Ravi Bopanna, Monsoon Raaga, Shiva 143 and Luckyman: 4 remakes in the next 4 weeks in Kannada cinema

Back in the day when dubbing of other language films into Kannada was unofficially banned, pretty much every second movie that released was a remake from another industry. While filmmakers were often open about the fact that they were adapting a popular film from across the borders, over time, it became about maintaining that as the biggest secret, one that audiences should figure out only when they are in the theatre. Filmmakers felt that prior knowledge that a film is a remake could keep people from watching their versions.

Once dubbing was allowed and films began to be released as pan-India projects, it was expected that the number of remakes would fall drastically, as most movies would anyway find a version in most languages for theatrical or OTT release. Turns out that none of this is a deterrent for Kannada filmmakers. As many as four films releasing in the next one month are remakes.

Here’s the list...

Ravi Bopanna
Releasing on: August 12

Crazy Star V Ravichandran’s return to direction is the Kannada remake of the Malayalam crime thriller Joseph. The 2018 film had won lead actor Joju George a Best Actor award at the Kerala State film Awards.

Monsoon Raaga
Releasing on: August 19

Director S Ravindranath’s film was widely believed to be an original, so, when news broke that it is the remake of a critically-acclaimed Telugu film, several audience members who were keenly awaiting it were quite disappointed. The Dhananjaya and Rachita Ram film, which also stars Achyuth Kumar and Suhasini Maniratnam in pivotal roles, is the remake of C/O Kancharapalem.

Shiva 143
Releasing on: August 26

Director Anil Kumar’s launchpad for Dheeren Ramkumar, the son of veteran actor Ramkumar, and grandson of the late matinee idol Dr Rajkumar, Shivu 143 is also a remake. Dheeren’s debut is with the Kannada version of the 2018 Telugu romantic action film RX 100, which had Karthikeya and Payal Rajput in the lead. In Kannada, Dheeren is paired with Manvitha Kamath.

Luckyman
Releasing on: September 2

Darling Krishna’s film Luckyman, with Sangeetha Sringeri and Roshni Prakash, directed by Nagendra Prasad, the brother of choreographer-actor-director Prabhudeva, is the remake of a Tamil film. Nagendra chose a more recent film to adapt into Kannada. Oh My Kadavule, which had Ashok Selvan in the lead with Ritika Singh and Vani Bhojan is the film that’s become Luckyman. The original had a character played by Vijay Sethupathi, which the late Puneeth Rajkumar took on in Kannada, making Luckyman the Power Star’s last commercial film outing.