RIP Siddique: From Ramji Rao Speaking to Bodyguard, 7 Films of the Director That Made Their Way Into Bollywood

It is with a heavy heart that Malayalam cinema lovers bid adieu to Siddique, the director who, along with his former partner Lal, gave us quite a few enjoyable films. Siddique passed away on August 8 after suffering from a cardiac arrest. He was 69. As per reports, he was in the initial stages of making his next directorial called Doctor Mad with Mammootty in the lead. Unfortunately, that could never be. All we have left are some cherished entertainers that he made in the past, either with Lal or going solo. Siddique Passes Away at 69: Malayalam Filmmaker Who Directed Mohanlal, Mammootty, Salman Khan and Thalapathy Vijay, and Entertained Audiences for Years is No More.

Even though Siddique lost his Midas touch in his recent movies with his last film Big Brother, that had Mohanlal in the lead, being the weakest film that he made, his past films always mesmerised the audiences with their high recall value. What's more, they even lent themselves to hit remakes in other languages, with Siddique himself directing a few of them. Like, how he turned the Tamil remake of his Malayalam hit, Friends, into an even bigger blockbuster, helped by the combined star-power of Thalapathy Vijay and Suriya Sivakumar. Or when he directed the remake of Bodyguard in Hindi and Tamil, and they were blockbusters. Only Sadhu Miranda (Tamil remake of Mannar Mathai Speaking, claimed to be ghost directed by Siddique-Lal) and Engal Anna (Tamil remake of Chronic Bachelor) directed by Siddique didn't work as had expected.

As for the Hindi audiences, while his remake of Bodyguard was a major hit, some of his other entertainers also made it to Bollywood, even though he didn't direct them. Mostly, courtesy Priyadarshan.

So in this special feature dedicated to Siddique, let's look at seven Malayalam films of his that found their way into Bollywood.

Ramji Rao Speaking

Siddique-Lal's breakout film was not only a mega success in Malayalam cinema, spawning two sequels, but it also gave Hindi cinema one of its best comedies... you guessed it right....

Hera Pheri, directed by Priyadarshan, had starred Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Tabu and Om Puri. Hera Pheri gave a bigger hit in its sequel, Phir Hera Pheri, that was directed by late Neeraj Vora, and there are strong plans for the third film in the franchise.

In Harihar Nagar 

Siddique-Lal's second blockbuster, starring Mukesh, Ashokan, Jagadeesh, Siddique, Geeta Vijayan and cameos from Suresh Gopi and Saikumar, was not only very funny but also gave Malayalam cinema one of its most memorable villains in Riza Bawa's John Honai. Well, not many know that In Harihar Nagar had spawned not one, but two remakes in Hindi! Siddique Funeral: Lal Breaking Down After Seeing His Former Directing Partner's Mortal Remains Will Leave You Emotional (Watch Video).

The first one was...

Parda Hai Parda, that starred Chunky Pandey, the late Laxmikant Berde and Raj Zutshi. Directed by K Bapaiah, the film was also the Hindi debut of Drishyam fame Meena (who later worked with Siddique-Lal in Friends) and remained her only Bollywood film to date.

The second was...

... Dhol, which was directed by Priyadarshan and had Tusshar Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kemmu, Rajpal Yadav and Tanushree Dutta in the lead. Although the main premise was a remake of In Harihar Nagar, Priyadarshan also blended in a couple of scenes from his own Chandralekha in there, especially the subplot involving Tiku Talsania.

Godfather 

Siddique-Lal's third film was a mega-hit with an ensemble cast and immortalised the character of veteran artiste NN Pillai. The blend of comedy and drama was much loved by family audiences, and they even do so till now. Years later, Priyadarshan remade the film as...

... Hulchul, which had Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor in the lead, while Arshad Warsi, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan and late Amrish Puri formed the supporting cast. Hulchul is always considered the third prong of Priyadarshan's H-comedies, others being Hera Pheri and Hungama, and all the films were hits.

Vietnam Colony 

With Vietnam Colony, the director duo worked for the first time with superstar Mohanlal. The movie was a major hit with lovely songs. It sought some inspiration in its plot from the Kevin Costner film, Dances With Wolves. In Hindi, there is no remake of this film but...

...the Mahesh Manjrekar film Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye had a subplot involving Aman Verma's character who comes undercover to a chawl to get it vacated but falls in love with a girl there. This subplot feels inspired by Mohanlal-Kanaka's track in Vietnam Colony.

Hitler 

With Hitler, Siddique turned solo director, but Lal continued to associate here as a producer. This was also the first time they worked with Mammootty as the leading man. Hitler had a couple of flawed aspects, like the protagonist not giving his sisters any agency, or getting a sibling married to her rapist, but it was a big blockbuster then. Not many Malayalis know this, but even Hitler had a Hindi remake which was...

...Ashok Honda's Krodh. While Suniel Shetty played Mammootty's role in the remake, the film also starred Rambha, Apoorva Agnihotri, Johnny Lever, Sakshi Shivanand and the late Kader Khan.

Friends

After Hitler, Siddique returned as director with Lal as producer in 1999 with Friends, that also turned out to be a major blockbuster. The movie, starring Jayaram, Meena, Mukesh, Divya Unni and Sreenivasan, may not have a remake in Bollywood but....

... in Khatta Meetha, Priyadarshan's remake of his own Vellanakalude Nadu, there is a comical scene involving Akshay Kumar's contractor and his bumbling workers trying to paint Asrani's house and making a mess of it. This was clearly inspired by the painting sequences in Friends.

Bodyguard 

Siddique's solo directorial, starring Dileep and Nayantara, may not be among his best works, but it was a big hit enough to inspire remakes in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, with Siddique himself directing the Hindi remake. Speaking of this remake...

... Bodyguard which had Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead came at a phase when Bhai could do no wrong at the box office. The film was a blockbuster, but what's interesting is that Siddique crafted the remake to suit Salman's image, hence it had more action scenes. Siddique Dies at 69: Kareena Kapoor Khan Remembers Bodyguard Movie Director, Shares Emotional Note on Insta.

Honourable Mention -

Mannar Mathai Speaking

The sequel to Ramji Rao Speaking is, on paper, not directed by Siddique-Lal but by producer Mani C Kappan. However, there is a strong rumour that the director duo has ghost-directed the film with even Kappan himself thanking them in the credits for helping him out. What's more, fans still erroneously see this as a film made by Siddique-Lal. As for its Hindi remake...

...it is actually a funny observation. Phir Hera Pheri, the sequel to the Hindi remake of Ramji Rao Speaking, had nothing to do with Mannar Mathai Speaking. So Priyadarshan took it on himself to get this film remade as Bhagam Bhag that had Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Govinda, Paresh Rawal and Jackie Shroff in the cast. Not just that, Priyadarshan also borrowed plot elements from Sathyan Anthikkad's Nadodikattu, his own Dhim Tharikida Thom and the Marathi film Bindhaast (that Priyadarshan had earlier remade as the bilingual Rakkilipattu).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 09, 2023 04:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).