Akshay Kumar has himself acted in a number of Hindi remakes of South films like Bhool Bhualiyaa, Rowdy Rathore, and Khattha Meetha with co-producing the latter. This time the actor is all set to co-produce the remake of a Telugu film called Bhaagmathie.
While the original film starred Baahubali actress Anushka Shetty, the remake is reported to be starring R. Madhavan and Bhumi Pednekar. G Ashok, the director of original film will also direct the remake while Akshay will be seen in a cameo in the film.
Bollywood Hungama quoted a source as saying, “Akshay Kumar will be collaborating with producer Vikram Malhotra for the Hindi remake of Bhaagamathie. The film will star R. Madhavan and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead roles. Director G Ashok, who originally helmed Bhaagamathie, will direct the remake as well. Meanwhile, the talks are currently on and it is also reported that Akshay Kumar will have a cameo part in the film. He will shoot for six to eight days. It is on the lines of horror suspense like Bhool Bhulaiyaa. The film will go on floor by early December.”
Bollywwod remakes of South Indian films is not a new thing. The practice can be traced back to the ’80s when K. Balachander remade his own Telugu film Maro Charitra as Ek Duuje Ke Liye in Hindi with both the films starring Kamal Hassan and turning out to be super hit. The decade and the subsequent years saw many remakes.
The trend of remaking South films has gotten a new impetus after the overwhelming success of Shahid Kapoor starrer Kabir Singh which was a remake of Telugu film Arjun Reddy. The actor is doing Hindi remake of another Telugu hit Jersey.
Coming back to Bhaagamathie, the story revolves around a female IAS officer Chanchala Reddy played by Anushka Shetty, who gets imprisoned in a haunted house. Things start to take an unexpected turn when she gets possessed by a spirit. Anushka received wide acclaim for her performance and emerged as second Indian actress after Sridevi to have a $1 million grosser at the USA Box Office.