Prabhu Devaa to direct Okkadu/Ghilli remake with Abhishek? (older story updated)
thanks to Ted for the latest update..
LINK
It is almost confirmed that Prabhu Deva will be doing his next Hindi film with AB Corp, the company of the Bachchans. The buzz is that it will be a remake of Vijay’s Ghilli, which itself was a remake of Mahesh Babu’s Okkadu from Telugu.
Prabhu Deva confirmed that he had met Abhishek Bachchan a few days back and narrated the story, which junior Bachchan loved.
He told sify.com: “I did meet Abhishek in Mumbai and narrated the story which he liked. My next film in Hindi will be with him some time in mid 2010, after I complete my Tamil film with Jayam Ravi.”
Right now, Prabhu Deva is in US looking for a heroine for the Tamil film. He will be starting his next untitled film in Paris, with most likely a new face as the heroine.
older story…
LINK
Several production houses want to make a film with Prabhu Devaa post Wanted, but it is AB Corp that has managed to sign the director. AB Corp has finalised the deal with him for a film with Abhishek Bachchan in the lead role. Boney Kapoor and Sajid Nadiadwala were also in the race to make a film with Prabhu Devaa, industry buzz reveals. But for the time being, it looks like AB Corp has won. Our source said, “Prabhu Devaa narrated the idea to Abhishek around 20 days ago and he loved it instantly and immediately agreed to do it. So now, Prabhu Devaa is busy working on the script. The film is a typical Prabhu Devaa film with an abundance of romance and heavy action. The film will go on the floors around June next year.” Abhishek Bachchan played safe, “We are talking about working together. Nothing is confirmed as of now.”
SATYAMSHOT 
November 23, 2009 at 6:16 PM
I am pleased that Abhishek has a good lineup coming up with a certain volume but this is becoming a bit much! LOL, you don’t want it to be Mithun’s volume either!
I have some reservations about this possibility though. I have always thought that Abhishek should do a proper masala outing. And yes only Southerners are capable of this anymore. BUT one should also choose the right director looking at Hindi multiplex sensibilities. A Wanted isn’t good enough. Obviously I don’t know what this potential project is or if it’s another remake but it has to be a more slick film than Wanted and I don’t know if Prabhu Devaa is the right guy for this. The better option would be to select a more high end Tamil director or something. There are some serious names there who would like to work with Abhishek.
And again Aamir understood this which why he selected the right subject but also the original director (not that Murugadoss could ever be confused with Goutam Menon!). The thing with the Wanted kind of deal is that it is (regrettably) too ‘downmarket’ for multiplexes and while a more multiplex friendly star than Salman could get a better initial it would be hard to make it a winner in these theaters. Unless of course one is doing this film only for the single/double screens. But there’s no need for this given that the right project and director could satisfy everyone!
Also think that if this project goes through they should select the right actress as well as the right soundtrack for it.
Finally I note that every other week practically there’s been a project or two announced or confirmed (or rumored) with Abhishek.
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November 23, 2009 at 6:25 PM
I am not too excited with news, but we can see some good dancing steps from Abhisek.
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November 23, 2009 at 6:30 PM
the one interesting thing here is the extent to which Abhishek has been getting more and more ‘connected’ to the South.
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November 23, 2009 at 6:30 PM
no, i badly want abhishek to do a masala film, he would so kickass(he has the attitude and physique) with the right director but prabhu deva is so not the director to direct this. Abhishek, at the end of a day is a director’s actor.
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November 23, 2009 at 6:38 PM
I am with sachita here — I badly want abhishek to do a masala movie, so I hope this is true…
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November 23, 2009 at 7:20 PM
I third sachita and Q – I think this is really welcome news. Wanted had faults aplenty (mostly revolving around its able but ultimately lackluster lead) but I was actually surprised by Prabhudeva’s technique which was not only unapologetic but also reasonably accomplished as far as this kind of thing goes. His film making is as kinetic and unpredictable as his physical prowess.
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November 23, 2009 at 9:13 PM
that’s true in many ways GF but I fear that he might not come across as refined enough for a multiplex audience. There are Southern directors who’ve done both. of course this older ‘kinetic’ appeal has its charms as you’ve often termed it. I just don’t want this rarest of opportunities to go wasted. I have such little faith in the Bombay audience!
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November 23, 2009 at 7:21 PM
Am siding with the inglorious here- cant wait for this to happen.
If done right can be kick-ass.
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November 23, 2009 at 7:38 PM
Awesome news….!
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November 23, 2009 at 7:48 PM
Not seen Wanted so can’t comment on Prabhudeva but Southies do seem to feel the pulse of the people w.r.t masala cinema. Hope this venture works out well…. in fact better than well…superwell!!
As a devoted Abhi fan, want to see him do more unrestrained performances, you know, not too many of the understated ones. Indian cinema audiences have always preferred slightly OTT performances.
As for the ‘southie’ connect, you know, even before his getting together with Aishwarya, I’ve always felt that there is something very ‘southie’ about him….. maybe the fact that he is extremely refined has something to do with it!!!
Also his English seems to have a lovely Banglorean lilt to it, a little like Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.
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November 23, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Now, this talk is making me uncomfortable!
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November 23, 2009 at 9:19 PM
LOL!!!
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November 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM
i dont know seems like a bad idea to me.
salman khan fans want to see him doing this type of stuff…i’m not entirely convinced if the fans of this type of movie would want to see abhishek bachchan doing this. i think akshay kumar would be good for something like this. sanjay dutt would have been great 10 yrs ago. i actually wouldn’t mind seeing hrithik roshan in something like this.
i agree w/ satyam that a refined/classy masala type of movie would be the way to go for abhishek…somewhere in the middle of the multiplex and single screens. i think abhishek would be good in a khakee type of movie…i think santoshi should do an action movie w/ abhishek.
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November 23, 2009 at 8:48 PM
On the contrary I feel Abhishek’s fans would loved to see him a masala action movie. It’s what most have wanted to see from him for quite a long tome now. I’d rather see Abhishek work with Gautom Menon in a action masala movie. However I’m not against seeing Abhishek in a masala action movie directed by Prabhu Devaa. If this movie is indeed being produced by AB Corp then that may aid the movie in having more slickness and class that works well with Prabhu’s directing abilities and sensibilities.
If this movie indeed comes about I think it will be beneficial for Abhishek. It indeed shows he is trying to be vastly versatile and keep his movies balanced out. If Paa’s schedule had not been moved up this year (due to Ravan’s delay) then Abhishek would have only had one release this year. So I also think his volume is in order since most of his movies won’t all release in the same year. Some will release next year. Some will shoot next year and release the following year and so on.. With or without this movie with Prabhu. Abhishek will be vastly busy the next 3 years with his projects in hand.
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November 23, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Also in reference to Abhishek’s line up of upcoming movies. It’s encouraging to see that he is remaining active with some promising projects. Abhishek can’t let too many more good movies and opportunities slip by like he has in the past. He has to continue to strike while he is still young, in demand, and while the iron is hot. So it’s good that he seems to be doing that by lining up some promising movies in the next few years. If this movie with Prabhu is on Abhishek’s upcoming movies list then I’m going to be optimistic about it.
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November 23, 2009 at 9:47 PM
i didn’t say abhishek’s fans, i said fans of these types of movies…most likely would rather watch salman, akshay, etc.
as far as i’m concerned this movie doesn’t really interest me. i haven’t seen wanted but from the previews, it didn’t seem like a very good movie.
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November 23, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Regardless I disagree. I think Abhishek’s fans and the audience in general would love to see Abhishek in a masala action movie. Abhishek was vastly commanding in Yuva. Abhishek has the talent, intensity, physicality to pull off a masala action movie or even a slick action movie. If the movie is well written and commercial in nature then he could do wonders in this kind of movie.
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November 23, 2009 at 9:55 PM
Wanted is the only masala movie that Prabhu has directed. In South, his first direction was a super hit, but classy love story. The second was a flop movie with classical dance background. He handles most sensitive movies.
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November 23, 2009 at 11:09 PM
lol. So many comments here and not one questions abhishekh capability to do this kind of role…. and GF wanted worked only because it had salman.
Abhishekh is not cut out for these roles and I would go as far he will be totally miserable and awkaward in these roles.
Now please dont jump on to me. I am talking on the basis of abhi’s filmography and his history.
We all pray should pray this does not happen as it will expose Abhi more that he is simply not fit for movies.
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November 23, 2009 at 11:56 PM
LMAO – if Salman can have a career in movies than Abhi is more fit for movies considering he actually knows how to ‘act’. Some BW fans are so delusional.
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November 24, 2009 at 12:27 AM
I find this news perplexing for several reasons. First, as Ted said, Wanted and its Tamil version Pokkiri, is the only action movie that Prabhu Deva has directed, and even then, it is a frame-by-frame copy of the Telugu Pokiri, directed by Puri Jagannath, who is an action director. Prabhu Deva’s other directorial ventures (which are not many) are in a completely different genre. So, how can anyone hire Prabhu for an action movie based on Wanted, when that had zero amount of his direction?
Second, unlike most of you, I do not think Abhishek would be good for action roles, and this is precisely because I have problems with his “physicality” as Satyam puts it. To put it in a nutshell, Abhishek slouches! This bad posture completely ruins whatever advantages he might have had with his height. He also strikes me as being slow on his feet. Yes, I’ve seen him in Dhoom 2 (the only “action” film of his I’ve seen) and that only confirmed these impressions. For fair disclosure purposes, I must state that I am not an Abhishek fan, though I have seen several of his films, trying to understand what others see in him. He left me completely unimpressed.
Now I also have to ask Satyam to define “down market” in the context of Wanted. So many of the terms you use, Satyam, seem to be defined or initiated because of the star involved, rather than any objective criterion, and that is why I keep asking for these definitions, so I can understand the basis for your statements.
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November 24, 2009 at 12:38 AM
SM: Ironically everyone who has problems with Abhishek’s physicality when it comes to masala has either not been watching Yuva carefully or else Dostana carefully (the point is that these films seem to unite generally the two skills necessary for masala — the somewhat over the top comic and the dramatic.. as for action check out Run but also the splendid scenes in Yuva, the one where he beats up Vivek in the hospital but also the climactic moment on the bridge where he seems like a force of nature.. these are two examples.. ) or has certainly forgotten has an older brand of masala where heroes did not need to be gym figures or the most athletically agile to convince as actions heroes. I say ironic because the present has made us forget this most obvious element of masala and I am particularly surprised that a viewer of Southern films should have forgotten this. D2 is not a good example because I don’t believe Abhishek had enough commitment to this film. A proper masala effort would I believe unleash him in many ways.
‘Down market’ meaning a certain set of commercial genres/codes that would not be acceptable to multiplex audiences that are the principal drives of gross when it comes to the Hindi market. I used the term purely descriptively without any judgment attached to them. I am usually railing against the multiplex audiences as you know. Salman’s base for a number of years now has really been concentrated lower down on the socio-economic spectrum which is why his films do not attract people to multiplexes anymore. Wanted appeals to that sort of base which is why it never really took off in the latter. If you had a more multiplex friendly star who could also be credible at this sort of thing and if a major actress were cast and if the soundtrack were improved quite a bit Wanted would do better than it did in these multiplexes. But it would never be a huge winner in them.
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November 24, 2009 at 12:46 AM
I’d also add this — inasmuch as many stars today, North and South, are not really equipped to be masala action stars as this ‘type’ was traditionally defined that they have to rely on increasing dozes of the ‘athletic’. In other words the physical agility has to paper over the innocuousness of many of these stars beating up ten people! If you did have an authentic star with the right physical presence doing this a gym hero wouldn’t be needed. Plus many of the stars today look quite boyish and hence this becomes even more of an issue. Not one of the great actions stars in either Bombay or Southern film history would pass the ‘physicality’ mark the way things are defined today. The older stars signified force far more than action stunts. Some of this is the continued Hollywoodization of Indian cinema. But it also indicates the absence of the genuine. Take Vikram. He’s very much in the old mold. Needs no ‘tricks’ in this sense. I would suggest that Salman’s appeal specially within the context of Wanted is also precisely that he is the un-Mahesh in this sense which is to say very old school in the context of physical agility.
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November 24, 2009 at 12:57 AM
Thanks for your prompt response, Satyam. OK, I understand your use of “down market”, but it seems to be a chicken and egg question of whether it is the star or the genre of film that fits this description, and one also reinforces the other.
On Abhishek, I did catch parts of Yuva. Unfotunately, I had just seen the Tamil version with Madhavan. 🙂
I’m not connoisseur of southern cinema, though obviously I’ve had more exposure to it than the average Hindi movie watcher. I am not asking for gym bodies, but as you said, physical force. Heck, even Amitabh in his younger days, though hardly a “gym body”, or even a “strong body” a la Dharmendra, for example, could still be convincing in those “bashing up ten guys” scenes. A good part of my objection to Abhishek’s physicality would go away if he would only stand up straight! His present slouch unfortunately communicates to me an indifference or lack of investment in the character or performance that is highly distracting.
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November 24, 2009 at 5:59 AM
I’ve observed the slouch in Drona. I’ve watched Amitabh’s Sharabi/ He was also had slouch, but definitely had more style which made him success. I hope with good director, Abhishek should able to overcome all these. The main thing is he should believe in looking good and stylish are vital for hero to succeed in these type of roles.
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November 24, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Abhishek’s physicality was all wrong in Drona.. some of it possibly came from the fact that he was supposed to be this ‘reluctant’ superhero in the film. Nonetheless it was completely off in the film. But Bachchan I have never ever seen slouch in the sense that is being referred to here.
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November 24, 2009 at 12:59 AM
Also, most of the southern films that I like are not the hard core action ones. 🙂
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November 24, 2009 at 3:51 PM
that would make you an unlikely commentator on action cinema! Specially given the predominance of action in both Tamil and Telugu over the last 30 years or so!
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November 24, 2009 at 1:05 AM
Prabhudeva is a bad director.I dont think this film will be a success.
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November 24, 2009 at 2:23 AM
I wish they made a Yuva II showing a jailbreak with Lallan and continuation of the story. That is his best performance to date. If he is given the right handling, which can accentuate a combination of his performances in Yuva, BnB and Dostana, he would be able to do whatever any other masala hero did. Unfortunately, he has been rarely given those parts, or rarely have directors been able to extract performances such as those out of him. Without adequate directorial guidance, he rarely acts/emotes perfectly, and his natural inbred acting talent stays hidden.
Wrt gym bodies, that is just what the audience wants to see. Us fogies will be the only audience that can makedo with a hero displaying a few tires. Without a greek-god physique, it becomes a bit difficult to sell an action movie to today’s young audiences. Aside, it does seem like Abhishek appeared lean-n-mean in those Ravan stills.
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November 24, 2009 at 7:35 AM
m with u nykavi superb idea 🙂
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November 24, 2009 at 8:19 AM
I would disagree with the last paragraph. I think that as long as an actor is willing to trade on his or her strengths there isn’t an issue. Did anyone every mind the fact that Rani Mukherjee did not have a Priyanka like body? I don’t think the audience expects the very same thing from every star. No one had a problem with Abhishek in Yuva. He was lean but not a gym body. But he was negotiating his physicality in effective ways in the film. No one had a problem in Dostana when he was next to John abraham in every scene, a guy who is one of the ultimate gym products! Inversely one could also suggest that gym bodies never really succeed for just that reason. SRK wasn’t a gym body throughout his career, he made it a huge selling point for OSO but he’s otherwise not associated with this structure. Nor Aamir for that matter. Salman always was and he never got to where these guys did. Among the top stars there’s only Hrithik who confirms that model. But there’s a bit of a paradox here too inasmuch as the ‘actor’ is often opposed to the ‘gym body’ even in the audience’s mind. In other words people ‘desire’ the former in many ways but also think of the same as less serious in other respects. The other problem is that to the extent everyone seems to indulge in the gym body these days there is a boring level of sameness all around which prevents a star from truly standing out. With hrithik there’s still an overall combination which includes his dancing skills for example.
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November 24, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Can you imagine Rani in Krish kind of roles? What about her earlier movies with Govinda? With good directors and Yash Chopra banner, she became famous. I am not dubting her acting. At the same time, we can not imagine Ash in Black type of role. In thess times, definitely people look for good looks and style from the lead pair. Though still story and screenplay are the top, these things take the actor to completely different level. Hrithik’s success is the example, he can take weak script and make it excel with style, dance and looks.
Even Amir has worked for Ghajini.
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November 24, 2009 at 2:02 PM
i am surprised by this comment, yuva isnt an abhishek film, it is a maniratnam film. there can never be a sequel. That story has already had an ending.
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November 24, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Thanks heaven !
Atleast my comment started a mini debate on abhi, otherwise this was getting too sugary.
Apart , I still feel abhi is a failure and remain so for sometime till he ages and starts doing character roles on the lines of nana patekar , manoj bajpai etc.
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November 24, 2009 at 9:43 AM
This quote from Abhishek in twitter is appropriate for this thread:
getting knocked down is a part of life. but remember, it’s not how high you rise or how low you fall. it’s how hard you fight back!!!!
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November 27, 2009 at 10:46 AM
I THINK THAT WAS ROCKY SAYS
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November 24, 2009 at 2:00 PM
i havent gone through the whole comment but the slouch was on my mind as well which is why i said we need a better director than prabhu deva here.
When I said attitude, imagine Mahesh babu sort of attitude abhi can easily pull that off – slouch can be worked around, dont knwo if it can be corrected.
Also, I do think abhishek when it acts well performs better than quite a few hindi film heroes, his acting is from jaya’s mould except he seems to be a director’s actor unlike jaya who would do well under any circum. in her heydays!
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November 25, 2009 at 7:31 AM
Okkadu (Ghilli) remake with Abhishek?
http://sify.com/movies/fullstory.php?id=14921052
Satyam, You’ve been hoping this to happen from your ealier posts. Okkadu was critically acclaimed, but not a big hit due to its high cost.
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November 25, 2009 at 8:07 AM
I don’t think Abhishek can pull off being a college student.
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November 28, 2009 at 6:58 AM
Excuse pe excuse…if Aamir can play a college student, then Abhishek can EASILY!
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November 28, 2009 at 7:27 AM
But did I ever say Aamir can pull off playing a college student? 😉
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November 25, 2009 at 9:04 AM
YES!!! I’ve been wanting this to happen for years!!! Just mentioned it the other day or Bachchan’s blog also! This truly makes my day!
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November 25, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Okkadu doen’t have much of college backdrop.
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November 25, 2009 at 8:12 AM
It doesn’t have to have a college backdrop. Mahesh Babu’s character was a college student, and he was playing in the intercollegiate kabadi tournament, which plays an important role all through the plot, and is crucial to the climax. Mahesh’s baby face made it believable there, but Abhishek has a more mature face. I won’t say anything about “physicality”, but as I typed the above, I just had a vision of Abhishek playing kabadi. 🙂
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November 25, 2009 at 8:38 AM
They can change it to Volleball to amke it more believable. That was released in 2003, not sure whether hindi audience like it
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November 25, 2009 at 8:46 AM
I was thinking what sport they could change it to, but couldn’t come up with anything useful. Volleyball won’t do, since each team stays on its own side of the court. The reason kabadi was crucial was that Mahesh had to go into the opposing team’s territory.
But I don’t think the film as a whole (if kept to the original) would fly at all in Hindi. It will be a real “down market” film, to use Satyam’s terminology. I don’t think any of the elements that gave me such a kick in the original — especially the characters of Prakash Raj and his mother — would be acceptable at all to the Hindi audience, except to the single screen ones. Now Satyam talks of actors being acceptable to the multiplex audience, but I think the same is true of the single screen audience. They won’t accept just any old actor as a “hero”, especially in this kind of a movie.
Of course it could be reworked completely to suit the Hindi audience’s tastes, but, aside from diluting the charm of the original considerably, I don’t know if Prabhu Deva is capable of such invention. The changes made to Wanted from Pokiri were pretty lame, while they left a lot of other things alone that should have been localized to Mumbai.
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November 25, 2009 at 9:07 AM
not volleyball, basket ball I meant
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November 25, 2009 at 9:15 AM
SM: I’ve written extensively on this in the past but to summarize I think first of all the kabbadi climax had to be changed. They should do it some other way. The film itself I actually do not see as downmarket. There is a big difference between Pokkiri and Okkadu. For years I have argued that if Abhishek had to do a Mahesh Babu remake (there was talk of his doing Pokkiri at one point) it had to be Okkadu or perhaps Athadu. Okkadu I have always believed could be imported wholesale with barely any change. In fact santoshi was once planning this film with both Bachchans prior to BnB’s release. Then it got shelved. Just the other day I wrote on Bachchan’s blog that Shaad Ali would today be a better director for it than Santoshi. If anything the Prabbu Deva of Wanted will actually have to become a bit more refined for this film. Incidentally the Tamil remake was itself excellent except for two factors. the soul of Hyderabad’s old city couldn’t quite be replicated and Mahesh Babu of course. But I have no taste for Vijay anyway.
If this news is true I am thrilled!
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November 25, 2009 at 9:16 AM
by the way, Abhishek because of his genealogy would never have a single screen issue in the right film..
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November 25, 2009 at 9:24 AM
You keep saying this, Satyam, but I don’t see it at all. Abhishek hasn’t done any films like his dad’s “angry young man” films. Though I haven’t seen many of his films, I am aware of most of them, and I can only think of Bunty aur Babli as one where he doesn’t play an urban type. All the others have much more of a multiplex orientation to my mind. Even the Sarkar films are not “gangster” type of films. Now his character in Yuva might be “non-multiplexy”, but the film itself is hardly a single screen type. So I don’t know why you think he won’t have any problems on this issue.
But anyway, all this is hypothetical, because I do think they will have to change the original extensively to appeal to the Hindi multiplex audience. No matter how easily you think he can attract the single screen audience, do you really think he can make a success of a film relying only on the single screens?
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November 25, 2009 at 9:36 AM
actually Guru did rather well in small centers, proportionately better in these in some ways! Run also didn’t do too badly in some downmarket centers. In those days when every Boney Kapoor remake would more or less flop he pointed this out as one film where he hadn’t really lost money. It is indeed true that Abhishek also errs on the multiplex side because most of the prestige films again are not universal films. But the audience has responded when he’s attempted it.
The other thing here is that one should not ‘essentialize’ the single screen audiences. Like any other there are certain themes and narratives that speak to them much as there are other kinds that speak to multiplex audiences. In either case authenticity is important. Farhan Akhtar is authentic for a certain sort of film, Salman is authentic for another sort. Once you get the right subject for the right audience the actor then starts mattering. The smaller centers showed up for Shahrukh for almost the very first time when he did MHN. Later on they didn’t see this film as very authentic masala and support dwindled down. So it’s not as if those audiences will simply not enter a theater unless a star passes an authenticity test! But this in any case isn’t a problem for Abhishek based as I said on his genealogy but also many of the roles he has himself attempted (remember even flop films via TV are seen) where he has been the small town boy or not an upmarket character necessarily. Most importantly he has been politically ambiguous with many of his roles which is to say not really been on the multiplex side (which is part of the tension for him with these audiences). Again a small town audience is not looking for anger and action all the time.
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November 25, 2009 at 9:38 AM
which is by the way not to say that he has any single screen following as such but as with any other audience this has to be earned. All I’m pointing out is that in the right film those audiences wouldn’t have any sort of block with respect to him.
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November 25, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Well, let us wait and see. I still have my objection about the college student bit, unless expect that to be changed, too.
But do you really think Okkadu can be remade intact into Hindi? I don’t think the multiplex audience will get on board with the heroine as “damsel in distress”, or being pursued so relentlessly by the Prakash Raj character. And both his and his mother’s characters I feel won’t be accepted, either. There may be political goons in M’rashtra, but they are a little more “upmarket” than the CM shown here.
I really love the character of the mother, since it was a first for me, though it might be a staple of Telugu films and especially TV. I really wish they would get Shabana Azmi for that part! However, again, I don’t see the multiplex audience being able to relate to that character.
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November 25, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Well even with the most precise remake there has to be some effort made at translation. I think actually that Wanted too could have been better on this score.
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November 25, 2009 at 6:04 PM
I was already fine and had decided to be optimistic with Abhishek taking up an action masala movie with Prabhu or another top South Indian director. The rumour that this movie could indeed be a Okkadu/Ghilli remake has made me even more optimistic about this possible venture. This movie has vast potential for Abhishek if it’s done bang on with a proper treatment. Let’s see how this shapes up. I indeed hope this movie properly comes to fruition.
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November 25, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Did Prabhu Deva direct Ghilli? And was it an exact copy of Okkadu, the way the Pokiri remake was?
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November 25, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Ghilli was made by Dharani (the guy who made Vikram’s dhill and Dhool). It was very close to the original. The Pokkiri remake was slightly different at points from the original and Prabhu Deva relied on this one more for Wanted. Ghilli in some ways was slightly more slick than the original film. But again the old city of Hyderabad had no substitute here. If there is to be a Hindi remake I would ideally set it in Lucknow. Or perhaps another Northern/Central Indian site with an ‘old’ element to it in terms of the architecture and so forth. Hyderabad of course cannot be reused. Also because I think that so many other Indian cities are left unexplored that these could seem very fresh on screen. But Prabhu Deva if he follows the Tamil model again could well just shoot in Bombay. The only way I’d be ‘for’ this sort of decision is if he makes the city a kind of museum or ‘memory palace’ for 70s masala or Bachchan masala! Which is to say a literal re-treading on that earlier terrain. There could be interesting possibilities.
Of course that it is Okkadu is not yet confirmed though Prabhu Deva going to another Mahesh babu film after Wanted wouldn’t exactly be surprising. Earlier they wasted the Athadu remake with the awful Ek! Not that Athadu is a great film but it had a nice action/family mix to keep everyone happy.
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November 25, 2009 at 1:46 PM
“actors being acceptable to the multiplex audience, but I think the same is true of the single screen audience. They won’t accept just any old actor as a “hero”, especially in this kind of a movie.”
this is the point i was trying to make earlier. salman khan already has a following in these markets…abhishek does not, which doesn’t mean that the audience will not come. one this is where they’ll ignore some negatives in a wanted b/c they’re salman fans…they won’t ignore it w/ some1 else. plus they’re used to salman and his mannerisms, i’m nto sure if the same can be said about abhishek. w/ these types of movies, u don’t necessarily need to get into the skin of the character or underplay it.
i disagree w/ some1 who said that abhishek can’t pull off playing kabbadi…i think in that one scene in yuva, he did looked pretty good, but that was ratnam this is prabhu deva.
as much as we may hope that they explore an unused or rarely used town/city for this movie…i’m pretty sure it’ll be set in mumbai.
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November 25, 2009 at 3:45 PM
You’re probably right on the Bombay bit..
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November 25, 2009 at 7:09 PM
GREAT NEWS!
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November 27, 2009 at 10:13 AM
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November 27, 2009 at 10:16 AM
The media has been spinning this by talking about a Bollywood race for Prabhu Devaa and AB Corp ending up the winners by somehow outbidding everyone else. This is nonsense. For one it’s not as if every Bollywood banner or actor now wants to do masala. Yes Wanted did become a big ‘story’ and certainly Boney Kapoor and some others were interested in working with him. But Prabhu Devaa was himself most interested in working with Abhishek. He’s the one who approached Abhishek not the other way around. Some of the stories do mention this ‘in passing’!
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November 27, 2009 at 10:27 AM
What is really heartening about this news is that, theoretically, there can be no better a “director of physicality” than Prabhudeva. In Salman he had a pretty stiff (physically) leading man but I think he’ll mold Abhishek very well. I have high hopes for the masala here.
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November 27, 2009 at 10:34 AM
I see where you’re coming from GF except that this hasn’t prevented many other masala directors from being as effective or more effective in this genre. What is true however is that Prabhu Deva brings a complete package. Prabhu Deva is a certainly a smart guy who knows what he’s doing. But he’s certainly part of a Southern tradition where the attention to the hero’s physicality is as important for the overall text of a film as the script and other elements. Oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly) this project has me suddenly more excited than most others Abhishek’s doing, even ones that seem to promise more. Having said that there is a downside for those of us who first see the Telugu originals and then the Tamil remakes as well. By the time one gets to the Hindi one is a little bored! LOL! For the Abhishek ‘text’ I am obviously interested as to what ‘effects’ might be produced here. If it’s Okkadu we might be looking at a proper blockbuster. But sometimes I wish it would be a film that I were less familiar with!
Incidentally if Prabhu Deva keeps this up and keeps delivering successes with different stars in Hindi he might turn to out to be hugely influential in re-introducing masala to Bollywood. Wanted might well prove to be the more critical film in this context than Ghajini. The danger that Aamir runs is often this — his reputation is so extraordinary that when he gets a Ghajini people thing only he could have pulled it off!
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November 27, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Prabhu Deva’s also gotten better as an actor over the years. He’s become a welcome presence and he’s actually got the lead role in Thangar Bachchan’s next film, Kalavadiya Pozhudugal.
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May 14, 2010 at 8:37 AM
never knew about this!
http://movies.indiatimes.com/News-Gossip/News/Prabhu-Deva-Nayantara-spotted-together/articleshow/5929921.cms
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May 14, 2010 at 8:42 AM
Nayantara is very attractive, a combo of “girl next door” and “sexpot”…
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May 14, 2010 at 8:42 AM
If you are refrerring about prabhudev-nayantara, they have been together for a while.
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