Bollywood has a tradition of remaking Hollywood blockbusters — and of spicing up even the grittiest thrillers with big song and dance numbers and wet sari scenes.
But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, India’s film-makers have finally taken their adulation too far. For the first time, a Bollywood producer has been forced to pay for plagiarising a Hollywood hit.
Twentieth Century Fox took the Mumbai-based BR Films to court, alleging that the Indian company’s forthcoming Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai (This Guy is Fearless) was an illegal remake of the American studio’s Oscar-winning crime caper My Cousin Vinny, which was released in 1992.
This week BR Films agreed to pay Twentieth Century Fox, which is 82.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, the parent company of The Times, about $200,000 (£119,000) in an out-of-court settlement.
The deal paves the way for the Indian film’s release, but it could mark the end of an era where Bollywood remade everything from The Godfather (the Hindi version was called Sarkar) to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, renamed Satte Pe Satta, with apparent impunity.
In recent months Chander Lall, a lawyer who represents two major American studios, has sent a slew of warning letters to producers who he believes are copying Hollywood films.
The titles allegedly poised to be “Indianised” included Ghostbusters, Jerry Maguire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Departed and The Hangover.
Mr Lall said that Bollywood had long paid homage to Hollywood’s most successful films, but that Indian studios had increased the practice in recent years.
“Bollywood used to deliver pure escapism. The films were driven by glamour and a star cast and the plot was not important.
With the arrival of modern multiplex theatres over the past five years, and the more discerning audiences they attract, that has changed,” he told The Times.
“Audiences now want new stories. The problem is, Bollywood has no tradition of producing original screenplays.”
By plagiarising scripts, the film-makers profit from intensive test screenings that American producers carry out to gauge audience reactions and maximise ticket sales, Mr Lall said.
Bollywood productions inspired by Western originals are popular. Last year Ghajini, an action thriller starring Aamir Khan, became the first Bollywood film to take more than a billion rupees (£12.5 million) at the domestic box office.
The tale of a man with anterograde amnesia, who tattoos himself to remember that he is searching for his wife’s killer, was clearly a remake of Memento, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay in 2002.
Other titles have been adapted heavily to suit Indian tastes. The remake of the violent and brooding film Fight Club included an uptempo dance routine. Industry insiders, however, dispute that India is suffering a talent crunch.
“We have a very strong creative culture, with a very solid set of literary works,” Taran Adarsh, a film critic, said. “But if you have a ready-made script waiting to be Indianised, why not use it?”
He added: “It’s going to be very tough to rob ideas from now on. Hollywood’s suddenly looking at Bollywood very minutely.”
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