Remakes should only be done by the individual who made the original, says Sailesh Kolanu

Remakes are not novel in Hindi cinema, but more often than not, they can’t match the charm of the original and tend to invite flak from audiences and critics.

Now another remake, HIT: The First Case (2022), is set to hit the screens on 15 July. But its director, Sailesh Kolanu, who also made the original, says his film will be an exception to the rule.

“This is not like those usual remakes that audiences get to see," Kolanu, a medical professional by training, said. "It is my belief that remakes should only be done by the individual who did the original."

Interestingly, in the case of HIT, it's not just the director or writer (Kolanu in both cases) who has been repeated. The cinematographer, S Manikandan, also worked on the original as did the editor, Garry BH.

“Dil Raju sir was one of the biggest distributors of the Telugu version and felt that we can showcase this film to Hindi audiences by increasing the scale and giving it a little Hindi tweak," Kolanu said. "When the original technical team is retelling the story to a wider audience, I feel we should have a different term for it. Maybe we should call it ‘an original recreation’!"

The Telugu original starred Vishwak Sen and Ruhani Sharma.

The director added, “Thrillers like this are meant to be watched in a theatre with immersive sound and visual experience. That’s how the original was experienced. I want the country to enjoy this movie like that.”

HIT: The First Case, starring Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra, will be released next Friday.