Be it music, plots, character names or movie posters, Bollywood has often been accused of lifting elements from the West. While some prefer to call it an inspiration, others look at it as blatant plagiarism.
We are sure everyone is sick and tired of hearing how Bollywood movies have been duplicated or inspired by Hollywood movies. But did you know that this happens the other way around as well? So here are 9 Hollywood flicks that were inspired –
A Common Man (2013)- A Wednesday (2008) – Chandran Rutnam had to cast Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley to pull off Naseeruddin Shah’s character from A Wednesday. A Common Man was not just inspired but was an official remake of Neeraj Pandey’s masterpiece
Delivery Man (2013)- Vicky Donor (2012) – The only difference between the two movies the fact that Vince Vaughn’s sperm donations amounted to a total of 533 kids being born as compared to Ayyushman’s 53. But the basic idea of the film, sperm donation, has been inspired by Vicky Donor.
Fear (1996)- Darr (1993) – Apart from the direct translation of the name and the love triangle, the epic scene of the stalker, Shahrukh Khan, carving K-K-K-Kiran’s name on his chest has also been adapted by James Foley in his American thriller, Fear.
Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! (2004)- Rangeela (1995) – Well the best friend may not be played by Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan but the basic plot of the movie is a girl caught in a love triangle between her best friend and a movie star.
Kill Bill (2003)- Abhay (2001) – Though the plot differs this famous thriller by Quentin Tarantino had action sequences which he himself told Anurag Kashyap were inspired by the Kamal Hassan-starrer Abhay. Abhay was the Hindi adaptation of Aalavandhan, a 2001 Tamil film which also starred Kamal Hassan.
Pearl Harbor (2001)- Sangam (1964) – The Hollywood was less about the events of Pearl Harbour but more about a romantic love triangle between two best friends and a girl. Plots for both movies are fairly similar and the only difference between the two movies was that Sangam had only one friend as a pilot whereas its Hollywood counterpart had both.
Leap Year (2010)- Jab We Met (2007) – Though the makers of Leap Year claimed the movie was not inspired by Jab We Met but bubbly, highly-talkative girl on her way to propose to her boyfriend meets a stranger and shares a hotel room with him who fall in love, get separated but eventually reunite and get married. Sounds similar?
Just Go With It (2011)- Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005) – Jennifer Aniston plays the role of Sushmita Sen while Salman Khan’s role is played by Adam Sandler and actress Brooklyn Decker plays the role of Katrina Kaif. Both the movies were hit and had similar plot lines.
Hitch (2005)- Chhoti Si Baat (1975) – We are all aware that the Bollywood movie Partner is said to be a copy of Hitch. But it looks like Hitch itself was inspired by the plot of Chhoti Si Baat where a guy who fails to woo a girl takes help of a man who makes it his profession to help people with similar problems.