A Still From Housefull

Housefull, A REMAKE OF

  Kaathala Kaathala?

     At least that''s what producer P l Thenappan claims...

    Has Akshay Kumar's Sajid Khan-directed, Sajid Nadiaewala-produced Housefull been ripped off from the Kamal Hassan-starrer Kaathala Kaathala (KK),directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao and produced by P L Thenappan? "Yes," says Tamil producer Thenappan, who is planning to take legal action against the Hindi producers of the film. In an exclusive to CT, Thenappan says, "I was shocked when I watched Housefull as nearly 60 per cent of the scenes have been ripped off from my 1998 film Kaathala Kaathala, More than a year back, I was in talks with Housefull's producer Sajid Nandiadawala about selling the remake rights, but the deal did not go through. Now,after consulting with my lawyers and other members of the Tamil Film Producers Council, we are planning to take leagal action against the Hindi poducer."

      Kaathala Kaathala, a comedy caper with dialogues by Crazy Mohan, featured Kamal Haasan, Prabhu Deva, Soundarya and Rambha and was a run away hit. Years later, the film was dubbed in Hindi as Mirchi Masala but didn't get released. Says Thenappan, "I bought back the dubbing rights from the person I sole it to, after paying double the amount, as there were offers to remake the film in Hindi.

      It was at this stage that Thenappan started negotiating with Sajid. Sajid's previous smash-hit Kambakkht Ishq was loosely based on Thenappan's Kamal Haasan-starrer Pammal K Sambandam. Says Thenappan, "When a Tamil film is remade in Hindi, certain scenes are changed to suit the taste of the audience. The basic plot remains the same, and in case of Housefull, post the interval, there were 10 continuous scenes which were lifted from KK, though the climax and certain other scenes were modified."