Hindi television soaps on a remaking spree

Bollywood is thriving with regional remakes, a trend that started with the blockbuster Ghajini and continued with Wanted, Bodyguard and Ready. Rowdy Rathore is the latest to join the hit list. Clearly, remakes are the flavour of the season. And, it’s not just the big screen that is dominated by remakes, even television has its fair share of adaptations.

Currently, there are several such shows on air including Zee’s numero uno soap Pavitra Rishta that was adapted from the hit Tamil soap Thirumathi Selvam, Sony’s Shubh Vivaah remade from the Tamil Metti Oli, and Life Ok’s Saubhagyavati Bhava that has its origins in the Telugu serial Shravanthi. Besides these, there’s a reality show Dance India Dance, which was first aired in Bengali as Dance Bangla Dance. Soon Zee is planning to launch a remake of its own Marathi show Paul Padati Pudhe and a fiction soap Prapanch.

Says Sukesh Motwani, Fiction Head, Zee, “So far, we have adapted two soaps Pavitra Rishta, which turned out to be a hit and Dil Se Diya Vachan (Idhayam was the original) that did not work. It was probably too dark and realistic as it was the story of a rape victim.” Though there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to remakes, Sukesh points out that it has to be a great story with universal appeal.

Santosh Nair, COO, UTV Television, which is specialising in regional remakes — the production house has so far turned out four remakes of which two Shubh Vivaah and Saubhagyavati Bhava are currently on air — feels that apart from the story what is important is adapting it to the sensibilities of the market it is catering to. “Emotions are universal but the culture and sensibilities are different,” says Nair, who is in talks with channels for two more remakes, one of which is the hit Tamil serial Anandam.

Though it doesn’t come with any guarantess, the advantage of a remake is that the story is pre-decided, the concept tried and tested and the characters already fleshed out. All that needs to be done is change the look, the milieu and culture to suit the northern sensibilities. However, not all remakes turn out to be successful. While Pavitra Ristha and Sasural Genda Phool that had its origins in the Bengali soap Ogo Bodho Sundari had hit the bull’s-eye, others like Maayke Se Bandhi Dor  failed to connect with the audience.

But despite the occasional failure, looks like remakes are here to stay.