Vishal Furia on 'Forensic': Doing justice to original film is toughest

Mumbai, June 12

While films made in south Indian languages are finding a pan-Indian audience and that is translating at the box office in the recent times, one might think twice before remaking a film from one language to another, and if remake culture still holds any relevance.

As 'Forensic', a remake of a Malayalam film of the same name is all set to release on June 24, in conversation with IANS, director Vishal Furia explains why the remake helps to expand the audience group.

Vishal told IANS: "I think the audience still prefer to watch a film or a web series in their own comfortable language, that is how mostly consumption of any entertainment content works. That is how films in every region work, it reestablishes relatability. Having said that, the biggest challenge of any remake is to do justice to the original material while adding a local touch to that."

He went on adding, " For instance, 'Forensic' that released in Malayalam, I am sure many people have watched it. But there is a section of people who haven't watched it too. Now, there is a fan following of Radhika Apte and Vikrant Massey. When the Hindi cinegoers see that their favourite stars are coming with 'Forensic' that is a celebrated film already, they will naturally get drawn towards the film."

"The same happened with my other film 'Chhorii' which was a remake of a Marathi film. So the remaking of a film from one language to another still holds relevance. This helps to travel the film to more audience," Vishal further explained.

In the recent past, there are examples of films like 'Kabir Singh' starring Shahid Kapoor, a remake of the Telugu film 'Arjun Reddy' that earned well at the box office. However, Shahid's latest 'Jersey' which was also another remake of a Telugu film of the same name did not perform well.

Asked his opinion on recreating the same magic in a remake version of a successful film, Vishal said that unless he sees potential in adding a new layer to the narrative, he does not take up the project.

"Look, there are films, that get released in multiple dubbed versions also that audience enjoys watching. But as a filmmaker, if I cannot see potential in a story that I can set in a different region and reach out to the target audience for better, I will not make the film or series. I will not do a remake that is just a copy of the original."

"Even though 'Chhorii' was a remake of 'Lapachhapi', they are different. Even though 'Criminal Justice' was a remake of a British web series of the same name, I Indianised the version. My aim is to impress the fans of the original while expanding towards the new audience," Vishal signed off.

'Forensic', also featuring Prachi Desai, Rohit Roy, Subrata Dutta, Vindu Dara Singh - releases on ZEE5 on June 24.