The southern connection

Jumping Jack’ Jeetendra, known more for his Telugu remakes of the ‘80s for the modern Indian film viewer is credited with a quotable quote which is still recollected with relish by film watchers.

Commenting on the amazing box office success of Amitabh Bachchan in the mid-70s which swept aside many a hero including himself, he said: ‘Amitabh is today the hero who holds the slot from number one to ten. All others come afterwards’.

Given the phenomenal ‘one-man industry’ halo the big B enjoyed then, the opinion was indisputable. Still, there was one hero, who even during the Bachchan mania touching its peak stood his ground and managed to hold his own.

Vinod Khanna, who died on April 27, was that screen persona, who was dashing, had a style and appeal which effortlessly took on the angry, sullen image of Amitabh, including his baritone and rapid fire dialogue delivery in the half- a-dozen films in which they starred together.

It was a given that southern cinema, which was reviving itself at the same time with the new gen coming on its own liberally borrowed commercial flicks from Bombay film world for remakes.

Of course, all the Bachchan hits like ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Deewar’ and ‘Don’ were hot favourites with both the older lot of heroes from NTR, MGR and Sivaji Ganesan and the younger ones like Krishna, Krishnam Raju, Kamal Hasan and Rajinikanth.

But interestingly, a survey of the films which were remade throws up interesting points, highlighting the influence Vinod Khanna’s roles had on the star cast in their Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam versions.

The best example would be the 1977 blockbuster ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, which is still known today for its secular, multi-linear story, packed with appetising commercial ingredients. In a rare case, it was remade into Malayalam, five years after its release titled ‘John Jaffer Janardhan’ with Mammotty playing Vinod Khanna. In Tamil and Telugu, it was Rajinikanth who took the honours with Telugu superstar Krishna reprising Bachchan’s Anthony and the film was titled ‘Ram Robert Rahim’.

‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’, which came out in 1978 saw it being remade into Tamil and Telugu, with Krishnam Raju playing Amitabh while Chiranjeevi played the role of Vinod Khanna in the local version titled ‘Prema Tarangaalu’. Of course, it was a disaster in Tamil when Sivaji Ganesan took upon the mammoth task of doing what AB did in Hindi.

With ‘Qurbani’, known more for the appeal of its femme fatale Zeenat Aman and the pulsating ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’, Vishnu Vardhan, the Kannada top icon played Vinod Khanna when it was remade into Tamil titled ‘Viduthalai’. Superstar Rajinikanth played Feroz Khan, yet the film was a lukewarm hit.

This is not the only connect Vinod Khanna had with the film world across the Vindhyas. Rather notably, his debut film ‘Man Ka Meet’ (1968) itself was a Tamil remake and from here on, he was seen essaying roles in southern remakes quite often.

After his sudden break from the hustle and bustle of the masala moviedom in the ‘80s as he decided to turn spiritual under Osho Rajneesh, one of his comeback films released in 1987 – ‘Satyameva Jayate’ - was a remake from Malayalam titled ‘Aavanazhi’ starring Mammotty in the lead.

Feroz Khan made him play Kamal Hassan in ‘Dayavan’, the Hindi version of Mani Ratnam’s ‘Nayakan’, which was famous more for his lip lock with Madhuri Dixit rather than the protagonist role, which failed to click with the fans.

Many film banners run by producers like K C Bokadia featured him routinely in multi-starrer remakes starring other actors like Dharmendra, Rajinikanth and the redoubtable Sridevi in the ‘90s. With the Tamil top gun as one of his co-stars, a few of his films also saw Tamil dubbed versions.

As obituaries flowed from different media platforms, most of them ruing that he did not get his due, diehard fans can surely take solace from the fact that he travelled a greater distance than many of his co-stars then from being a villain to a much-sought after hero to a cult devotee to a politician who was admired by his constituency people for his active work profile.

He has the record of being a film star who has been elected to the Parliament four times and was in the good books of the top brass of the party which he represented - BJP- till he breathed his last.