Thursday, January 20, 2005

Two of a kind

There seems to be 'twin' season going on for me. It all started yesterday when I went shopping at Kohl's with a colleague. She had to buy birthday gifts for 3 yr old boy and girl - twins.

Then yesterday evening I switched on the TV and the movie Stuck On You had just started. Its a comedy movie about Siamese twins, one half played by Matt Damon. Since Matt Damon was in the movie and also I had nothing better to do, I decided to watch the entire movie. It wasnt as bad as I had expected it to be. It had quite a few funny moments and overall I enjoyed the movie.

And to add to the coincidence, today, as I was browsing through the On-Demand listing on my cable, I noticed Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen on the list. I was quite curious about this movie and had wanted to see it specially after seeing Lindsay Lohan on Freaky Friday and SNL. I watched the movie and even though its a bit too teeny, I liked it.

Now, you must be thinking what has COATDQ (as a Hindi movie would be abbreviated) has anything to do with twins. Well the thing is this movie reminded me of another Lindsay flick The Parent Trap where she played the character of separated twins, each one living with one parent oblivious of the other's existence. They meet each other at a camp and discover that they are sisters and decides to swap places. Sounds familier? Yes, its the same plot we've seen in the oldie Do Kaliyan where Neetu Singh plays the twins and has the famous song 'Bachche Mann ke Sachche'. Same story was repeated again later in another movie (dont remember the name) where Rishi Kapoor and Padmini Kolahpuri play the separated parents. Then there was Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi where Kajol plays the twins. One thing about these movies that has always confused me is was the Hollywood movie inspired from the Bollywood one? The Parent Trap released in 1997 is very new compared to the Bollywood flicks. So is it that the roles has been reversed and Hollywood copied Bollywood?? Can anyone shed some light?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

DEEPAK JESWAL HERE :

Sure I can throw lot of light on this one... The Parent Trap was originally made in 1961 in Hollywood...the 1998 version is in itself a remake. In between the Indian cinema adapted it in three different versions:

1. Pyaar Ke Kaabil - Stg Padmini Kolhapuri, Rishi Kapoor and Baby Bulbul ( Directed by Anil Ganguli , Music Bappi Lahiri )

2. Pyar Ke Do Pal - Stg Mithun Chakraborty , Jaya Prada and Master Ashutosh ( In this the twins' gender was changed to a boy) This one was an Eagle Films Production directed by Rajiv Mehra and Music by Annu Mallik

3. Of course, Do Kaliyan starring Mala Sinha, Biswajeet and Baby Neetu Singh. Apart from the song Bache man ke sache ( with Lata sounding just like a kid) , the other hit song was Tumhari nazar kyun khaffa hogayi, khata baqsh do gar khata ho gayi ( Lata and Rafi ) . This one had music by Ravi.

The last adaptation is the latest one Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi which changed the kid girl into an adult one (Kajol)

fursat said...

Hi Colors,

Oops Deepak beat me to it. But he is right Parent Trap was remake of Disney's 1961 movie "Parent Trap". You can read it's review at http://dvdmg.com/parenttrap.shtml

Ricky.

Colors said...

Well Deepak, I should have guessed. You being the filmi encyclopedia that you are, that you'd be the one to provide me with the answer and much more! I didnt know there was yet another similar movie (Mithun one). Thanks. I guess I was being silly thinking Hollywood copying Bollywood! But has that happened? Is there any English movie 'inspired' from a desi one?

Colors said...

Ricky...thanks for the link. I read the review...and well...as I said I was foolish in thinking the story to be Bollywood original. I extend my question to Deepak to you too...do u know if there's any english movie inspired from hindi one? Google away and let me know! :-)

fursat said...

Hi Colors,

Right now the only movie that comes to mind is not made yet. But Hollywood is remaking "Munnabhai MBBS" and has already bought the script for it. The english movie will be called "Gangsta MD" and will star Chris Rock in Sanjay Dutt's role. The movie will be directed by Mira Nair.

Ricks.

fursat said...

Hey Colors,

My blog is updated for the day. Check it out!!

Deepak Jeswal said...

the story GANGOTRI is up now on my blog

http://randomexpressions.rediffblogs.com

Colors said...

Ricky...thanks for the info. Now that you mention I do remember reading something about it. I am sure the movie's gonna be fun, with Chris Rock in it.

Colors said...

Hi Mehul...nice to see u. Yea..though these movies were so similar, I did enjoy Seeta Geeta and Chaalbaaz a lottt!

Colors said...

Hi Kaush...lol, you know even I used to dream of having a twin sis and meeting her out of the blue. Guess it's all the efect of the movies.