Before Haiwaan, Priyadarshan’s Serious Hindi Dramas, Ranked

From Virasat and Gardish to Tezz and Rangrezz, here’s a look at Priyadarshan’s serious side of Bollywood, ranked from forgettable to worth watching.

IMAGE: Saif Ali Khan in Haiwaan.

If you don’t count his short film in the 2020 anthology Forbidden Love (Z5’s failed attempt to launch its own Lust Stories), Director Priyadarshan is finally returning to, err… ‘serious’ Bollywood cinema after a 13-year gap with Haiwaan.

A remake of his 2016 Malayalam hit, Oppam, Haiwaan follows a visually impaired man doing all he can protect a young girl from a vendetta-obsessed psychopath, while trying to clear his own name in a murder case.

Saif Ali Khan steps into the shoes of the blind hero, while Akshay Kumar takes on the role of the psychopath.

Now, here is the thing about Priyadarshan. While he is best known among Bollywood fans for his iconic comedies like Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala and Malamaal Weekly, he has crafted serious fare for the industry, a couple of which earned critical acclaim.

Another distinct trait of Priyadarshan’s films is that they don’t always stick to a single genre, regardless of how they are marketed. You might be promised a breezy comedy entertainer, only for the movie to suddenly take a highly serious turn.

For instance, Hungama and Garm Masala were out-and-out comedies, but Hulchul and Chup Chup Ke featured serious family drama portions. Bhagam Bhag introduced a murder mystery angle, and his ‘horror-comedies’ like Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Bhooth Bangla took their supernatural elements incredibly serious.

Some of his ‘serious’ outings, like the romantic dramas Muskurahat, Saat Rang Ke Sapne, and Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, leaned on humour in their initial portions. Even Haiwaan isn’t a completely grim affair, with a few scenes treated in a light-hearted manner, just like the original.

But since we are classifying Haiwaan as a Priyadarshan thriller, Sreeju Sudhakaran looks back at all the ‘serious’ Hindi feature films the director (who is ready to direct his 100th movie soon) has made, and ranks them from utterly forgettable to highly watchable.

 

11. Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998)

IMAGE: Arvind Swamy and Juhi Chawla in Saat Rang Ke Sapne.

When he is in top form, Priyadarshan is one of the few filmmakers who can perfectly execute a sudden genre shift. Look at how flawlessly he transitions from breezy comedy to serious drama in his Malayalam blockbuster Thenmavin Kombathu.

But when his form is off, that shift feels jarring, exactly what happened with this Hindi remake. Saat Rang Ke Sapne is a prime example of how sequences that worked in the original can feel incredibly cringe and kitschy in translation if not handled correctly.

Arvind Swamy had the huge challenge of portraying a role originally portrayed by Mohanlal (arguably one of the finest actors in Indian cinema) and making it his own. While certainly a commendable actor in his own space, Swamy simply couldn’t deliver a strong, commanding performance that made you root for him.

Anupam Kher is strictly okay in a grey-shaded role, and Juhi Chawla was fine as the female lead. But neither the highly forced comedy of the first half nor the melodramatic face-off between a creepy employer (Kher) and what is essentially his slave (Swamy) ultimately works.

10. Kabhi Na Kabhi (1998)

IMAGE: Pooja Bhatt and Anil Kapoor in Kabhi Na Kabhi.

A film starring Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff should have worked to some extent, right? Yet, this buddy crime drama is no Ram Lakhan or Parinda. In fact, it might just be one of their most forgettable collaborations.

Kabhi Na Kabhi spent a few years in development, and that delay showed on the product when the movie finally released.

Tonally, it was all over the place. Priyadarshan surprisingly felt unsure about where to place comedy scenes amidst the dramatic moments, a flaw made even more surprising considering the script was written by Javed Akhtar!

Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, and Pooja Bhatt delivered perfunctory performances. The only truly redeemable aspects were Paresh Rawal’s enjoyable, hammy turn as the antagonist Kachra Seth, and a couple of A R Rahman songs (Tu Hi Tu and Tum Ho Meri Nigahon Mein remain under-rated gems in the composer’s discography).

9. Tezz (2012)

IMAGE: Ajay Devgn in Tezz.

How could a multi-starrer thriller featuring Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Kangana Ranaut, and Mohanlal go so wrong? Well, if you are asking that, it means you clearly haven’t watched Tezz!

This was the first Hindi film where Priyadarshan officially brought in his best friend Mohanlal (apart from a walk-on cameo in Yeh Tera Ghar Ye Mera Ghar, borrowed from their Malayalam film Kakkakuyil). Mohanlal was shockingly miscast as a British police officer, a minor role that didn’t remotely require an actor of his stature.

Elsewhere, this thriller, about a team of anti-heroes using terrorism to blackmail the system that destroyed their lives, lacked the fangs, style, or panache needed to make it work. The character motivations were highly laughable, particularly why the protagonists actively chose to endanger innocent lives just to stick it to the British government.

Even the actors themselves barely seemed interested in whatever was happening on screen. No Burning Train, this one!

8. Bumm Bumm Bole (2010)

IMAGE: Darsheel Safary and Ziyah Vastani in Bumm Bumm Bole.

How could you possibly go wrong adapting Majid Majidi’s heartwarming masterpiece, Children of Heaven? Well, as Priyadarshan shows, you can fail in numerous ways, even with a cast featuring Darsheel Safary (while riding his Taare Zameen Par adulation, the title is even inspired by the song from his movie), Atul Kulkarni and Rituparna Sengupta.

Bumm Bumm Bole became less of a touching brother-sister bonding story and far more of an annoying, feature-length promotion for a specific shoe brand, which, unfortunately, ties directly into the main plot.

This heavy-handed product placement eclipses the dramatic impact of the climax and Bumm Bumm Bole, thus, serves as a frustrating example of a film simply failing to recreate exactly what made the original so magical.

It also showcased the director, usually adept at adapting material, showing cracks in his methodology, cracks that only widened in the years that followed.

7. Muskurahat (1992)

IMAGE: Jay Mehta in Muskurahat.

Muskurahat marked Priyadarshan’s directorial debut in Hindi cinema, following numerous hits in Malayalam and occasional detours in Tamil and Telugu. It was a remake of his Malayalam blockbuster Kilukkam, considered an evergreen classic anchored by lovable performances from Mohanlal, Revathi, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent and Thilakan.

The remake is a faithful adaptation that should have worked for that very reason. Yet, Priyadarshan stumbled in one crucial aspect of the translation: the casting. More specifically, the casting of the male lead.

Revathi, reprising her female lead role, was wonderful here, and Amrish Puri was solid stepping into Thilakan’s shoes. Even though he wasn’t a patch on what Jagathy Sreekumar brought to the iconic role of photographer Nischal, Annu Kapoor was genuinely funny in places.

But the entire film collapsed around Jay Mehta’s performance, a severely poor replacement for Mohanlal. Even if you completely ignore the Mohanlal comparison, which is incredibly hard to do, Jay Mehta (not to be confused with actress Juhi Chawla’s entrepreneur husband) delivered a very one-note performance. He struggled with both comedy and drama and shared zero chemistry with Revathi.

6. Rangrezz (2013)

IMAGE: Jackky Bhagnani in Rangrezz.

Rangrezz is another prime example of a remake loudly highlighting the original’s flaws during translation. At the same time, the original’s main strength, a powerful finale, prevents the remake from being completely unwatchable.

A remake of the Tamil hit Naadodigal, the movie struggles in its initial portions while establishing the lives of its protagonists in the Mumbai slums, particularly the tedious love track between Jackky Bhagnani and Priya Anand.

The film becomes better engaging when the hero and his two friends suffer severe personal and bodily damage while trying to help two sweethearts elope, and then leading to their devastating realisation when that marriage inevitably fails.

But looking back now, while the characters’ intense ire is understandable from their perspective, the movie’s insistence on blaming the sweethearts for not enduring an incompatible marriage hasn’t aged that well.

Rangrezz also had pre-breakout Vijay Varma and Pankaj Tripathi in the cast, both giving the strong precursors of the superlative performances that will follow later.

5. Kyon Ki… (2005)

IMAGE: Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan in Kyon Ki.

Kyon Ki… was a remake of Priyadarshan’s successful Malayalam tearjerker Thalavattam (itself a loose remake of the Hollywood classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) which starred Mohanlal in one of his most memorable roles. So, you know the unfair comparison you are getting into here.

Still, I might be in the minority, but I liked Salman Khan’s performance. Even if it was nowhere near the sheer league of Mohanlal’s work, he committed to the part (a rarity from the superstar these days), while Kareena Kapoor and Jackie Shroff were also effective in their roles.

Kyon Ki… isn’t nearly as bad a film as its reputation suggests (and the soundtrack still stands out), though it was undeniably a remake made at least a decade too late.

The movie also suffered from the strange decision to release it on the exact same day as Priyadarshan’s own comedy hit, Garam Masala, making it a rare instance of the director clashing with himself at the box office.

4. Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1998)

IMAGE: Akshaye Khanna and Jyothika in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna.

I have to say, 1998 was a genuinely terrible year for Priyadarshan! He made three Hindi movies that year and all flopped.

Kunchacko Boban and Shalini’s lead debut Aniyathipravu, directed by Fazil, became one of the biggest blockbusters in Malayalam cinema in 1997. Naturally, the master of remakes immediately set out to remake it in Hindi, expecting similar results.

But despite A R Rahman’s fantastic soundtrack, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna failed to bring in the young crowds or win over the critics. Many audiences simply couldn’t connect with either the sheepish character or the performance of Jyothika (making her acting debut).

Furthermore, the hero’s friends’ characters, who were entertaining and endearing in the Malayalam original, were annoying in the remake.

Over the years, audiences have slightly warmed up to the feel-good happy ending and Akshaye Khanna’s sincere performance, but Doli Saja Ke Rakhna remains a crucial example of how some stories work best exactly where they were originally configured (though the movie was a hit when it was remade in Tamil).

3. Gardish (1993)

IMAGE: Amrish Puri, Jackie Shroff and Farida Jalal in Gardish.

I know there are quite a few ’90s Bollywood fans who look back at Gardish quite appreciatively, praising the intense father-son drama and the performances of Jackie Shroff and Amrish Puri.

Unfortunately, I have seen Kireedam, one of the most heartbreaking films ever made, anchored by two superlative performances from Mohanlal and Thilakan.

Because of that, it was difficult for me to warm up to the remake’s strangely ‘happy’ conclusion or its needless subplots, like the entire Dimple Kapadia track, not to mention the forced romantic songs (though I do adore S P Balasubrahmanyam and Asha Bhosle’s beautiful duet Yeh Mera Dil).

Yet, Gardish actually worked well within its own space when it attempts to emulate the hard-hitting drama of the original, and Mukesh Rishi, in his major breakout role, made for a truly terrifying antagonist.

2. Aakrosh (2010

IMAGE: Akshaye Khanna and Ajay Devgn in Aakrosh.

Following the massive successes of the Dhurandhar movies, Aakrosh (not to be confused with the Govind Nihalani classic) recently re-entered movie chatter, when fans were surprised to learn the film’s dialogues were penned by Aditya Dhar.

Aakrosh is a decent remake of the Hollywood film Mississippi Burning (Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe) that does a fine job of sewing gritty themes like caste discrimination and brutal honour killings into an investigation drama.

The cast delivers solid performances, particularly Ajay Devgn, Akshaye Khanna, Reema Sen, and Paresh Rawal (making a return to on-screen villainy after a string of comic roles). It was also refreshing to see a mainstream Hindi movie actively address caste discrimination and deep-rooted societal politics while featuring a Dalit as one of its main leads.

The only truly strange aspect for Aakrosh, a supposedly grounded, gritty drama, was Priyadarshan’s baffling insistence on playing into Devgn’s action image. Having his character behave like an invincible superhero in the most inopportune moments made those specific scenes stick out like a sore thumb.

1. Virasat (1997)

IMAGE: Anil Kapoor, Pooja Batra and Tabu in Virasat.

Bharathan’s Tamil film Thevar Magan is an all-time classic, boasting truly masterful performances from the late Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, and Revathi. Priyadarshan’s remake does a solid job of adapting the core story to a North Indian milieu.

He also nailed the casting, with Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri, and Tabu delivering fantastic performances. In an interview with Rediff, Priyadarshan once stated he made Virasat because he found Thevar Magan to be ‘crudely shot’, a statement I am still unsure how to interpret.

Thevar Magan remains the superlative film about a young man reluctantly inheriting a massive legacy and attempting to use his modern mindset to uplift his village, all while facing severely violent challenges from his rivals.

While Virasat does not supersede the original, as the director intended, it remains an incredibly effective, and well-acted adaptation, and remains unchallenged as the director’s best ever ‘serious’ work in Bollywood.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff