Vikram Vedha, a good-vs-evil story with more than fifty shades of both, has Hrithik Roshan’s larger-than-life gangster pitted against a cop, played by Saif Ali Khan. Hrithik looks deliciously evil as Vedha, but will he be able to match up to Vijay Sethupathi’s menace in the Tamil original of the same name that starred

R. Madhavan in Saif’s role and was directed by Pushkar-Gayatri, who also helm the Hindi remake? We will know on September 30. Till then, here is a report card of other south-to-west remakes of the year so far.

Akshay Kumar and Kriti Sanon in Bachchhan Paandey; Bobby Simha in Jigarthanda

Bachchhan Paandey

Remake of: Jigarthanda

Karthik Subbaraj’s wildly original 2014 Tamil film Jigarthanda successfully combined comedy with gore and a strong emotional core. Akshay Kumar, whose every second film is now a remake, got the physicality — taut abs to tattoo, stone eye to swagger — of a menacing gangster right in Bachchhan Paandey. But given that Farhad-Samji, not particularly known for churning out quality entertainment, were at the helm, the film, despite being quite a bit of copy-paste, turned out to be yet another Akshay Kumar assembly-line production. Akshay wasn’t a patch on Bobby Simha, who won a National Award for this film, and in a gender reversal, Siddharth’s role in the original was played by Kriti Sanon, who brought in some freshness, but that’s just about it. Arshad Warsi’s deadpan was the only saving grace... but how long could that last anyway?

Shahid Kapoor in Jersey; Nani in Jersey

Jersey

Remake of: Jersey

Shahid Kapoor, in his second straight remake after the box-office blockbuster Kabir Singh, plunged headlong into the part of a down-and-out family man, who, inspired by his young son, rediscovers his passion and talent for cricket and picks up the bat once more in his 30s.

Shahid matched Nani, who played the lead in the Telugu original, beat for beat and sometimes even bettered him, but released at a time when audiences weren’t still keen to go back to theatres after the pandemic pause, Jersey had few takers, translating into a flop. But the remake, directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, who also helmed the original, found its audience on streaming.

Rajkummar Rao in HIT: The First Case; Vishwak Sen in HIT: The First Case

HIT: The First Case

Remake of: HIT: The First Case

Sailesh Kolanu adapted his Telugu film of the same name, with Rajkummar Rao taking the place of Vishwak Sen as a tormented cop battling PTSD and investigating the case of a girl gone missing. The remake followed the beats of the original, but suffered on account of its hazy chronology and ludicrous ending. Despite being a faithful remake with a few minor tweaks here and there, HIT in Hindi lacked the slow-burn thriller vibe of the original, with the perplexing change in climax leaving the viewer scampering to make sense of both cause and chronology.

Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia in Nikamma; Nani and Sai Pallavi in Middle Class Abbayi

Nikamma

Remake of: Middle Class Abbayi

Yet another Nani film going through the Bolly remake factory in 2022, Middle Class Abbayi aka MCA was made into Nikamma, which truly lived up to its name. Not only did the trio of Abhimanyu Dassani, Shilpa Shetty and Shirley Setia prove to be a no-match for the blistering MCA cast of Nani, Sai Pallavi, Bhumika Chawla and Vijay Varma, Nikamma was a horror fest (in terms of experience, not genre) from start to finish. By far, one of the worst films of 2022.

Janhvi Kapoor in Good Luck Jerry; Nayanthara in Kolamaavu Kokila

Good Luck Jerry

Remake of: Kolamaavu Kokila

The 2018 Tamil dark comedy Kolamaavu Kokila found its way to Bollywood in the form of Good Luck Jerry, with Janhvi Kapoor slipping into the rather large shoes of Nayanthara. Like Kolamaavu Kokila, Good Luck Jerry — buoyed by a delightful act from Janhvi and a hatke story of a timid girl who joins a drug gang — turned out to be a smart and entertaining caper, making the most of its light-on-the-feet premise and ensuring that the viewer never got bored. A rare remake that worked.

Akshay Kumar in Cuttputlli; Vishnu Vishal in Ratsasan

Cuttputlli

Remake of: Ratsasan

In 2018, Vishnu Vishal steered the compelling Tamil slasher thriller Ratsasan, making it earn both critical praise and commercial success. Akshay Kumar, of course, had to star in its remake, inexplicably called and spelt Cuttputlli. While most of Cuttputlli stayed true to Ratsasan — and yet came up short — what made the former a credible psychological thriller was that the killer in Ratsasan was given ample screen time for his actions to be backed by a solid back story. In Cuttputlli, that ‘smallish’ detail is disposed off within less than five minutes, making the viewer’s investment in the film finally amount to a waste of time.

Vikrant Massey and Radhika Apte in Forensic; Tovino Thomas and Mamta Mohandas in Forensic

Forensic

Remake of: Forensic

The 2020 Malayalam psychological thriller Forensic, with Tovino Thomas in the lead, was loosely adapted into Bollywood with the same name, starring Vikrant Massey and Radhika Apte. A story of how young girls are brutally killed on their birthdays, the Hindi film had a lot going for it — talented cast to engaging premise to director Vishal Furia’s experience with the genre — and it delivered on most counts, save that preposterous twist at the end which derailed quite a bit of the remake.