The world of cinema is a challenging arena where talent, dedication, and discipline are crucial for success. However, there have been instances where actors, brought in as replacement for another, ruined not only the movie, but also the legacy of a franchise as well. Here we explore five such replacements, and why they were a huge disaster.
Akshay Kumar (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara):
Before the “Khiladi Kumar” had gone on a rampage with multiple films, and maximum entertainment, he had a string of failures threatening his career. One of them was “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara”, sequel to the iconic “Once Upon a Time with Mumbai”. Not many times would you hear this, but with Akshay Kumar reprising the role of Shoaib, people missed Emraan Hashmi, who played the original role, all the more. For the film, the less said, the better.
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John Abraham (Welcome Again):
Imagine a film, which shone like a diamond in the heap of coal. Now reverse the situation, and you will get “Welcome Again”! With almost all the characters from the original except for Akshay Kumar, the makers decided to cast John Abraham, and this is where the seeds of a potential disaster were sown. The rest, as they say, is history.
Salman Khan (Race 3):
Star power doesn’t guarantee a good film, and the makers of ‘Race franchise’ learnt it the hard way. Here, not just the main actor, but also the director was replaced. Now that’s not a bad thing to begin with, unless and until you realize that the replacements were Salman Khan and Remo D Souza respectively. Compared to the previous two installments, which were slick and to an extent intriguing, the third installment was a literal disaster.
Anybody who played Laxman (Golmaal):
Now that’s one choice not many are impressed with. No matter how hard Shreyas Talpade and Kunal Khemu have tried, they just couldn’t match the vibe of Sharman Joshi from the original Golmaal: Fun Unlimited. Though none of the movies have been disastrous, Sharman Joshi was a class apart. If not for Ajay Devgn, Golmaal would have died with the second installment itself.
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Saif Ali Khan (Bunty aur Babli):
It’s strange, that an actor who is missed in one franchise, is completely unwanted in the other. But that’s what Saif Ali Khan has managed to achieve. In 2005, following the success of Saathiya, Shaad Ali Sehgal returned with “Bunty aur Babli”, which managed to surprise many with its quirky take on small town affairs and the con duo that created a legacy of its own. However, when Saif Ali Khan replaced the original Bunty, i.e., Abhishek Bachchan, many people realized his actual value and missed his nonchalant, carefree attitude in the same. Sorry Saif, but Abhishek was much better as Bunty!
The stories of Saif, Salman, John Abraham serve as cautionary tales of how some filmmakers, in the urge of minting quick money, not only destroy the movie, but also the legacy created by the original in case of a franchise. None are unaware of how the Bollywood has had a bad equation with the remakes. But this, is another problem altogether.
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