Year 2023 saw remakes from Tamil and Malayalam. A remake each from Marathi and Bengali were also at the cinemas. The commercial underperformance of each of those films proves that the audience are least interested in remakes.
Bholaa Shankar:
The biggest disappointment has to be this Chiranjeevi film, a remake of the 2015 Tamil film 'Vedalam' (which itself was outdated for its times). Directed by Meher Ramesh, the action entertainer made the Megastar hit the reset button. A theory doing the rounds is that he would have gone on to do films with director Kalyan Krishna Kurasala of 'Bangarraju' fame and a few other conventional filmmakers known for old-fashioned cinema had 'Bholaa Shankar' become a hit.
Bro:
Pawan Kalyan was cast in the role of a God (with random cinema hero behaviour) who comes down to help out a too-busy-for-his-own-good youngster. Co-starring Sai Dharam Tej, the fantasy comedy was the remake of a low-effort Tamil movie named 'Vinodhaya Sitam' (2021). Despite Trivikram's writing and Thaman's music, 'Bro' was seen as a dull outing featuring a few unintentionally funny segments.
Ravanasura:
This one of the most expensive Ravi Teja-starrers is said to be an unofficial remake of 'Vinci Da' (Bengali). Logical loopholes, a half-baked story, and forced twists tested the audience's patience. Director Sudheer Varma of 'Swamy Ra Ra' fame received an all-time biggest setback.
Martin Luther King:
Among the small-scale remakes that was a failure was 'Martin Luther King'. This remake of the Tamil film 'Mandela' featured Sampoornesh Babu in the lead. VK Naresh and Venkatesh Maha played full-fledged roles. The film's theatrical release went unnoticed despite a series of pre-release paid premieres and the political theme that was accidentally timed for the election season. The most this film did was giving Venkatesh Maha an opportunity to remind the world through those promotional interviews why he is the most precious filmmaker ever born. He was the film's creative producer and screenplay writer.
Butta Bomma:
This romantic action thriller was the remake of 'Kappela' (Malayalam). Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas made this remake as an experiment to discover the appetite of the Telugu audience for remakes. Nobody noticed this film in the end and the film industry learned a lesson.
Ranga Marthanda:
This Krishna Vamsi directorial flopped theatrically but remains one of the most-loved films of the year. Starring Prakash Raj, Brahmanandam and Ramya Krishna, this remake of a Marathi movie named 'Natasamrat' was about a retired theatre artist who found innovative ways to ruin relations with his family members and his long-time friend. Because he was a self-important, combative family head who took himself too seriously. Sorry, but that's what the film is actually about. Go figure! In a way, 'Ranga Marthanda' deserved the theatrical failure.
Hunt:
Sudheer Babu acted in this remake of the Malayalam film 'Mumbai Police' at a time when footfalls for his films in theatres were on the downswing. This was an experiment that nobody wanted.
