Death by Movie : The Return of Himmatwala (2013)

I’m sure we are heading for the Big Bang. The world will end soon y’ll – Himmatwala is back in a new and updated avatar. Why, oh why, must film-makers rehash ghastly movies ? As if the original wasn’t bad enough, here you have a remake, with Ajay Devgun and Tamanna Bhatia. Atleast the 1983 version had Dancing Jeetu. This one has Devgan – yes he of the two-left feet fame. I know you can’t tell, but he really is grimacing in the song below. Torture it is, for him and for us.

And just for comparison, here’s the original song with Jeetendra and a chubby Sridevi (these were her bachpan ke din, remember?). The sets are eerily similar, right upto the hundreds of extras gadding about, all dressed in bright, primary hues (I’m starting a migraine). The heroine’s dress designer has an Amar Chitra Katha hangover, note the abundance of jewellery and the Amrapali dresses. Thirty years on, Tamanna’s outfits seem to be the same as Sridevi’s – these Bollywood types are sure taking the recycle-reuse thing seriously! The hero of course comes from the modern world, i.e.; trousers and jacket – women be damned to apsara-dom. Ajay has the better deal me thinks, because he has the pink swan to ride on, AND the natty sunglasses. You agree?

Himmatwala 2013 hits theaters late March. Don’t even saunter nearby; you have been warned.