Producer Savita Raj Hiremath’s 2006 Bollywood cult classic “Khosla Ka Ghosla!” is being remade in the Telugu, Marathi and Kannada languages, it was revealed on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market.
Directed by Dibakar Banerjee and written by Jaideep Sahni, the Hindi-language film followed Khosla, a Delhi-based retired middle-class man who tries to get his land back from a swindling property dealer with the help of his sons and their friends.
The Kannada version will be directed by Adarsh Eshwarappa (“Shuddhi”), the Telugu version by Vinod Anantoju (“Middle Class Melodies”) and the Marathi one by Kedar Shinde (“Baipan Bhari Deva”).
“To most Indians building a home in a lifetime is like a dream come true. It is relatable to a pan-Indian audience as property fraud is paramount and witnessed in large measure. Thus the remakes of ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla!’ will be apt as there is a need to address the issue, entertain and monetize the creative rendition,” Savita Raj Hiremath told PvNew.
The Kannada-language version will be set in northern Karnataka. “‘Khosla Ka Ghosla!’ boasts a devoted cult following, and I firmly believe that such cinematic gems need to be accessible to today’s generation. The remake presents an opportunity to reach a broader audience, enabling people to experience the film in their regional language, tailored to their cultural sensibilities. This adaptation ensures the movie’s legacy lives on and resonates with diverse viewers,” Eshwarappa told PvNew.
Anantoju added: “The themes that the movie discusses are relatable to people from any part of the country, even today. I have experienced similar situations myself. Khosla reminds me of my own father. Every character reminds me of someone I know in real life. That’s why the film feels so personal to me. I want to retain this relatability factor in my version and I believe the Telugu audience will also own the movie.”
Shinde said: “For the audience, the story will remain closely relatable, irrespective of its time period since the grassroot level problems still remain the same around us. And I strongly feel it’ll still be relatable in the forthcoming years too as human nature and thought processes do not change.”
Producer Raaj Hiremath added: “Many regional producers contacted us for the remake andafter speakingwith them we realized that they feel that ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla!’ still has a very big commercial value as good content cinema is now the new trend. The audience wants a break from action sagas too.”
The cast and schedules for the remakes are being finalized. The Hindi-language original starred Anupam Kher (BAFTA nominee for “The Boy with the Topknot”), Boman Irani (“3 Idiots”), Parvin Dabas (“Monsoon Wedding”), Navin Nischol (“Zorro”), Ranvir Shorey (“Tabbar”) and Tara Sharma (“Britz”).