We are family - Preview

We Are Family = Stepmom in Hindi. Of course, it is going to be Indian-ized! You see the beginning with the casting. Supposedly, our Indian palate is better satisfied by a hunk, Arjun Rampal who woos Kajol and Kareena Kapoor in one go. Versus the balding, Ed Harris.

We are family - For some reason this title for a Karan Johar film gives me the heebie-jeebies. His films are between Mr.-Two-Goodie-Shoes Vs. Mr.-not-human characters. Most situations are exaggerated. I understand, he's only We are family's producer and not director; but when the director goes on record saying, "I feel truly blessed that I'm working for the man whose cinema he has worshipped", my blood pressure is absolutely justified in going up a few notches. I'm reminding myself that Karan Johar has also produced Wake Up Sid.

Actually, Dharma Productions truly, absolutely, categorically needs appreciation because this film is the OFFICIAL REMAKE of an English film. Yep, we live in times when taking permission of original film-owners needs special mention and applause. Not because they had the patience to wait the process out for a couple of years. But because not too many others bother going through the 'right thing to do.' I think our angst against the filmmakers would reduce by a significant percentage if credit and handsome amounts of hard cash were given where they were due.

In fact, they have gone a step ahead and bought the rights for Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock". If they are setting a trend here, they can be excused a 100 crimes (of which only 99 remain because they have cold-bloodedly slaughtered the song they paid for).

Remake-makers are in a no-win situation. If the film is not liked the verdict is, 'they can't even copy properly' and if you like the film, in all likelihood, you are going to say, "Well, they copied. So it's not really their work." I have worked my conscience out this whole 'remake' debate. A film is a film is a film. You either like it or not or more often than not - both together. While I tried to pen my thoughts down about my take on "adaptations" and such, The Bollywood Ticket expresses the case more elaborately.

Even Avatar (2009), which broke box-office records for an American film in India, still grossed much less in India than the Bollywood film 3 Idiots (2009), which released around the same time. So why would Bollywood filmmakers even want to remake films that Indian audiences don't want to see? The truth is, they don't.

...

And what exactly constitutes a remake anyway? The Hindi film Jism (2003) has been called a remake of Body Heat (1981), which is a remake of Double Indemnity (1944), which is based on a true story. So, is Jism really a remake or is it based on the true story, too?

...

In May, Indian entertainment conglomerate Reliance sold remake rights to the 2007 Bollywood hit Johnny Gaddaar to a U.S. producer.

After that long aside, Stepmom is and We Are Family is very likely to be a saddish, serious movie. Likewise, We Are Family better be a tear-jerker too. Towards that end, it does look promising -

And of course, we cannot handle too much emotion, and we need our break. By the way, the following song trailer got me really upset. No, not because Kajol was pregnant when she was doing this. Because it gives so much of the movie away! And makes the film even more predictable than it already is. Not to mention, that the lyrics which mean, "I can't remember the lyrics to this song, so I'm just singing words on and on" which actually sounds more like the lyricist had a writer's block and penned his condition down.

Oh, whatever...

I think I'm going to be happy as long as it is not a Kajol screeching vs. Kareena shrieking duel. And there's always a new promo to look forward to (Guzaarish) Ok, I'll stop being mean and just wait for September 3rd for We are family.

By the way, do watch the other promos here to for the beautiful locations.

Ps. Music Reviews -

Milliblog - Karan Johar’ish predictability, with a new-found maturity.

Apun Ka Choice - overdose of melodrama

Hindustan Times - nothing extraordinary

Rediff - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's effort in We Are Family is nowhere close to this afore-mentioned legacy

This article was first published at meetu's Times of India Blog