It’s not just Bollywood that is on a remake spree of hit films from down south. Southern film industries too are remaking hit Bollywood films in quick succession. Earlier, 3 Idiots, Band Baaja Baarat, Jab We Met, and a host of other Bollywood films were remade in the South. Recently, Pink was remade in both Tamil (Nerkonda Paarvai) and Telugu (Vakeel Saab). Coming up soon are Andhadhun remakes in multiple languages, in Tamil (Andhagan), in Malayalam (Bhramam) and in Telugu (Maestro); Queen remakes in all four South languages; and several other Bollywood remakes.
The latest Bollywood film to join the remake bandwagon is the Ayushmann Khurrana hit, Badhaai Ho. It was in 2019 that Boney Kapoor had announced that he is producing the Tamil remake of Badhaai Ho. Soon, R J Balaji (Mookuthi Amman) came on board as the director, as well as the lead protagonist in the movie, to reprise Ayushmaan Khurrana’s role in the film.
Now comes news that the remaining cast of the film has been finalised. Aparna Balamurali (of Soorarai Pottru fame) will play the female protagonist, played by Sanya Malhotra in Badhaai Ho. Urvashi and Sathyaraj will play the roles portrayed by Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao in the Bollywood original. It’s still not clear who will play the part made iconic by the late Surekha Sikri in the original Badhaai Ho. However, Urvashi and Sathyaraj are the perfect choice to play the older couple with a baby on the way in their twilight years.
The film’s production had been derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. But now that shoots have resumed in right earnest, the Badhaai Ho Tamil remake might just go on the floors very soon.