16 Hit Bollywood Movies That Were Basically Ripped Off From South Indian Movies

We have seen Bollywood movies that have been “inspired” by Hollywood movies.

Then there is a whole new section where Bollywood has taken movies from South India. And this comes off as a surprise because many of the Bollywood fans poke fun at the South Indian films, calling them too silly.

But surprise surprise, Bollywood loves to get “inspired” from wherever it can. And in the case of the following movies – the South Indian movies made them money!

1. Ghajini was inspired by the Tamil film of the same name

Apparently, this was not even a clean remake. Because the original Tamil movie’s producers filed a complaint against the director – A. R. Murugadoss. And nobody knows what the outrage was about, since the original was not original at all – it is taken directly from Memento.

But it did become the first Hindi movie to cross 100 crore mark. So, hurray!

 

2. Singham was inspired by a Tamil movie named Singam

Apparently, the South Indian movie was so good that it was remade in Kannada and Bengali, in addition to Bollywood as well.

 

3. Tere Naam was inspired by a National Award winning movie Sethu

The original won several awards in the south and also at the National film awards, while the Salman Khan-starrer became famous for the signature hairstyle.

 

4. Wanted was inspired by the superhit Tamil movie Pokkiri which was in turn, a remake of the Telugu film Pokiri

Essentially a remake of a remake, Wanted made a lot of money surfing on the Salman Khan hype train.

 

5. Surprisingly, Hera Pheri is a remake of the Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking

The Malayalam film was in turn inspired by the TV movie See The Man Run.

But that did not stop Hera Pheri from becoming the biggest hits of Bollywood and a cult classic.

 

6. Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein was inspired by a Tamil movie named Minnale

Coincidentally, R Madhavan played the lead hero role in both the movies.

 

7. The SAB TV staple hit Sooryavanshyam is actually a rip-off of a hit Tamil movie Suryavamsam

The Tamil movie was one of the biggest hits of 1997 and that is why it was adapted in Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada film industries.

 

8. Drishyam is a remake of the blockbuster Malayalam movie of the same name.

The Malayalam movie went on to become the highest grossing Malayalam movie of all time. It also had Mohanlal in the lead. The remake was applauded too, but many felt that Ajay Devgan could not match Mohanlal in the intensity.

 

9. Ek Duje Ke Liye was the remake of the Telugu movie Maro Charitra

This is one of the few movies that became a blockbuster and still received widespread acclaim in the form of a National Award.

It remains one of the few movies that did well in both the languages.

 

10. Bhool Bhulaiya was inspired by the super hit Malayalam movie Manichitrathazhu

Again, another Mohanlal starter that was already remade in many other languages was finally made into Bhool Bhulaiya and became a superhit here too. It catapulted Vidya Balan into serious stardom.

 

11. Sadma was remade into a Hindi classic by the same director who made Moondram Pirai

The director – Balu Mahendra made the original with Kamal Hassan and Sridevi, and the remake was with the same cast – only in Hindi. Both the movies unforgettable.

 

12. Nayak was a remake of a Tamil hit Mudhalvan directed by Shankar

Shankar replicated his success and remade Nayak into a cult classic in Bollywood. It was so famous that it sparked a remake in Bangladesh named Minister.

 

13. Yuva was shot simultaneously in Tamil by Mani Ratnam

Mani Ratnam wrote the movie in two languages and shot them in two languages. It garnered critical acclaim but failed to do well in box office collections.

 

14. Rowdy Rathore was inspired by the Telugu superhit Vikramakudu

Rowdy Rathore went on to become one of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies of all time.

15. Saathiya is a remake of Tamil movie Alaipayuthey

Both the movies had signature songs composed by A R Rahman and both movies turned out to be superhits in the respective regions.

 

16. Virasat is a textbook remake of the Tamil movie Thevar Magan

Kamal Haasan starred in the original which was critically acclaimed. Priyadarshan adapted it for the Hindi audience in 1997.

It becomes very easy to shoot a movie whose script has been tried, tested and has worked. The adaptation does not take a lot of effort, and only minor changes in the script have to be made during the translation.

No wonder these movies have become big hits too!