A Hindi remake of Kamal Haasan's recently released film Thoonga Vanam is being planned by producer Sunil Khetarpal.
"It’s not Thoonga Vanam that’s being remade into Hindi. It’s the French film Nuit Blanche (Sleepless Night) that is being remade into Hindi," Kamal Haasan confirms.
"Thoonga Vanam is a remake of the same French film. I had offered to make a simultaneous Hindi version for a Bollywood producer, who owns the rights of the Hindi remake but I think he wanted to make it with a top Bollywood star.”
But now, Kamal will star in the Hindi film as well.
The talented actor, who was seen this year in Uttama Villain and Papanasam as well, says "Thoonga Vanam is a new language for Tamil cinema. We've deviated substantially from the French original. That hand-to-hand fight between Trisha and me was not there in Nuit Blanche."
However, the South superstar has encountered serious roadblocks from the film trade.
"They say Thoonga Vanam is a good film but it’s not Sholay. But why should it be Sholay? Why can’t we assess judge and praise efforts to make a different kind of cinema within the commercial context?
"When Govind Nihalani made Ardh Satya or Basu Chatterjee did Piya Ka Ghar, no one compared these to Sholay," he says.
Strangely, many of Kamal Haasan’s Tamil films when remade into Hindi have starred Anil Kapoor. Barring Maro Charitra which was remade as Ek Duje Ke Liye, Kamal Haasan has hardly done Hindi remakes of his own films.
