By Surendra Bhatia
It’s so understated that one can miss it altogether but Bollywood does have a neat fascination for not only remaking old cult films but also giving them the same title. The latest, of course, is Pati Patni Aur Woh, made first by B.R. Chopra with Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha and Ranjeeta Kaur in 1978 and now re-produced in 2019 by his daughter-in-law, Renu Ravi Chopra, with Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar and Ananya Panday, playing the respective pati, patni and woh roles.
The 1978 film is considered a classic with an age-old story of a married man who has a roving eye, and a long-suffering wife and the nymphet as woh in the triangle. When it released in 1978, it was an instant hit in the cities, mixing a largely-appreciated comic angle to a narrative that could have become sombre and sordid. As a story, it is as relevant today — perhaps, more so — and it is fitting that the same production family has undertaken to remake it.
There have been many other Bollywood remakes which have released with the same title, though the end results have been mixed. The remakes of Don (Amitabh Bachchan, 1978), starring Shah Rukh Khan in 2006, and Agneepath (Amitabh Bachchan, 1978), starring Hrithik Roshan in 2012, were hits while some disasters are lined along the way: Umrao Jaan (Rekha, 1981), starring Aishwarya Rai in 2006, Karz (Rishi Kapoor, 1980), starring Himesh Reshammiya in 2008, Himmatwala (Jeetendra, 1983), starring Ajay Devgan in 2013, Zanjeer (Amitabh Bachchan, 1983), starring nobody in 2013, and a few others…
Though there is no hard and fast rule that remakes of old Bollywood classics work the same magic on modern audiences, the thought that what succeeded ages back could still tantalise audiences is a tempting one. This is, perhaps, the reason why many of these remakes of classics are by the same production houses that gave us the cult films. It could also be an easy way out: dig into one’s own catalogue for a ready story and a successful formula for which finance is more probably easily available; and for which there is less botheration about convincing stars and financiers about a new storyline… Nothing sells with financiers and stars like an old hit.
There is also the hope that audiences, which had seen the original cult film in their heydays, may revisit it. Additionally, they may be able to influence their family to join them in their nostalgia. There will be an entire generation or two which may not have seen the original, and so that’s another lot of potential audience. Many of these films also carry a couple of songs from the original to give that nostalgic feel and it is nice to believe that it works. It did in Don; it didn’t in Umrao Jaan.
Pati Patni Aur Woh is a different kettle of fish. It boasts of an evergreen subject and since the humour is intact, though in the modern style, of course, the film stands a great chance of seducing audiences back into the funny peccadilloes of a husband gone astray. Filmmaking is so speculative that it is easy to empathise with a producer playing safe… provided modern audiences get the entertainment they deserve for their high ticket prices.