Malayalam cinema is popularly lauded for their content which is authentic and truthful. They inspire many filmmakers around the country which laid the path for the remakes of such astounding movies into their native languages. The following is the list of 10 remakes of Classic Malayalam movies in other languages.
1.Manichitrathazhu (1993)
One of the best classic movies that can be created ever is “Manichitrathazhu”. This psychological thriller film can be considered as a visionary creation by the iconic director Fazil. This is due to the movies of the 90s era primarily focussed on love, action and family drama.
The story revolves around the three leading characters Ganga, Nakulan and Sunny. When the couple Nakulan and Ganga comes from Kolkata to their ancestral house in Kerala on a vacation. The tragic events happens when the lead character Ganga suffers from dissociative identity disorder, the Psychiatrist and friend of Nakulan, Sunny finds the ideal solution for her at the end. Initially it looks like a horror and later we realise that it is a psychological thriller movie. This blockbuster movie was remade in five languages.
- Chandramuki (Tamil)
- Nagavalli (Telugu)
- Apthamitra (Kannada)
- Rajmohol (Bengali)
- Bhool Bhulaiyaa (Hindi)
2.Abhimanyu (1991)
“Abhimanyu” is a story of a man who enters one of the biggest cities of India Mumbai as an immigrant. He meets a group of Malayali guys and befriends them. He struggles to make a life in the city with crimes and he is forced to involve in an immoral work to earn money. He earns the enmity of Amar Bakia and his life turns too bad with more odds ahead of his life. This story created with the tagline of “Crime Never Pays”. It was a super hit movie in Mollywood. It was remade in Tamil and Kannada languages.
- Thalainagaram (Tamil)
- Devaru (Kannada)
3.Aniyathipraavu (1997)
Mini and Sudhi fall in love deeply but they are opposed by the family because they both belong to different religion. Marrying a man/woman from other caste/religion is considered an unforgivable blunder. Both Mini and Sudhi elope from their houses and they decide to convince their parents for the marriage. The blend of profound love, anger, emotional human relationships turned this movie as a “Classic Love Epic” of all time in all the languages which was made.
- Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (Tamil)
- Nenu Premistunnanu (Telugu)
- Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (Hindi)
- Preethigagi (Kannada)
4.Friends (1999)
There are many movies which celebrate the friendship of men but this movie is an iconic and a classic movie which endorses the friendship in both Tamil and Malayalam. The story narrates the beautiful friendship and their journey together from childhood of Aravindhan, Chandu and Joey. The Malayalam movie “Friends” became one of the highest grossing movies the then year. It was remade in and as,
Here are the Top 10 Highest Paid South Indian Actors- Friends (Tamil)
- Snehamante Idera (Telugu)
- Dosti (Odia)
5.Kireedam (1989)
One of the best movies of the legendary actor of Malayalam cinema, Mohan Lal is “Kireedam”. He was eulogized for the his terrific performance as “Sedhumadhavan” in the movie whose dream is snatched by the stereotypes and type-cast of the society. He is ideally conveyed the pain and distress as a young man who turns a murderer at the end. It is stated as a “Cult Classic” of Malayalam cinema. It is reported that this is the first movie of actor Mohan Lal remade in six languages.
- Rowdyism Nasinchali (Telugu)
- Modada Mareyalli (Kannada)
- Babar Adesh (Bangladesh – Bengali)
- Naayak – The Real Hero (Bengali)
- Kireedam (Tamil)
6.Bangalore Days (2014)
If you are a die-hard fan of feel good movies, then this movie is the best choice to spend your time wisely with the wholesome creation of director Anjali Menon’s “Bangalore Days”. This coming of age, romantic drama featuring the profound love between the cousins Arjun, Divya and Kuttetan is remade into two languages.
- Bangalore Naatkal (Tamil)
- Yaariyan 2 (Hindi)
7.Cocktail (2012)
The thriller movie starring Jayasurya, Anoop Menon, and Samvrutha Sunil, “Cocktail” is about the gripping screenplay and twirling incidents which takes place in every frame when a stranger get on the car of the leads Ravi and Parvathy. This worth watching thriller movie was remade in Tamil.
- Athithi (Tamil)
8.Drishyam (2013)
This lists is dominated amazing actor Mohan Lal with another movie from his four decades of legacy in the Indian Cinema. The 2013, crime thriller movie of acclaimed director Jeethu Joseph “Drishyam”. The happy life of Georgekutty transforms into typsy-turvy due to an accidental murder by his own daughter. All the actors and actresses where lauded for uplifting the whole movie and making it an industrial hit with the theatrical run of 125 days. This movie was remade in national and international languages.
- Papanasam (Tamil)
- Drishya (Kannada)
- Drushyam (Telugu)
- Drishyam (Hindi)
- Dharmayuddhaya (Sinhala)
- Sheep Without A Shepherd (Mandarin)
The sequel movie of Malayalam “Drishyam 2” was remade in Hind with the same title in 2022.
9.Hitler (1996)
Another classic movie “Hitler” starring Mammooty, Shobana, and Mukesh is about the uncontaminated love of a brother named Madhavan to his five sisters, which turns more emotional when his sisters misconceive his care. The remade movies are,
- Krodh (Hindi)
- Military (Tamil)
- Varsha (Kannada)
- Hitler (Telugu)
- Dadar Adesh (Bengali)
10.Godfather (1991)
This list ends with a nostalgic classic movie “Godfather” which was released in 1991. The movie is filmed with the seasoned actors like Mukesh, N.N.Pillai, Kanaga, Innocent, Thilagan and Bheeman in the lead roles. It is a blockbuster hit movie with the theatrical run of 400 days. In this movie the stroy ia woven around the love between the leads which resolves the long time rivalry of two families. The theme love changes everything is well-executed by the director Siddque-Lal. In many languages except Tamil, the movie was remade.
- Peddarikam (Telugu)
- Ghayaal (Marathi)
- Hulchul (Hindi)
- Pandavaru (Kannada)
- Love Dot Com (Odia)
The concept of remaking the movie from the original version into other languages is to deliver the content for the people of other regions. Though there is a comfort of dubbing the original, the remake movies are created out of inspiration.
