For the first time in the history of Indian cinema, an Indian film is being remade in Korean. South Korea’s Anthology Studios and India’s Panorama Studios have collaborated for the remake of the Drishyam franchise in South Korea. Panorama Studios is backed by producer Kumar Mangat Pathak, while Anthology Studios is founded by former Warner Bros. local Korean production head, Choi Jae-won, Parasite fame Song Kang-ho and acclaimed director Kim Jee-woon.
The announcement was made at the India Pavilion on Sunday during the ongoing Cannes Film Festival where both the studio heads Pathak and Choi were present.
Drishyam is the 2013 Malayalam crime thriller starring Mohanlal. The film revolves around Georgekutty, a cable TV operator whose simple life takes a dark turn after his family gets accidentally involved in the death of Varun Prabhakar, the son of the IG Geetha Prabhakar.
The film was a massive success and has spawned several blockbuster remakes in multiple languages–Drishya (2014) in Kannada starring Ravichandran, Drushyam (2014) in Telugu featuring Venkatesh, Papanasam (2015) in Tamil starring Kamal Haasan, in Hindi as Drishyam (2015) with Ajay Devgn and in Sinhala (Sri Lanka) as Dharmayuddhaya (2017), starring Jackson Anthony. The film also has a Chinese remake named Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019) which stars Xiao Yang.
Korean films are frequently remade in India; recent examples include the Kartik Aaryan-starring Dhamaka, an adaptation of The Terror Live, Bharat (Ode to My Father), and the upcoming film Blind, starring Sonam Kapoor, which is also a remake of the 2011 film Blind. According to the makers, this is the first time an Indian film has been officially remade in Korea.
Excited about the collaboration, Choi further stated, “The remake has greater significance as the first major co-production between Korea and India. Through our partnership, we will be able to bring the best of both Indian and Korean cinema and make a meaningful remake that is as excellent as the original.”
See Also: “We made Drishyam in less than 6 months”