The Kannada film industry has had a very bad reputation of remaking films from other languages few years ago. This had led to a decrease in the quality of the films. Even top actors depended on remakes. The main reason for remaking films in Kannada was the easy availability of scripts and sure shot run at box office. However, things started to change when most of these remakes started to fail. A new wave started in Sandalwood with many new directors with creative approach entering the industry.
Even though we see remakes being made in Kannada today, the percentage has become very less. Even these remakes are getting rejected by the audience in Karnataka, as most people watch the original in theatres or on digital platforms. Even though, there has been a decrease in the remakes in Kannada, a new trend has caught other film industries, with the Kannada films being remade there.
This is a very good trend for the local industry. This takes us back to Golden Age of Kannada films in the 1970’s and 1980’s, where producers of other industries would wait to see Dr. Rajkumar’s films to acquire the remake rights. Thanks to the new-age filmmakers, we are seeing many Kannada films being remade in other languages.
Here is a list of Top 5 Kannada films which have been remade in other languages from the past 5 years:
- U Turn: U turn was a thriller, which was directed by Pawan Kumar. The film released with much expectations and received great appreciation. It starred Shraddha Srinath in the lead role. It also featured Roger Narayan, Dilip Raj and Radhika Chetan in prominent roles. The 2014 Kannada film was remade in Malayalam in 2017 as Careful. The film was also remade in Tamil and Telugu by Pawan Kumar in 2018.
- Kirik Party: The college campus based film which showed Rakshit Shetty in two avatars was a blockbuster. It broke many existing box office records in Sandalwood. The film brought in huge revenues for everyone involved. The film which was directed by Rishab Shetty had great performances by Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna and Samyuktha Hegde. It was remade in Telugu as Kirakk Party. It will be soon be made in Hindi with the current sensation Karthik Aryan playing the lead.
- Ulidavaru Kandanthe: The film dubbed a cult classic, did poor business at the box office. A year later, the film changed the dynamics of Sandalwood with other film industries turning here. It was remade in Tamil as Richie, which had Nivin Pauly playing Rakshit Shetty’s role.
- Rama Rama Re: The film released was with hardly any buzz in Kannada. However after a week, it started to pick up business and did well. It was an experimental film with philosophical thoughts which was liked by the Kannada audience. It ended up becoming one of the highly rated movies of Kannada industry. The film directed by D Satya Prakash was remade in Telugu as Aatagadaara Siva in 2018.
- Shivalinga: Shivarajkumar surprised all his fans when he acted in Shivalinga. The film which was of horror genre became a big hit in Kannada. The film which is about a spirit trying to find his murderer completed 100 days at the box office. It was directed by P Vasu, who again directed the Tamil version which starred Raghava Lawrence in the lead.
