The story of a remake

Sunny Deol is shooting the sequel of the action-crammed Ghayal at an adjoining lot in Kamalistan studio. The set - depicting a sprawling, chandelier-filled mansion - must have cost the earth.
As it happens, I'm shooting at the studio's outdoor lawns for a sequence of my remake of Sai Paranjpye's classic comedy Katha (1982). And when I bump into Sunny, what he says is music to my ears: "It's the film which matters, and not the budget. The audience just wants to be engaged. Genres and big star names don't matter." Next, he gives me a warm bear hug and returns to that mega-mansion, smiling, "All the best, buddy. Do call me for the first screening."
Now that I've wrapped up Katha (the original title has been retained), I can't help feeling that it's rare to receive supportive words in an excessively competitive profession. The usual practice is to be daggers-drawn, which is why, perhaps, the time-honoured Bollywood custom of hosting premieres and previews has become virtually extinct, to prevent a negative buzz.
Mercifully, besides Sunny Deol, goodwill gestures have come in from Karan Johar, Rishi Kapoor, Anil and Sonam Kapoor and Farah Khan, cheering me to go ahead with Katha, no-holds barred.
The point is that it's no longer a smooth ride to make a feature film which doesn't have instantly marketable male actors (never mind that the Khans have toted their share of flops) and is intended as an entertainer with a soupçon - I hope - of sense and sensibility. It would be sacrilege to mangle the original script and dialogue by Paranjpye, who was horrified by David Dhawan's 2013 remake of the original Chashme Buddoor (1981). Not the sort to make her feelings public, she refrained from hitting out at the Dhawan retread, which was done without so much as a by-your-leave.
 

In fact, film remakes demand a measure of responsibility and a consciousness that the original has to be cherished, rather than distorted for the sake of gross commercial interests. Any hint of new age vulgarity has to be strictly avoided. At the same time, it is impossible to be slavishly bonded to the original. Which is why the 32-year-old Katha had to be necessarily updated to conditions of 2015.
The current update was done in consultation with Paranjpye, fortuitously without any stormy arguments.

SPOILING THE BROTH: The 2013 Chashme Baddoor (left) was not even a patch on the 1981 cult classic Chashme Buddoor (right), and was panned widely by critics and movie fans alike; one called it a "remake from hell"

WHO'S THE BEAUTY? Again, Sonam Kapoor in 2014's Khoobsurat (left) was barely able to fill the iconic Rekha's shoes from Khubsoorat (right, 1980)

SOGGY SAGA: The hilarious Shaukeen (right, 1982) about three older men chasing a much younger woman in an attempt to relive their youth, saw another half-hearted attempt of a remake with The Shaukeens (2014)
The original Katha, taking off from the Tortoise and Hare fable, was set against the backdrop of a typical Mumbai chawl colony inhabited by different characters, each with their distinct quirks and foibles. At the pivot was a triangular love story of a mild mannered white-collar worker, the girl-next-door whom he adores, and a glib-talking smooth operator who breezes in to disrupt the placid lives of the chawl dwellers.
These prototypes continue to prevail in the next millennium, and how. One or two had to be added, and an equal number deleted. And the most valid update I could think of, was to add the element of how the quaint old chawls are being eyed in Mumbai and other cities, by greed-motivated real estate 'developers' and acquisitive landlords. In addition, the argot used in dialogue, the altered attitudes and aspirational conflicts of the chawl-dwellers, were tweaked. Sai approved.
Clearly, a remake is beset by comparisons to the original. Already, I'm being badgered by media inquiries, "So what have you done to Katha, which happens to be one of my favourite films?" To that, I can only respond, "My version is nowhere close to achieving Sai's brilliance." Honestly, the remake is intended as a salute to Sai Paranjpye, and that's it.
Am I being apologetic about the re-confection? Absolutely not. It had to be done to introduce an entire new generation of film viewers to the sleight-of-imagination, subtle comedies once perfected by Paranjype, and of course by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee. Indeed, I had toyed initially on updating Chatterjee's memorable Rajnigandha, but found myself unable to make its gossamer-light plot relevant to today's times. The Rajnigandha script that emerged was contrived and outdated, because of my own deficiencies for sure. If I may say so: by contrast, the script of a modern Katha turned out to be thematically universal and timeless.
I am more than aware that the performances of Naseeruddin Shah, Far-ooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval, besides the marvellous character actress, the late Leela Mishra (Daisy Irani plays her part in the remake), are tough acts to follow. They cannot be equalled or imitated. Hence, the brief to the actors was to attempt their own spontaneous interpretations.
Now that the remake is done with, I can say it was a learning experience, somewhat like a student striving to live up to the standards set by a guru. But would I ever attempt another ?remake? Unlikely. To do it once, with feeling for someone I have admired, is sufficient. After this, hopefully, I should have my own kathas to tell, up, close and very personal.