The same film was made thrice in one year by the same director with three different superstars, and all reigned supreme at the box office
Remaking a successful film in another language is a practice as old as commercial cinema itself. Many directors such as Mehboob Khan and Priyadarshan have remade their own films several times. But this one filmmaker was a step ahead. He made the same film thrice in one year with three different superstars. Surprisingly, all of them ruled at the box office
1. The film that sparked two remakes in one year
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The 2010 Malayalam film Bodyguard, directed by Siddique, starred Dileep in the lead, along with Nayanthara and Mithra Kurian. The film was a box office success, reviving Dileep’s career, and reaffirming Siddique’s status as an expert in the action-comedy genre
2. Bodyguard’s success and future
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But the success of Bodyguard saw Sidddique becoming a hot property and he was quickly signed to direct two remakes – one in Tamil and the other in Hindi, both releasing within seven months of each other and starring the biggest names in Indian cinema – Thalapathy Vijay and Salman Khan respectively
3. The blockbuster that was Kaavalan
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The Tamil version – Kaavalan – starred Vijay and Asin with Mithra reprising her role from the original. Helmed by Siddique, the film was a blockbuster again, earning over Rs 100 crore worldwide
4. Salman Khan’s Bodyguard sets the box office on fire
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But Siddique was not done. In August, seven months after the release of Kaavalan, he remade the film again as Bodyguard. The Hindi version starred Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor, along with Hazel Keech. The film broke all box office records to gross Rs 252 crore worldwide
5. Siddique’s subsequent career
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Although Bodyguard saw two more remakes – in Kannada and Telugu – Siddique directed neither. He further saw success with films like Bhaskar the Rascal, which he remade in Tamil as well. However, in 2020, he faced the failure of his film Big Brother
6. Siddique’s untimely death
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Siddique’s plans to make another film after Big Brother were stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic. And as it turned out, it was to be his final film. On August 7, 2023, Siddique suffered a heart attack and passed away the following day at the age of 63
