Going regional with remakes

MUMBAI: An emerging trend in pan-Indian filmmaking is regional superhits are seeing remakes in other regional languages. The reason is primarily OTT, which has opened up access of filmmakers as well as the audience to language cinema they could not freely sample before.

Films in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Marathi industries, especially, are increasingly drawing from each other.

Here is a list of regional films that will cross boundaries in the months to come:

Konttho
Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy's acclaimed Bangla film starring Paoli Dam and Bangladeshi star Jaya Ahsan in the leading roles, was a hit when it released in 2019. Now, the film is getting a Malayalam remake. The remake will star well-known Malayalam actors Manju Warrier and Jayasurya and will be titled Meri Awaz Suno. The Malayalam remake is written and directed by G. Prajesh Sen.

Drishyam 2
Director Jeethu Joseph will remake his new Malayalam hit Drishyam 2 in Telugu. This will make Jeethu's debut film in the Telugu film industry as a director. Telugu superstar Venkatesh will be seen in the lead role in the new version. The film is slated to go on the floors this month.

Lucifer
The Mohanlal-starrer Malayalam film Lucifer created waves upon release in 2019, and will be adapted into the Telugu language now. Superstar Chiranjeevi will essay the lead in the remake. The shooting of the remake is said to have started in Hyderabad and it is being directed by Mohan Raja.

Maara
The Tamil film, which released in January this year, is adapted from Malayalam film, Charlie. The Tamil version stars R. Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath. The film is directed by Dhilip Kumar.

Kabadadaari
The Tamil film is a remake of the Kannada film Kavaludaari, and it released in January this year. The Tamil remake is directed by Pradeep Krishnamoorthy and stars Sibi Sathyaraj and Nandita Swetha.