than a century, almost to the beginning of Indian cinema itself.
Raja Harishchandra and the Beginning of the Remake Era
The story of Indian remakes is closely connected with Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra, released in 1913 and widely regarded as India's first full-length indigenous feature film.
The original film was released at Bombay's Coronation Cinema on May 3, 1913. A few years later, the surviving print was reportedly destroyed in an accident involving heat and friction while being transported.
Phalke did not simply let the film disappear. He recreated much of the film in 1917, using a similar vision and cast. This version became known as Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra. Some film historians consider the surviving footage associated with Raja Harishchandra to be from this later reconstruction rather than the original 1913 film.
1917 Saw Another Harishchandra Film
Interestingly, 1917 also saw another film based on the same story.
J.F. Madan's Elphinstone Bioscope produced a separate Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra, directed by Rustamji Dhotiwala. It was released in Calcutta in March 1917.
Film records often identify this production as one of India's earliest formal remakes. However, the film was also influenced by popular Urdu theatre, showing that the boundaries between adaptation, remake and theatrical storytelling were already fluid during the silent era.
From Stage Plays to Films
Indian cinema has always borrowed from stories that audiences already knew.
Even the arrival of sound cinema brought adaptations from other forms of entertainment. Alam Ara, India's first talkie, drew from a popular Parsi stage play.
This tradition continued as filmmakers adapted mythology, literature, theatre and successful films for new audiences. Rather than creating an entirely new story every time, filmmakers often found ways to present familiar material through a different visual style or in another language.
That approach eventually became one of the defining characteristics of Indian cinema.
Devdas Became the Ultimate Example
If there is one story that perfectly demonstrates India's long relationship with remakes and adaptations, it is Devdas.
Based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's celebrated novel, the story has been brought to the screen numerous times in different Indian languages.
The first known film adaptation came in 1928, when Naresh Mitra made a silent version. P.C. Barua then made Bengali and Hindi versions in the 1930s, with K.L. Saigal starring in the Hindi version released in 1936.
The story continued to return to the screen. Bimal Roy made his celebrated Hindi version in 1955 with Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vyjayanthimala. Decades later, Sanjay Leela Bhansali presented the story on a much larger scale with Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit in the 2002 version.
The repeated adaptations demonstrate that a remake does not necessarily mean reproducing the same film exactly. Different directors can interpret the same story according to their own artistic vision and the expectations of their generation.
Why Do Filmmakers Keep Remaking Stories?
There are several reasons why remakes remain popular.
A familiar story already has some audience recognition. Filmmakers can then introduce new actors, technology, music, visual effects and cultural elements while retaining the basic narrative.
Language is another major factor. A successful film in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada or another regional language can be adapted for Hindi-speaking audiences, allowing the story to reach a much larger market.
The reverse is also true, with successful Hindi films being remade in regional languages.
The South-to-Bollywood Remake Trend
In recent decades, Hindi cinema has frequently looked towards successful South Indian films for remake material.
Films such as Ghajini, Wanted, Singham, Drishyam and Kabir Singh became prominent examples of stories that were adapted from successful films in other Indian languages.
The remake trend became especially visible during the 2000s and 2010s, when Bollywood filmmakers increasingly acquired remake rights to successful South Indian productions.
However, the rise of OTT platforms has changed the situation. Audiences can now discover original films much more easily, meaning that a remake has to offer something beyond simply translating the same story.
Haiwaan Brings the Debate Back
The latest example is Haiwaan, starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan.
The film is a Hindi remake of Priyadarshan's 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam, which starred Mohanlal. The release has once again raised the familiar question: why remake an existing film when audiences can watch the original?
The answer may lie in interpretation. A remake can introduce the basic story to a new audience while changing its setting, characters, performances and presentation.
Is Remaking a Film Really a Lack of Originality?
The debate is unlikely to disappear.
Critics argue that excessive dependence on remakes can discourage original storytelling. Supporters, however, point out that cinema has always evolved by retelling existing stories.
The history of Raja Harishchandra and Devdas makes one thing clear: Indian cinema has been adapting, rebuilding and reinterpreting stories for generations.
A remake therefore does not automatically mean a lack of creativity. What matters is what a filmmaker brings to the existing material.
A story first told decades ago can acquire a completely different meaning when presented through another generation's actors, technology and cultural perspective.
From Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra to the many versions of Devdas and today's Haiwaan, the remake has remained an important part of India's cinematic journey.
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