List Of Bollywood Movies Copied From Hollywood

It is not just a coincidence that whenever I watch a Hollywood/Western movie I realize that I’ve seen something similar in some Bollywood movies in the past. And add to that, surprisingly, most of the Bollywood Movies are even scene by scene copy of Hollywood movies.

If you are not into Hollywood movies then you can be forgiven thinking that most of the Bollywood movies are pure desi.

But I give full credits to Bollywood directors/story writers/producers/scriptwriters who are so much expert in copying/lifting Hollywood movies that they give no chance to billions of ignorant Indians to think that their masterpieces are nothing but pure plagiarism.

Bollywood Movie
Bollywood Movie

No one can beat Chinese when it comes to copying products (think iPhone) and no one can beat Indians when it comes to copying movies. Unfortunately two of the world’s greatest civilizations have become synonym with copying. While Chinese copying is world wide known phenomenon, Indian copying are not so well known as no one else understands Bollywood movies except Indians.

Hollywood to Bollywood plagiarism is so much prevalent that I don’t hesitate to say that about 99% of Bollywood movies are copied from Hollywood. Even if they are not copied then at least they are based on similar storyline.

All these clever Bollywood directors with the help of scriptwriters do is to add Indian flavour to the movies by adding out of world and nonsense Dance scenes, some rubbish comedy scenes and stretch movies to 3 torturous hours.

There are very few Bollywood movies which can be considered to be authentic and 100% desi.

Here is the list of Bollywood movies which are either copied from Hollywood or based on Hollywood movies.

1) Sholay

Copied from Hollywood movie “The Magnificent Seven”

Bollywood Movie Sholay is Copy of Hollywood Movie The Magnificent Seven
Bollywood Movie Sholay is based on Hollywood Movie The Magnificent Seven

Buy Sholay DVD

Director by Ramesh Sippy and released on 15th August 1975, Sholay is THE most popular Bollywood movie and perhaps will remain the most popular Bollywood movie in the centuries to come.

Sholay’s storyline is completely rubbish and based on the typical dacoits and the saviors (aka Heros in Bollywood) which was a typical storyline for most of the movies made in those era.

What made Sholay most popular was it’s dialogues which remain deeply embedded in every Indian’s mind.

Sholay’s fame can only be realized by this fact than whenever we Indians discuss about Sholay we just don’t ask “Have you watched Sholay?” but we ask “How many times have you watched Sholay?” To be honest I can’t remember how many times I have watched Sholay but I’m sure I’ve watched it at least once in it’s full length and may be few more times in chunks as I can’t bear it for 3 hours which is too boring.

Not to mention that Sholay is the movie which made Amitabh Bachchan a legend.

What is copied?

The storyline is coped, some of the scenes are copied, even some of the shooting scenes are also copied. However instead of 7 there are only 2 main characters in Sholay who take on the gang of Dacoits.

There is a “Basanti” in The Magnificent Seven as well though not as Basanti as our Basanti in Sholay but she is there.

Hats off to Ramesh Shippy for plagiarism and giving us a legendary movie in turn.

2) Peepli Live

Copied from Hollywood Comedy Movie “Invitation To A Suicide”

Peepli Live
Peepli Live

Buy Peepli Live DVD
Guess what!! No one will ever point a finger on Anusha Rizvi for plagiarism for Peepli Live. Peepli Live seems to be so deeply rooted Indian comedy turned drama. Everything in it is Indian, The cause for the suicide, the Indian Politics, News “Whores” –  Indian Media etc.

After watching Peepli Live last month I was convinced that at least I watched a Bollywood movie which seems to be so Indian and contemporary till I stumble upon Invitation To A Suicide. To my dismay Peepli Live turned out to be a villain in copying Invitation To A Suicide.

Peepli Live is a light tragic Comedy, it may not make you laugh full belly but it is worth watching. The portray of Politicians and Whorish Indian Media in the movie is brilliant.

What is Copied?

The storyline is copied and well adapted to Indian audiences by adding the ingredients of Politics, Media and some contemporary issues.  Peepli Live is rather based on Invitation To A Suicide rather than copied.

Amir Khan you are busted!!!

I’m, perhaps, the first person to report/accuse Peepli Live being copied from Hollywood.

3) Satte Pe Satta

Copy of Hollywood Musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”

Satte Pe Satta
Satte Pe Satta

Sometimes back I watched “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” movie on Channel 4 and it didn’t take me even 1 sec to realize that I’m rather watching “Satte Pe Satta”.

Satte Pe Satta, if I’m not wrong, was not a hit movie. Even Presence of Amitabh Bachchan and dream girl Hema Malini couldn’t save it from being flop. Blame it to the plagiarism.

I can say that Satte Pe Satta is 99.99% copy  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Even the scenes and sequences are copied without slight modification.

The plot is similar in both movies, 7 loose brothers living in a farm in uncivilized manner and then out of no where comes a lady who turns them into civilized bunch. Not only that but she also gets them 7 brides.

Buy Satte Pe Satta DVD

“Satte Pe Satta” is a term taken from Indian Card game which literally means Seven on Seven and doesn’t quite fit as a movie name. I always used to think that this movie is about gambling before I saw it long time back on cable.

4) Don (1978) starring Amitabh Bachchan

I’m yet to identify the Hollwyood Movie from which it is copied.

Amitabh Bachchan Singing Khaike Paan Banaras Wala in Bollywood Movie Don
Amitabh Bachchan Singing Khaike Paan Banaras Wala in Bollywood Movie Don

I’m more than 100% sure that Don movie is also copied from some Hollywood movie, I’m yet to identify the source.

Don movie is nostalgic for me as there is a very interesting story how I manage to watch this movie first time. Don movie is famous for the song “Khaike Paan Banaras Wala…” and I happen to be a Banarasi so it was my strong desire to watch this movie at any cost. I’ve heard this song over and over again on “Vivid Bharati” and on my Phillips Radio. There was no TV in my town those days, Cable was a distant dream, Satellite was a fiction and Internet was beyond the comprehension of human brain.

Buy Don DVD
I was a teenager, I don’t remember exact year but it must have not been over a decade after I came into existence . On the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami I heard Don is being screened somewhere out of town on big canvas screen on the road side.

It used to be very common in those days that on any festival they screened Bollywood hits on big canvas on open roads or fields. Most often it used to be main road where they used to erect a giant white screen and projected the movies from one side. The beauty of this open air theater was that you could watch movies from the both sides of screen and thus able to accommodate a large audience.

So hearing that I’ve a chance to watch my favorite song, not the movie though, I hatched a plan to escape in the night to watch it.

On the night of screening I, along with my few relatives and friends, escaped the town and headed for the road on the outskirt of the town where Don was being screened. It was quite a long walk or rather run, we almost ran in the excitement, may be 2-3 miles or so. When I arrived at the open air theater, movie has already started but song was not yet played. I managed to grab few bricks, stacked them together on the road and made a comfortable seat and enjoyed watching the movie for rest of night while soaring my arse on Bricks.

Back home my parents have almost started a town wide hunt for me :) as I disappeared without informing them.

That is how I watched Amithab Bachchan’s Don movie and the Song “Khaike Paan Banaras Wala..”. That was quite an unforgettable experience ;)

5) Action Replayy (2010) copied from Back To Future

Action Replayy 2010
Action Replayy 2010

Last week I saw Action Replayy on TV which turned out to be a pathetic and utterly disappointing plagiarism of Back To Future movie.

Fed up with parents, the son decides to go back in the past and fix his parent’s marriage life. Exactly same story line as Back to Future.

I liked the few songs in Action Replayy but I had to watch this movie in 3 days as I can’t watch such boring long movies for 3 hours in one stretch and before this movie finished I had to give up watching.

Buy Action Replayy DVD
Instead of the time travel machine the professor in Action Replayy built a toy which looked like made from bamboo and the attempt was worse than a failed high school physics project.

List Of Bollywood Movies Copied From Hollywood

# Copied Bollywood Movie (Release Year) Hollywood Movie from which Bollywood Movie is copied (Release Year)
1 Sholay (1975) The Magnificent Seven (1960)
2 Peepli Live (2010) Invitation To A Suicide (2005)
3 Satte Pe Satta (1982) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
4 Heyy Babyy (2007)

They say it’s remake, I say it’s fucking ripoff.

Three Men and a Baby (1987)

This movie was itself based on 1985 French movie Three Men and a Cradle.

 


Comments

111 responses to “List Of Bollywood Movies Copied From Hollywood”

  1. i knew many Bollywood movies were copied from Hollywood but i didn’t know all these movies mentioned above were also copied.we lack original scripts and story so badly.

    1. First watch Bollywood movies – all of them ;) and remember the stories.

      Then watch Hollywood movies. If any movies is copied then you will figure it our instantly.

      The reason why I said to watch Bollywood movies first is that they make long lasting impression. Once you have watched Bollywood movies you will remember them for long time. If you watch Hollywood movie you might not remember it for long time and might not associate it with Bollywood movies.

      I haven’t watched all of the Bollywood movies as I have no patience to sit and soar arse for over 3 hours for similar stories over and over again.

      However whichever Bollywood movies I’ve watched I remember them by heart and If I’m watching any Hollywood movie and if it happens to be the root of any Bollywood movie then I’ll know instantly.

      In case of “Satte Pe Satta” I just happen to switch on TV and saw “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” movie and within seconds I figured it out to be the source for Satte Pe Satta.

      Same goes for Peepli Live.

      Sholay is all well known to be copied from “The Magnificent Seven”.

      Bollywood directors and producers are not good in disguising the plagiarism.

      1. mujh se shadi karogi climax is copied from hollywood’s “anger management

      2. rohit negi Avatar
        rohit negi

        PYAR TO HONA HI THA starring Ajay Devgan and Kajol is copied from hollywood movie FRENCH KISS..Whole film is copied scene by scene

      3. Hyderabad Avatar

        Magnificent Seven is itself a story copied from the Japanese movie “Seven Samurai”.

        Here is a small list of Hollywood remakes:
        HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REMAKE OF
        The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo:The Girl with the Dragon TatooSweden
        The Departed – 2006:Infernal Affairs -2002- Japan
        The Magnificent Seven – 1960:Seven Samurai -1956- Japan
        The Ring – 2002:Ringu -1998- Japan
        Dark Water – 2005:Dark Water -2002- Japan
        Bankok Dangerous – 2008:Bangkok Dangerous-1999- Japan
        A Fistful of Dollars – 1967:Yojimbo -1961- Japan
        Mirrors – 2008:Into the Mirror -2003- Japan
        The Grudge – 2004:Ju-On -2000- Japan
        The Lake House – 2006:II Mare -2000- Japan
        Eight Below: – 2006:Antartica -1983 – Japan

        I think it is okay as long as there is an acknowledgement of the original.

        1. John Fitzgerald Avatar
          John Fitzgerald

          Why are you so ridiculous, the Japanese movies that were remade was due to the language. The Makret is in the US so they were converted to English unlike the Indian movies which were copied since the people who made them can’t do better.

          1. Mark Allen Peterson Avatar
            Mark Allen Peterson

            Why are YOU so ridiculous? Japanese films were remade not only for language–they were completely reset to fit US culture. Cowboys for Samurai, etc.

            Same thing for India. The market for Hindi (and Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, etc) language films is huge, for English very small. And they are remade to fit India’s culture and aesthetic, which is quite different.

            1. Mates!
              If we follow your logic then people will also start doing the same with the books. And you know better if you do such things with books you get whacked.

              What about Chinese copying iPhones and “adapting” to suit their own culture. How does it sound? Can you justify this?

              Plagiarism can’t be justified in any ways.

              These guys in Bollywood are genius, there is no doubt about that. The only problem is they take easy route and steal someone else’s idea.

              We have such rich culture and tradition that even if we make thousands of movies each year we will still not run out of new ideas. Just look around when you are in India and you will find that each person is a walking Bollywood story.

              My own story can make at least 4-5 different Bollywood movies.

              The original Bollywood movies (not copied, not based on foreign movies) are masterpiece provided if there are any ;) LOL!

              To conclude, those who are justifying Bollywood plagiarism of Hollywood should be whacked.

              “Keench ke do kanpati pe unake fir pata chalega ki kya hoti hai Plagiarism.”

              1. Mark Allen Peterson Avatar
                Mark Allen Peterson

                Ajay, I wish you could take my seminar on international intellectual property laws.

                First, direct replication of technology is theft, under current law. However, if they take the IDEA of the cell phone and adapt it in a way that changes the underlying technology, it is not theft, it is innovation. Technology advances incrementally as innovators and engineers see what others have done and try to figure out how to do it a little differently, a little better. Truly original ideas almost never occur. They are dependent on prior ideas and intellectual property laws–while severely flawed in ways that tremendously benefit Western nations over those of the global south–recognize this.

                Secondly, the rules governing artistic work are very different from those governing technology, for good reason (see below).

                Third, follow your logic and we throw out most of the world’s great literature. We have to get rid of 1001 Nights because most of the stories are reimaginings of stories from earlier Persian sources, the Panchatantra and 7 or 8 others. We throw out that filthy plagiarist Shakespeare for stealing Hamlet from Saxo Grammaticus and pretty much every other play he wrote from some source or another (and we dump movies like 10 Things I Hate About You and The Lion King for ripping off Shakespeare). And we throw out Valmiki’s brilliant Ramayana because it steals from a dozen earlier, more crudely written version of the story. And…so on pretty much forever. Even fairy tales are all variations of earlier stories–Cinderella is such a rip-off of that ancient Egyptian story about the Pharoah who found his queen by finding the foot that fit her slipper.

                Finally, a movie like Sholay in NOT plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism in the classic sense involves copying ideas or words “without invention or innovation” and passing it off as one’s own work. The relationship between The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven and Sholay is actually a beautiful example of creative reimagining across cultural and linguistic boundaries for very different audiences. Without The Seven Samurai, there would be no Magnificent Seven, and without TMS there would be no Sholay, yet all three are very different films with different dialogue, characters, subplots, music and cinematography. And all three are brilliant films. What’s more, Seven Samurai borrows ideas from some earlier Japanese films, The Magnificent Seven incorporates ideas already done in prior US Westerns, and Sholay incorporates ideas from many other films, some Indian, some Italian, some from the US. Yet to say that Sholay, the top-grossing Indian film of all time (adjusting for inflation) is not an expression of India’s rich cultural tradition is to not understand how culture works.

                (I’d love to do a course just on re-imaginings of the Seven Samurai. We’d look at Magificent Seven, Sholay, the Kazakhistani film The Wild East, and the Italian film I sette magnifici gladiatori (1983). maybe we’d also discuss crap like A Bug’s Life and Battle Beyond the Stars. And I’m sure there are others from other countries if I went looking for them).

                1. Looks like you have done good home work.

                  I had attended many seminars on IP and I’m not new to it.

                  Leave IP asides, for a moment think that you are not aware of IP stiff.

                  Let’s assume that you haven’t seen 3-men-a-baby kind of movies and you just finished watching “Heyy Babyy”. In fact I couldn’t finish it, it was damn boring stuff.

                  And then next day you saw “Three Men and a Baby” title showing on tv.

                  What would be your first reaction?

                  WTF! Bollywood copied this movie, you would jump to instant conclusion without seeing the full movie.

                  You don’t need to watch any of the movies in the bay-3-men series. You know in the first instance itself that is is all copied (or inspired) by some other film.

                  Here is what Wiki says for this Bollywood version of 3-men-a-baby kindda movie:

                  “It is a remake of the 1990 malayalam film Thoovalsparsham which itself is inspired from 1987 Hollywood hit film Three Men and a Baby, which is a remake of the 1985 French film Trois hommes et un couffin.”

                  No one knows the source of so called inspiration for Bollywood story writers (aka copiers). They are very inventive in copying-adopting type of work.

                  No wonder why one of the world’s oldest surviving civilization has become a call center slave zombie colony.

                  I’m not arguing about the legality of the story copying work.

                  What I’m saying to these Bollyood people is to use their own f***ing brain and create something which is bloody original.

                  How long then can keep boring us with inspired/stolen/based-on rubbish stories?

                  An Intelligent person will never watch such crap movies. Such kind of movies are superhit only with the Rikshawala crowd and that’s what Bollywood targets mainly.

                  Now a days there is trend of remakes. Rowdy Rathore is the next big thing going to happen this year.

                  This movie is remake (official) of other South Indian languages. The story itself is a piece of complete shit. Dialogues are crap, even Rikshawalas will get bored. Same old storyline. WTF!

                  And this movie is already a superhit even before it goes to editing.

                  I like Ram Gopal Varma’s movies, at least they are more or less original if not copied.

                  Dude don’t get lost in copyright and legal stuff. Who gives a damn now a days to such things.

                  Think of doing something original which inspires your own soul and billions of others in that god-damned country or else you will also end up in a call center coolie – this is not for you personally but for the Bollywood folks.

                  Chill out!

                  1. nishant verma Avatar
                    nishant verma

                    also to mention that we currently have many wonderful directors in bollywood………anurag kashyap, dibakar banerjee, imtiaz ali,
                    tigmanshu dhulia,habib faisal,
                    abhishek sharmapl, rajesh mapuskar……please have a little hope in bollywood

              2. Ajay, u r seemed to be a patriotic Indian who loves to defends his country and people of his own country. Movies are made for entertainment and million of people in India love India movies. Producers are not bothered about the plagiarism. Good that you brought this point to the dumb and ignorant people like me who are not aware that the rubbish we see on the silver screen is plagiarism.

                Hats off to you.

                vsm_oberoi@yahoo.co.in

              3. nishant verma Avatar
                nishant verma

                The original Bollywood movies (not copied, not based on foreign movies) are masterpiece provided if there are any ;) LOL!……………………..dear ajay kumar singh..i have not met such a proud , intelligent person in my life…we have made such original wonderful films in the past and many which are original..and tons of those movies…pyaasa, dp bigha zameen, what about andaz apna apna !!!!

                1. Dude! There is no such thing as originality in Bollywood. Read stuff before you write.

                  Where did Dadasheb Falke get his ideas from?

                  No clue?

                  Do a wiki –
                  “Following a dispute with his partners about the running of the press, he gave up printing and turned his attention to moving pictures, after watching a silent film, The Life of Christ and envisioning Indian gods on the screen. Phalke made his first film Raja-Harishchandra effectively marking the beginning of the Indian film industry. ”

                  What did you read?

                  Falke replaced Christ with Raja Harishchandra and bingo! He got his first Bollywood movie which was copied.

                  He was the leader of his heard and rest of monkeys followed him and they are still following him.

                  They watch a foreign film and envision Indian characters in it.

                  And the most disturbing part is that idiots like you watch such movies and pump their chests with false patriotic proud that they have watched an original Bollywood movie.

                  A Bollywood movie seems like a 100% Bollywood movie until someone finds out it’s similarity with a foreign movie.

                  Watch all the foreign movies made before those titles you mentioned above and I’m sure you will find resemblance somewhere if not a full day light plagiarism.

                  India was a communist country in the past thanks to Nehru who borrowed all his policies from Russia. Your forefathers had virtually no access to foreign media at all. Bollywood directors exploited this situation very well. During those days no one could have ever imagined that what they are seeing is plagiarism. In old days Bollywood movies were made for lower strata of the society (read Rikshawalas & Thelawalas). You can’t expect them to shout plagiarism can you?

                  Time has little changed, even today majority of Bollywood movies are still being made for Rikshawalas & Thelawalas – think of hit gunda movie Rowdy Rathore and Moti Vidya Balan’s The Dirty Picture. And yes don’t forget Sallu’s Dabangg.

                  The majority of audiences still have no clue about originality; even if they have they don’t bother to wake up from their dream world.

                  When I was in India and before I hit my first search button on Google in 1999 I was also living in self delusion of world where I assumed that all being shown on the silver screen comes out from own motherland.

                  Break your shell mate.

                  Reading books in lantern and wasting your time watching sick Bollywood movies doesn’t entitled you to be called an educated person.

                  1. nishant verma Avatar
                    nishant verma

                    dude!…get ur facts organised.

                    u do not have much points to tell.that’s the bitter truth!.
                    anyone ask something to you. you start telling your rikshawala theory and all..i am in full agreement with you that movies are copied.well made point but you are just so frustrated. may be you are not proud of your country.that’s the reason you just do not want to see the positive side.you just do want to acknowledge the recent or past good directors and films of bollywood. i think you are settled in abroad. besides, what i am trying to tell you is there ARE very good movies……Now when you reply don’t start barking that this movies is copied or that movies is copied…..accept the fact that bollywood do MAKE good movies

                    1. Frustrated? Yes with Bollywood movies. I’m sick of seeing same nonsense all the time. There are better things to do than waste precious time on these brain fucked ejaculation of suppressed social frustration.

                      I’m proud of what is worth of being proud of in my motherland and Bollywood is certainly not in my list.

                      If you are proud of being born in a country which produces Bollywood then that’s your choice.

                      Good and bad is a personal choice, what is good for you might not be good for me.

                      What is good for a Rikshawala might not be good for the rest of folks.

                      You might enjoy watching Dabangg 100 times and feel proud of your country which has given birth to such great directors and actors which put together such a great movie but for me and any sensible person this movie is same old rubbish being dumped on Indian psyche over and over again.

                      Take Sholay, its fucking crap movie, one of the worst movies ever produced in Bollywood. Its dialogues might be the legend but rest of the stuff in it is the same old rubbish. I even can’t laugh on any of the so called comedy scenes in it.

                      Every time I watch a Bollywood movie I feel sick in stomach. Its just an eternal cacophony.

                      Bollywood fraternity is a self-hypnotized cocoon of brainless idiots whose only interest it to pollute rest of country’s brain and milk money from them.

                      These amoral fucking idiots even can’t entertain themselves properly let alone entertaining others. No wonder most of them die painful death at the end.

                      The only good thing coming out of Bollywood is the music and songs from good old days.

                  2. nishant verma Avatar
                    nishant verma

                    also according to you ,

                    ALL the bollywood movies are copied
                    By all you mean , there is no single movie in last 100 years that is original !!!

                    Really brother, hats off to your theories.

                    1. Yes, you can say all are copied or based on a foreign movie unless proven to be original.

    2. bichhoo is copied from a french film Leon. costumes scenes everything.

      1. Leon also adopted my hollywood as “The Professional”.

    3. Piyush Roy Avatar
      Piyush Roy

      BTW Sholay is actually a copy of Mera Gaon Mera Desh closer home than Bollywood with the villain dacoit in it even being called jabbar (vinod khanna – fabulous)… and magnificient Seve itself was a copy of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai… so its not that Bollywood is always copying and Hollywood is always original… Hence what matters is which leaves the most lasting impression, right?
      Cheers,
      Piyush

    4. nice..whatever to post on here….am shocked….haha

  2. Ajay,
    Your Don movie expereince is quite something, it is like a fairy tale from distant world.

    You are a great story teller. I bet if you write a novel based on your experiences you will become more famous than Salman Rushdie. Give it a try.

    1. Tx for appreciation.

      Yes that is true, people often swear by my story telling skills.

      I’ve no time for writing novels now. May be when I retire then I’ll write novels. By that time I’ll add more stories from around the world rather than only from India.

  3. Which town you grew up? Banaras?
    I’m from Banaras too.

    1. Nay! I was born in Banaras. I grew up in an unknown town near Banaras called Chakia where I lived for about 17 years.

  4. All of Amitabh’s old movies are based on Hollywood movies.

    1. I’m not denying.
      Amitabh Bachchan was created to Indianize Hollywood actors like Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and others. All they needed was a tall, tough looking lad and a carbon copy of Hollywood movies.

      However plagiarism in Bollywood is as long as history of Indian Cinema which dates back to 1913 when first Indian silent movie “Raja Harishchandra” was made. During old days there weren’t any Hollywood movies so the old movies were more or less based on social issues, Kings and Queens, Epics etc. During and immediately after (it hasn’t stopped till today) they also made movies on India’s struggle for Independence.

      At some point of time Indians ran out of these stories and also public couldn’t bear to watch too much of same stories. So in search of “new ideas” east looked towards west which ended up in plagiarism.

      It is no wonder why world’s largest producer of movies doesn’t gets international accolade. Reason is simple. Most movies are copied.

  5. These are just the tip of the iceberg. More or less every second movie is a copy of hollywood

    1. zinda is copied from korean movie oldboy

  6. i have also some name which are copied movies from hollywood

    Fight Club copied from Fight Club

    Paap copied from Witness

    Zeher copied from Out of Time

    Phir Hera Pheri is copied from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

    Main Aisa Hi Hoon copied from I Am Sam

    Heyy Babyy copied from Three Men and a Baby

    Koi Mil Gaya copied from E.T.

    Agneepath copied from Used a lot of references to Scarface

    Road copied from The Hitcher

    Dhamaal copied from Rat Race

    Black copied from The Miracle Worker

    Bade Miyan Chote Miyan copied from Some scenes inspired from Bad Boys

    Salaam Namaste copied from Nine Months (1995)

    Kyon Ki… copied from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

    Kucch To Hai copied from I Know What you did Last Summer (1997)

    Awara Paagal Deewana copied from The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

    Deewangee copied from Primal Fear (1996)

    Kartoos copied from Point of No Return (1993)

    Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai copied from American Pie (1999)

    Yaarana copied from Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)

    Murder copied from Unfaithful (2002)

    Krrish copied from Paycheck

    Dil lage copied from Sabrina

    Mein Anari tu khilade copied from The hard way

    Partner copied from Hitch

    The Train copied from Derailed

    Speed copied from Cellular

    Malamaal Weekly copied from Waking Ned Divine

    Ek Ajnabee copied from Man on Fire

    The Killer copied from Collateral

    Raaz copied from What Lies Beneath

    Kaante copied from Reservoir Dogs

    Sarkar copied from The Godfather

    Chocolate copied from The Usual Suspects

    Alag copied from Powder

    Deewane Huye Paagal copied from There’s Something About Mary

    Chor Machaye Shor copied from Blue Streak

    Hum Tum copied from When Harry Met Sally /Before Sunset

    Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai copied from My Best Friend’s Wedding

    Aap Ki Khatir copied from The Wedding Date

    Kyonki…Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta copied from Liar Liar

    Papi Gudia copied from Child’s Play

    Zinda copied from Old Boy (Chinese Korean Movie, not Hollywood)

    Akele Hum Akele Tum copied from Kramer vs Kramer

    Ghajini copied of Momentoo

    Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin is a ripped off of It Happened One Night

    Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is a ripped off of Breaking Away

    Baazi copied of Patriot

    Lagaan copied of Victory

    Rang de Basanti copied of All my sons(1948)

    Taaray zamin par is the copy of some iranian movie i forgot tha name

    Dil Chahta Hai copied of St. Elmo’s Fire and Reality Bites

    1. Ashirbad Dash Avatar
      Ashirbad Dash

      Sholay (1957) i think this is not a correct one as far as my knowledge goes it was released in 1975….

      1. Tx
        That was typo, corrected.

    2. what about god tussi great ho from bruce almighty????

      1. I didn’t see “God Tussi Great Ho” so can’t say for sure. But looking at name it seems to be based on Bruce Almighty if not copied entirely.

        Have you seen both movies? What do you say? Copied or not copied?

        1. YES, it is copied. Some of the scenes are frame to frame copy.

    3. Salaam Namaste is a copy of “Love actually” and not nine months.

      Btw, Zanjeer is a copy of “Death rides a horse”

    4. Maclean Fernandes Avatar
      Maclean Fernandes

      They even copied Scarface music for Agneepath.

    5. Fight Club(Hollywood) — Is One of the best and Indian Fight Club was rubbish.. it just took the name nothing else

    6. Please just try to find the movie based to PLAYERS, its copied from a Holliwood movie released in 2003. Thanks

      1. bharat Avatar

        PLAYERS is most likely based on The Italian Job

        1. Dude!
          Are you just born?

          It is official remake of The Italian Job, everyone knows it except you.

  7. I would say rather Sholay has been copied from “For a few Dollars More”. Watch this magnificent movie…

    1. neeraj madhavan Avatar
      neeraj madhavan

      Sholay is a copy of a few movies put together… in essence scenes were taken and used thru out the movie enlisiting it below :

      1. Thakur’s family getting killed : Once upon a time in the west including the kid standing waiting for gabbar till the end at the train station

      2. Jay and Veeru meeting basanti : inspired from Once upon a time in the west, where claudia cardinale comes to her husbands home, the cart driver speaks incessantly

      3. gabbar killing kalia : for a few dollars more, when indio kills the minister / padre

      4. jay playing the harmonica for Radha : once upon a time in the west, where the charles bronson does the same for Claudia cardinale

      there are a lot more… basically Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan, the Sippys all need to die horrible deaths for plagiarizing the works of Sergio Leone…

      1. They copy in very clever way. In most of the cases you will not find the scene by scene copy. Their modus operandi is simple.

        Firstly they lift the core concept of the movie without copying the whole movie or scenes. Then the bollywood screenplay guys spin an Indian version of story based around the lifted core concept of Hollywood movie. then they insert the Indian stuff like Masala songs, comedy, fight scene and not to mention the dialogues which makes Bollywood movie hit or flop.

        So you will never be able to find out single source of original Hollywood movie.

        As I said earlier, first watch Bollywood movie and then watch Hollywood movie and then you will immediately find out what is copied and what is not.

        Well copying is everywhere. First west copied India then India is copying west. It will go on.

        Take the IPL, how nicely Indians copied the western concept. They didn’t copy everything from IPL from English Premier League but in a true bollywood style they copied the core concept of English Premier League. Then to make it glamorous they copied the American Cheerleading. And finally to give it Indian touch they added their Advertisement stuff, Indian music, DJ and etc etc.

        Indians have lost the ability for innovation.

  8. Really nice post. I didn’t realize that plagiarism in Bollywood is so prevalent.

  9. Nafees Alam Avatar
    Nafees Alam

    Baazi is not copied from Patriot, see patriot one more time

  10. gulaal from shield
    bbb from wedding inc. spanish
    kites from polka
    kaminey from cherry lie

    1. I think gulaal is not coppied from any movie or any T.V. series.

  11. Angelus Avatar

    Pardon my rudeness. I don’t like to generalize or stereotype, so how should i say this. You write a list purporting a list of all the films that have been copied by Bollywood, and all you produce is 4 films!! Thats it?? You know of 4 films and you go on to claim that all that Bollywood does is copy?

    For god’s sake you cant even name where DON was copied from. FACT: it was not. It is inspired in parts by a shammi kapoor flick called Chinatown. Go to a screenwriting class and the first thing they tell you is “There are no original stories, only retellings”. I am not denying that there have been blatant ripoffs in Bollywood from world cinema, but your blanket statements denounce the hardwork put in by people who strive to make good films. It takes almost a year to make a film and only 2 hrs to write it off. Its hard hard work and you are in no way qualified to pass judgement.

    And even though all your posts are written specifically for SEO, don’t think of yourself as a good writer. You are a long way off. Keep writing and you will get better. If you thnk you don’t have time now, you never will. Good night and good luck.

    1. So it seems you are Bollywood screen writer who went to Bollywood screen writing class and were told that it is all plagiarism. Lol!! you just confessed it – “There are no original stories, only retellings”

      Don’t get pissed off.

      There are a lot more copied from Hollywood and other foreign films which you will never know. Plot, story, tune, action scene, fighting scene… list is long.

      1. Bharath Avatar

        hi,

        Its very sad to see ppl appreciate plagiarism & lashing out those ppl who find that.

        Directors should get remake rights (or give credits) & copy it like ‘we are family’ from ‘Step Mom’.

    2. Shardul Avatar

      Well, not to be rude too..
      But you speak of these copies as the writers are doing a great job
      by copying Hollywood movies and showing it to us…
      Well if it’s so great to copy films (and not to mention not giving credit for them) then WHAT’S WRONG IN PIRACY??
      would you prefer to wear some ghetto-made chappals or the originals from ADDIDAS..??
      would you prefer chinamade electronic product or the one original from Apple/Samsung..?? ( I bet you have an original smart-phone )
      I agree with Bharath, they should at least give credits to the originals…
      You watch Bollywood movies to see something different (at least I do)
      but all you get to see is some the other Hollywood movie flashing before you with only the cast and music changed…
      And they don’t even accept their folly…
      Just tell me how many stunts from the movie DON 2 did you never see in any Hollywood movie (most copied from the MI series)
      Karan Johar makes a film where two people not happy with their lives meet in Las Vegas and get drunk and marry…
      Yet it is not copied from WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…
      “It’s noway like What Happens In Vegas…” says he…
      All filmmakers, actors, producers say ” It’s one of a kind…It’s SCRIPT is unique…”
      Tell me …Do they really keep their word at creating something different…???

  12. David Dhawan – Almost all his movies are rip offs

  13. Muhammad Suleman Avatar
    Muhammad Suleman

    there is alot of movie which are copied by Indian Directors and also they stole music i think they dont have any idea how to make a movie from their own thoughts here in india alot of peoples and every person having a story then why they are stealing??? a director from Pakistan Shoaib mansoor made two movies “Khuda Ke Liye” and “BOL” and i think these movies are totally different and not even stolen!! you should watch these movie… :)

  14. Maclean Fernandes Avatar
    Maclean Fernandes

    Sholay’s scenes are not only ripped from THe Magnificient Seven. The scene where Gabbar kills Thakur’s family members is a complete rip-off from “Once upon a time in the West”. Bollywood film makers are only master thieves. They have no creativity or talent. Most of the songs are also rip offs of english songs.

  15. Maclean Fernandes Avatar
    Maclean Fernandes

    Waiting for Bollywood to make Jurassic Park, the Lord of the rings, Harry Potter, Transformers, Real Steel, Godzilla and King Kong. Let’s see Bollywood rippers try these on for size!

  16. Hollywood is no less in copying. So many Hollywood movies have been copied from Asian movies.

    1. Really?
      Show me some examples.

      1. amit sethi Avatar
        amit sethi

        Your great “the magnificent seven” is a copy of “the seven samurai”…u need to watch a lot of world cinema to know where your great “hollywood” copies from. Watch “A fistful of dollar” and watch Kurusawa’s “Yojimbo. “The departed” is also a great movie. Do a net search to know where that came from. Tarantino’s great movie, “the Reservoir Dog” has also got inspiration somewhere.

        Fact is in movie business everyone is copying everyone..the above named are just a few greatest one…original work happens once in a while only and that the great hollywood doesn’t have any exclusive right to do original work.

        You are not aware of hollywood sources, so you would definitely keep them on a very high pedestal. Hollywood is no saint.

        1. Did you just saw the list !!! There are probably over 400 Bollywood movies, well-know to be copied from various sources. This is not counting intra-copying (copying from regional movies).
          Agreed that some of the Hollywood movies are also probably copied, but i believe & I know that they pay royalties. Ex. Ring series or Grudge series etc. (atleast for recent once).
          I believe, that the question lies in honesty. Bollywood, with very few exception such as Sarkar, try to portray somebody else’s work as their own & try to get credit & money for it. Hollywood on the otherhand, in most cases, try give due credit to the original.

      2. Dinesh KUKRETI Avatar
        Dinesh KUKRETI

        the matrix all series are copied from animation movie from japan which is make of comic series there

  17. I think film is all about having ideas, and such ideas come from different sources including other films. So I applaud the BOLLYWOOD filmmakers…….at least they have something but what do you have?

  18. Thank you all.The replies was very much informatious than the real content.It would help me in winning my Debate.Thanks Again.

  19. suraj mehra Avatar
    suraj mehra

    Salaam-e-Ishq copied from Love Actually

  20. suraj mehra Avatar
    suraj mehra

    Heyy Babyy 2007 Three Men and a Baby 1987

    Dil Bole Hadippa(2009) She’s the Man

    Mohabbatein 2000 Dead Poets Society 1989

  21. Dabangg 2010 oil fight scene copied from The Transporter 2002

  22. Hey Angelus… Who told you that “There are no original stories, only retellings”.. haaanh… I am working in media & I do have 10 stories written myself .. which is not copied or inspired from any other movies neither Bolly nor Holly.. but from my own Imaginations, from my situations, from my ups and downs of life, from the circumstances, from my feelings and even from my dreams… everyone can do the same if they have time and some interest . .. but all need gain without pain.. that’s why its happening ..Last year I worked in a Malayalam movie as an Asst Director.. from the set only I made a story and I named it “The Assistant ” its all about the life of an asst Director and his co-workers which starts from him to the Light boys whose passion is film making, those who work very hard under pressures & mental torture-ring with a dream of the beautiful fruit for their hard work and being forced to face the situation like even they can’t disclose their Identity in the Movie credits to their friends or close relatives” its only a partial base line ….. .. other than this I do Have a no of ten stories with me.. as I told before its all mine ..from me.. and I am proud of.. I hope one day if God grace my hard work and determination will let you see my name in the title credits as The Story & Direction ” and it will be of a movie which is not at all copied from any other Person’s Hard work ” and If I really feel like remaking a good movie I will definitely give that credit to the person who did it”

    Hats off for your Work Ajay Ji” I am very Against this plagiarism”

    1. We have such a vast country, enormous diversity, hundreds of languages, scores of religions and billions of heads.

      There are millions of possibilities of unique and authentic stories.

      We already have so many writers churning out more stories each year than Bollywood can absorb. It seems each Indian is a writer of some kind and able to write stories.

      Sometimes it gives you a sense that while you live in India you live in stories rather than reality.

      It is very typical Indian to copy famous Hollywood or foreign movies as they are really good movies. Whenever I watch a hit Hollywood or foreign films it doesn’t take me more than 10 minutes to web a Bollywood version of it.

      It is easy to copy a foreign film and mould it in a Bollywood style. It saves a lot of effort, research, brain power and not to mention money.

      Think about this, sooner or later some one in Bollywood will copy “Titanic”. One of the many reasons why Titanic is good movie is the movie makers have invested a lot of time and effort in the research. They first researched to find out all the true stories behind Titanic disaster and then tried to make movie out of it to show the reality.

      What Bollywood lacks is research.

      Hollywood tries to make movies look real, where as Bollywood tries to make movies look fiction.

      Any way Bollywood movies are real crap in most cases. And I’m bored with them so much so that I can’t even watch them even for 10 minutes.

      My only attachment with Bollywood, now a days, is Comedy movies which, in my views, are still the best in the world.

      Recently I saw “Phas Gaye Re Obama” which is one of the best comedy movies coming out of Bollywood production line in recent days. It is authentic and a real full belly laugh. We need more like this.

  23. Satte pe satta was similar to seven brides for seven brothers… thats rite. i am not sure about the best. but yes… i must say whoever writes this blog must review his/her knowledge of hindi cinema… magnificent 7 was made into a hindi movie… but it was not sholay… its was khote sikke… staring firoz khan.

  24. vivek dubey Avatar
    vivek dubey

    the way u told ur story about watching don movie was awesome! sholay is not a copy of hollywood,because it is remake of japanese movie ‘seven samurai’ by hollywood. i’m nt sure wthr sipply love japan or usa. but sholay was a grt movie.

    1. Dube ji tx for reading my Don watching story. That was my age when I used to wonder if someone actually sings sitting behind the screen.

      Playback singing word was not in my vocabulary.

      The puzzle was how come Kishore Kumar used to sing for Amitabh Bachchan.

      I hadn’t discovered the lip syncing yet.

      Growing up in a small town in India has it’s own wonderful experiences.

  25. naaa zaaa naeee bollywood saee copycat kaa tag kabb hatae gaaa………………….

  26. Piyush Tewari Avatar
    Piyush Tewari

    In fact “The Magnificant Seven (1960)” it self was based on a Japanese movie “Seven Samurai (1954)” by Akira Kurosawa.

    The Sholay song “Mehbooba O Mehbooba” is based on a Demis Roussos called “Say You Love Me”.

    “Ek Ajnabee” is a total rip off of Denzel Washington’s “Man on Fire”.

  27. Fear (Hollywood) is made into an Amitabh Bachan/John Abraham thriller Aetbaar
    Consenting Adults – Hollywood is Bollywood’s Ajnabee, Both movies are good

  28. ghajini from momentum,
    Players from italian job,
    Copied very cleverly

    1. Dude!
      Players is not copied from The Italian Job but it is an official remake. When you make official remake you pay license fee to the original movie producers and obtain their permission. So you can’t say that Players is copied. This will be wrong sentence to use.

      Also when an official remake is done, it is well published in the media.

      The list which I’ve posted here is for the Bollywood movies which are copied (stolen) Hollywood themes and thus avoiding the hefty licence see and permission formality.

  29. Very good work Ajay

    i really appreciate it
    Most of their work is piracy and they speak against piracy
    the bollywood is releasing two movies soon which i’m sure copied from hollywood,

    Jodi Breakers(Madhavan&Bipasha)-The Breakup Artist
    Agent Vinod(Saif Ali Khan&Kareena)-Bourne Identity

    Is Kuch Kuch Hota He is a real indian movie?

    God Tu Si Great ho is a copy of Bruce Almighty.

  30. bitopansaikia Avatar
    bitopansaikia

    but everybody knows the difference between hollywood and bollywood,hw mny boly mvies got oscar,peoples khow the difference,

  31. Anoop Kumar P G Avatar
    Anoop Kumar P G

    Man you are seriously misled.You must have got up one day and thought, okay lets start a blog criticizing Bolly movies. I don’t know what your problem is? Most of the moviegoers know that many of the Bollywood films have been inspired by so called Hollywood films. I am a movie buff myself, i watch all kinds of movies irrespective of the genre and languages, I am not going to say that plagiarism (seriously most of the people might not even know the actual meaning of this word)is good, but it’s fun. Let me make it clear, it is fun to watch Indianised versions of those foreign films. And someone here said that “There are no original stories, only retellings”, in a way he is right, actually what he meant was all the stories which comes to a story writer’s imagination will have reference to one thing or the other(this is the reason how GENREs came into existence). If you guys think we are the only ones who are copying, then you people are BLIND. Even those big production houses which produce those big Hollywood films don’t give a damn about these so called copies, so i don’t understand what are you so worried about? And you know what Quentin Tarantino(one of my fav directors), he said out of all the iterations he has seen of his RESERVOIR DOGS our own KAANTE is the best. He even said that after seeing the movie he felt why he didn’t think of certain things which were in our version of RESERVOIR DOGS.So please don’t just rub off our movies as mere spinoffs, if the movie ain’t good then yes we can criticize it. Some of those remakes were quite good like Sholay,Kaante,Agneepath etc., Nowadays it has become a style staement to criticize our films. Most of the people might not have even seen those movies which have been named here(the Hollywood ones). If we see Ghajini, only the basic them has been taken. Everything else has been changed. If any of you have seen the Memento, you would know that. Memento is a very good film (with that reverse chronology) but am sure a typical Indian moviegoer will like Ghajini over Memento. I am sorry if I have been a bit over the top.
    And for those who said there are not much of hollywood remakes, check out this link=>
    http://www.imdb.com/list/7BwQPhB8edA/

  32. about 98% of bollywood films are copied from Hollywood or any other..!!

  33. Here is the little list,, sorry for repeating, i couldn’t filter by checking all the replies….

    well i don’t care about official remake and all,, this list is just the movies which are similar to English movies..

    Arthur <— Tumsa Nahin Dekha
    Some Like It Hot – 1959 <— Rafoo Chakkar – 1975
    The Reincarnation of Peter Proud 1975 <— Karz 1980
    Seven Brides For Seven Brothers 1954 <— Satte Pe Satta 1982
    Scarface 1983 <— Agneepath 1990
    It Happened One Night 1934 <— Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin 1991
    Breaking Away 1979 <— Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar 1992
    Blackbeard's Ghost 1968 <— Chamatkar 1992
    A Kiss Before Dying 1991 <— Baazigar 1993
    Sabrina 1954 <— Yeh Dillagi 1994
    The Hard Way 1991 <— Main Khiladi Tu Anari 1994
    Sleeping with the Enemy 1991 <— Yaraana 1995
    Child's Play 1988 <— Papi Gudia 1996
    Twin Dragons 1992 <— Judwaa 1997
    Blue Streak <— Chor machaye shor 1997
    Mrs. Doubtfire 1993 <— Chachi 420
    French Kiss 1995 <— Pyar To Hona Hi Tha 1998
    The Silence of the Lambs 1991 <— Sangharsh 1999
    Dead Poets Society 1989 <— Mohabbatein 2000
    Leon: The Professional 1994 <— Bichhoo 2000
    While You Were Sleeping 1995 <— Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega 2000
    The Wedding Singer 1998 <— Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye 2000
    Consenting Adults 1992 <— Ajnabee 2001
    Fatal Attraction 1987 <— Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya 2001
    Liar Liar 1997 <— Kyo Kii… Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta 2001
    The Whole Nine Yards 2000 <— Awara Paagal Deewana 2002
    A Perfect Murder 1998 <— Humraaz 2002
    Analyze This 1999 <— Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin 2002
    If Looks Could Kill 1991 <— Baadshah (1999)
    See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) <— Hum Hain Kamaal Ke
    Primal Fear 1996 <— Deewangee 2002
    My Best Friend's Wedding 1997 <— Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai 2002
    What Lies Beneath 2000 <— Raaz 2002
    State of Grace 1990 <— Footpath 2003
    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 <— Koi Mil Gaya 2003
    I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997 <— Kucch To Hai 2003
    Meet Joe Black 1998 <— Shukriya: Till Death Do Us Apart 2004
    When Harry Met Sally 1989 <— Hum Tum 2004
    Patch Adams(1998) <— Munnabhai MBBS(2003).
    Unfaithful 2002 <— Murder 2004
    Disclosure 1994 <— Aitraaz 2004
    U-Turn 1997 <— Musafir 2004
    Nine Months <— Salaam Namaste
    Bonnie & Clyde 1967 <— Bunty Aur Babli 2005
    The Usual Suspects 1995 <— Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets 2005
    The Godfather 1972 <— Sarkar 2005
    There's Something About Mary 1998 <— Deewane Huye Pagal 2005
    Man on Fire 2004 <— Ek Ajnabee 2005
    Confidence 2003 <— Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena 2005
    Boeing Boeing 1965 <— Garam Masala 2005
    I am Sam 2001 <— Main Aisa Hi Hoon 2005
    Cactus Flower 1969 <— Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya? 2005
    The Eye 2002 <— Naina 2005
    Notting Hill 1999 <— Humko Deewana Kar Gaye 2006
    The Rundown 2003 <— Naksha 2006
    Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1998 <— Phir Hera Pheri 2006
    Powder 1995 <— Alag 2006
    Just Like Heaven 2005 <— I See You 2006
    Waking Ned 1998 <— Malamaal Weekly 2006
    The Wedding Date 2003 <— Aap Ki Khatir 2006
    Paycheck <— Krrish 2006
    A Bittersweet Life 2005 <— Awarapan 2007
    Miracle 2004 <— Chak De India 2007
    It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. 1963 <— Dhamaal 2007
    Cellular 2004 <— Speed 2007
    Love Actually <— Salaam-e-Ishq
    Days of Thunder 1990 <— Ta Ra Rum Pum 2007
    Three Men and a Baby 1987 <— Heyy Babyy 2007
    Hitch 2005 <— Partner 2007
    My Sassy Girl 2001 <— Ugly Aur Pagli 2008
    Miracles 1989 <— Singh Is Kinng 2008
    Bruce Almighty 2003 <— God Tussi Great Ho 2008
    I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry 2007 <— Dostana 2008
    She's the Man <— Dil Bole Hadippa(2009)
    Pretty Woman 1990 <— Chori Chori Chupke Chupke
    The Parent Trap (1998) <— Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi
    The Magnificent Seven <— Sholay
    Back To Future <— Action Replayy
    Fight Club (1999) <— Fight Club: Members Only (2006)
    The Italian Job <— Players
    The Breakup Artist <— Jodi Breakers

    1. I don’t think you can claim Munnabhai MBBS is a remake of Patch Adams. There are some similar funny scenes based on unconventioanl characters being doctors but they are completely different plots and conceptions. Patch Adams is (based on the true-life) story of an unconventional healer who works in a hospital illegally without having completed his medical credential; Munnabhai is a story about a thug who goes to medical school.

      It may be a copy of a Hollywood movie, but not Patch Adams.

  34. Abhijit Haldankar Avatar
    Abhijit Haldankar

    Amitabh’s Don is based on Shammi Kapur’s ChinaTown.

  35. 4m childhood i lyk 2 watch hollywood. I watched many hollywood movies. B4 watching the remake in bollywood. I hate those ppl nd film makers who r paid 4 copyng movie. My frnd says hey new movie released lets go. I bought the theater ticket wid 200 or smtimes 150. I go to hall nd find its a remake. I go wtf m payng 200 to watch the same hollywood movie in hindi wid those old bollywood actors. The bollywood actor, dnt they feel shy to copy sm1 else. Bollywood realy sucks. I found 98% bollywood movies r copied.
    The movie partner is 100% copy of the movie HITCH acted by will smith. Every scene. AAP K KHATIR is 100% copy of CELLULAR. i found many cent% copied movie. many r mentioned above. if ever bollywood make smth new it get floped. the bigest flop CHANDNI CHOK 2 CHINA, RA 1. etc. it realy sucks to pay 4 watched movie. so 4m 2 years i neva watched bollywood. may b many remake r made in this years. BOLLYWOOD SUCKS

  36. livinjean Avatar
    livinjean

    Hi Ajay,

    found your page via stumble upon, got caught up in the lively comments, could not resist the urge to comment, so here are my two cents

    1) I am surprised no-one has pointed out “vivid bharati” (probably auto-correct is the culprit, fyi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vividh_Bharati)

    2) three hour long hindi movies is not the trend anymore, most of them are around 2 hrs these days; in yesteryears cinema was the only mode of audio-visual entertainment in India, with the advance of in-your-face 24/7 cableTV thats not the case anymore, hence movies are shorter, no one seeks the 3 hour “escapist” cinema. Multiplexes are replacing the one-screen halls.
    above all i think its personal preference whether you like 1, 2 or 3 hour long movies. btw some of the major hits on the hollywood side have long running times lord-of-the-rings, avatar, avengers …. to each his own.

    3) as others have pointed out , plagiarism v/s inspiration , applies everywhere.
    I wont deny that we have more bad apples in our basket :); glaring example “Abbas-Mustan”, whose movies I have vowed never ever to watch again, why ? because …
    — Baadshah – frame to frame fight sequence copy from Mr. Nice Guy (Jackie Chan)
    — Soldier – xeroxed Sunny’s murder scene from The Godfather
    — the crap called “Race”
    — but for the record, this time they had the courtesy to pay money and acquire rights for “Italian Job” official remake “Players”.

    ok, little rant is over, lets continue

    4) I personally think there are always two types of movies a) where you want to make money and b) where you want to tell a story. Well, the whole wold is chasing (a) so nothing new there. As far as (b) is concerned, only a few are blessed with the art and most of the time good movies are based on good books.
    Here is a short list of some of my personal bollywood favorites (Please do tell me if any of these movies is copied from another movie)

    Vishal Bharadwaj (he loves Shakespeare) — Maqbool, Omkara, Kaminey
    Gulzar — Mere Apne, Kitaab, Ijazat
    Satyajit Ray — Pather Panchali, Shatranj Ke Khiladi
    Hrishikesh Mukherjee — Chupke Chupke, Bawarchi, Anand
    Guru Dutt — Kagaz Ke Phool, Saahib Biwi Aur Ghulam
    Dibakar Banerjee — Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
    Ashutosh Gowariker — Lagaan, Swades
    Shimit Amin – Ab tak Chappan, Rocket Sing
    Imtiaz Ali – Rockstar
    Shyam Benegal – Kalyug, Welcome to Sajjanpur
    Vijay Anand – Jewel Thief, Guide
    Farhan Akhtar – Dil Chahta Hai
    Zoya Akhtar – Luck by Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

    Akira Kurosawa said (http://satyajitray.ucsc.edu/critics.html):
    “Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”

    Regards,
    livinjean.

    1. Welcome & tx for joining the debate.

  37. Khosla Ka Ghosla seems to be pure desi, I doubt that it is copied/inspired from any other sources.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to know that Jewel Thief is also copied. We don’t have such theft occurring in India and it looks more or less western hiest.

    Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is bloody crap movie, I wonder why you guys even mention this movie.

    Movies like Lagaan, Swades etc are Indian movies based on history or other local events and they are not included in the topic.

    Satyajit Ray was a master movie maker and he didn’t make masala movies. He made thought provoking movies, movies which left long last impression on you. Pather Panchali was the best from Ray.

    Shyam Benegal also falls in the same league as Satyajit Ray. There are very few filmamaker like them, you can count them on fingers.

    Rest of masala movie makers are just pile of garbage.

    1. Dinesh KUKRETI Avatar
      Dinesh KUKRETI

      lagaan is actually a copy i am searching original movie name in which similar story goes but in-spite of cricket it was baseball.

      1. I find that hard to believe. There are plenty of baseball movies but a baseball movie about a game that is organized around rulers and ruled? What country is this movie supposed to be from?

  38. narlzp Avatar

    Interesting article

    Not to mention the number of Bollywood rip-offs from Korea. Looks like Korea’s success in movie making has not gone unnoticed in India considering copies such as Awarapan from A Bitter Sweet Life. They even copied Old Boy and renamed it Zinda.

    1. Vinay Singh Avatar
      Vinay Singh

      Most of the people here are confusing two separate issues – a) copying b) Copying without giving due credit to the original. Most people are angry because of ‘b’ and blasting ‘a’ (Bollywood can’t make original rant). A movie should be good – copied or otherwise. Plenty of copied movies were bad and most of them flopped. So chill out. Blast the bollywood for ‘b’ and not ‘a’. As an Indian, I can relate to the Bollywood copies more than the Hollywood ones (or the original ones).

  39. abhishek m Avatar
    abhishek m

    priyadarshan has copied a number of english comedy films and thus made his hits in malayalam and then in bollywood. he says that it is not a crime because he is only copying storyline and changing it into indian background. in his opinion copying of frame cannot be justified.

  40. ghajini is copied from momento

    1. Ghajini is a nice example of a Bollywood copy that is better than the original it was adapted from.

  41. My daughter had us all over to her house to watch Aao Wish Karein (2009). It turns out to be a Bollywoodization of Big (1988)

    Interestingly, it was my daughter’s roommate’s first Bollywood movie and in spite of its flaws–and they are many–she enjoyed it. She thought the conclusion was better than the Hollywood original although we all agreed the introduction of the peri in dreadlocks named Hitchcock was NOT an improvement…

  42. Golmal-3 is well adapted from “Step-Brothers”

  43. Subhabrata Chakraborty Avatar
    Subhabrata Chakraborty

    Shaurya is copied from “A Few Good Men”..

  44. nice…whatever u post on here..its really gud….and yes one more i tell u is the movie of govina”kyoki mei jhoot nhai bolta”…is taken frm jim carrey’s lier lier..movie…..but all over its gud

  45. Khusheed babu Avatar
    Khusheed babu

    I have read all post and i am feeling a bit more confident to say that yes maximum bollywood movies are copy of foriegn movies….i really like hollywood si-fi movies…maximum indian directors and produces just want to make business and nothing else….they don’t bother about copying anything….

  46. Khusheed babu Avatar
    Khusheed babu

    I am fully agree with ajay….thanx ajay your topic is good…and that is what i was searching for…

  47. Khusheed babu Avatar
    Khusheed babu

    Amir khan’s “Talaash” is a plagiarize of “the sixth sense”1999

  48. Khusheed babu Avatar
    Khusheed babu

    I am fed up with bollywood movies…only few are good…rest are plagiarize….actually bollywood production know very well about indian audience….they don’t want to put thier own idea..bcoz they are affraid of making new thinking film and they are sure that if they try to make different…then it will lead to flopp….so they just steal some idea from foriengn movies to make good script and add desi version masala….and as a result it get success in india but fails in overseas…….

  49. Khusheed babu Avatar
    Khusheed babu

    Actually bollywood can also make si-fi movies……but bollywood lack high budget…..but i think that bollywood can also make high budget film like hollywood……but they are scared of getting loss of budget as they hardly manage to earn 200cr….they know very well……so what they do is just steal good ideas and concept from other foriegn movies and make film in a low budget…so that the probablity of getting loss become less…. I don’t know i am right or wrong..i am just sharing my thinking.

  50. kuldeep Avatar

    anil kapoor Bollywood movie NO PROBLEM some comedy scene ( in Ship a Comedy scene ) copy a Hollywood movie scene …anyone tell me that Hollywood movie name ??

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