Harish Shankar's upcoming movie, 'Mr. Bachchan', is a remake of 'Raid' (Hindi; 2018). At an event on Sunday, he was asked about his inclination to do remakes ('Gaddalakonda Ganesh' and 'Gabbar Singh', too, were remakes).
The 'DJ' director went beyond defending himself. He actually congratulated himself for being a superior filmmaker.
He gave the analogy of a child writing a first-time exam and a neighbourhood child walking in the first child's footsteps. He implied that a first-time examinee (read original film) has no burden of expectations, as his parents don't exert pressure on him. On the other hand, his neighbour who takes the exam later (a remake film) has the pressure of performing better than the first child.
The analogy is atrocious. Harish Shankar is probably the first filmmaker in the world to say that remakes are harder to make than originals. Netizens asked him not to subject himself to punishment by opting for remakes. They advised him to do straight films - the easy path, as per him.
Harish Shankar, in the same presser, contradicted himself by suggesting that it is illiterate to call his previous remakes, remakes. He meant to say that they were adaptations.
