Sidharth-Sonakshi in Ittefaq remake: Is remaking classics a good idea?

Old is gold? Well, present filmmakers sure seem to think so, with each one trying their luck at recreating the magic of Bollywood classics. The latest to join the bandwagon is Gauri Khan, who will produce the remake of Yash Chopra's 1969 hit Ittefaq. Sonakshi Sinha and Sidharth Malhotra have already been finalised for the lead roles, and the film is set to go on floors in February 2017.

ALSO READ: Ishaan Khattar and Jhanvi Kapoor finalised for Karan Johar's Sairat remake?

ALSO READ: Tamannaah will reprise Kangana Ranaut's role in Tamil remake of Queen

ALSO READ: Harish Shankar to direct the Telugu remake of Special 26

Ittefaq, interestingly, was itself the remake of a British film Signpost To Murder. Sidharth will step into superstar Rajesh Khanna's shoes, while Sonakshi Sinha will essay the role played by Nanda. Sonakshi had earlier revealed to DNA that the plot will be tweaked and it is just the basic premise that will be borrowed. "The film's story has been changed and modified. It's about three characters and each one has a back story and a reason to be the murderer. It needs to be seen who actually does it," she had said.

While it does sound intriguing, remakes often fall flat on their faces. In all honesty, it is difficult to imagine Sidharth in a role made famous by Rajesh Khanna, much as Naseeruddin Shah might beg to differ. Making remakes seems easy enough - all you need to do is use a tried-and-tested formula and cash in on the blockbuster status of the original. Right? Let's take a look at a few remakes in recent times.

Himesh Reshammiya's Karzzz might have added a few extra z's to Subhash Ghai's original, but it lacked the pizzazz of the Rishi Kapoor-starrer. Ironically, a few extra zzz's was all you could take away from the film.

Sajid Khan, best known for his mindnumbingly brainless 'entertainers', made an ambitious move when he announced his decision to remake the Jeetendra-Sridevi hit Himmatwala. What worked in the 80s, did not work decades later with a few vacuous gags sprinkled here and there. Critics who survived the film commented on the 'himmat' it takes to do so.

Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty's launch vehicle Hero, which was a remake of Subhash Ghai's 1983 film of the same name, was met with a similar fate at the box office. Hero was panned by critics, who felt that the stale plot and lazy filmmaking did not do much for the film.

Zanjeer (1973) introduced Amitabh Bachchan as the angry young man of Bollywood. The film turned Big B's fortunes, catapulting him to stardom, and immortalising dialogues like, "Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jaaye, sharafat se khade raho. Yeh police station hai, tumhare baap ka ghar nahi." The 2013 remake starring Ram Charan and Priyanka Chopra was nothing less than a catastrophe, with terrible performances that do not even come close to the original, a poor screenplay and a below-average soundtrack.

Perhaps, the most disastrous of the lot is the infamous Ram Gopal Varma's cringe-worthy remake of the 70s blockbuster Sholay. Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag was a parody at best; can you imagine Nisha Kothari (or is it Priyanka?) as the lovable Basanti? The doomed enterprise was not only a massive box office debacle but with a 1.9/10 IMDb rating, went down in history as one of the worst films ever made in the world.

Sure, the success of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don and Hrithik Roshan-starrer Agneepath inspire filmmakers who want to take the easy way out of the age-old problem of finding a good script. But as history would show, some things are best left untouched.