‘Maharaja’ Gets Hollywood Remake: Indian Films Remade Around The World

Written By: Entertainment Desk

Sep 17, 2026 13:08 IST ⓘ

Indian films whose stories were remade for audiences around the world.

Cinema has always travelled better than luggage. A thriller born in Kerala can become a Chinese blockbuster, a Kannada mystery can take a U-Turn in Manila, and a Mumbai gangster tragedy can wake up near the US-Mexico border. When a story is strong enough, subtitles are merely its first passport. A remake gives it a new language, new faces and, occasionally, an entirely new cultural identity. The latest Indian film preparing for that journey is ‘Maharaja’. Vijay Sethupathi and Anurag Kashyap’s acclaimed Tamil thriller is being developed for Hollywood after finding an unusually large audience outside India, particularly in China.

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Its producer has confirmed that a Hollywood agency is putting together the adaptation with an A-list star in mind. That makes this the perfect moment to revisit the Indian films whose stories travelled far enough to be officially remade – or, in one contentious case, copied – overseas.

1. Maharaja - Hollywood remake in development

Nithilan Swaminathan’s ‘Maharaja’ released in India on 14 June 2024, with Vijay Sethupathi playing a mild-mannered barber whose apparently simple complaint about a missing dustbin opens the door to something much darker. Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas, Natarajan Subramaniam, Abhirami and Sachana Namidass were among the principal cast. The film’s intricate construction made it unusually remake-friendly: its emotional core is universal, while its famous reveals can be relocated without losing their force.

Producer Sudhan Sundaram confirmed recently that a Hollywood agency had approached the makers after the film’s success in China and was trying to mount an English-language version with an A-list actor. He said filming could begin in 2027. However, the remake currently has no officially announced title, lead actor, director or release date. Reports linking Matthew McConaughey to Vijay Sethupathi’s role remain unconfirmed.

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2. Kill - English-language remake in development

Released in India on 5 July 2024, Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s ‘Kill’ starred Lakshya as an army commando fighting his way through a passenger train seized by bandits. Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala and Ashish Vidyarthi played the other key roles. Its confined setting, brutal close-quarters action and wonderfully uncomplicated title made translation almost unnecessary: it already spoke fluent action cinema.

Even before the Indian film opened widely, Lionsgate and 87Eleven Entertainment announced an English-language remake. ‘John Wick’ filmmaker Chad Stahelski is producing with Jason Spitz and Alex Young. Contrary to some reports, he has not been announced as the director. No remake title, cast, director or release date has been confirmed as of September 2026, so this remains in development.

3. Drishyam - China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia

Jeethu Joseph’s Malayalam thriller ‘Drishyam’ released on 19 December 2013 and starred Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Asha Sharath and Siddique. Its hook was irresistible: how far can an ordinary family man go to protect his family, and can his love of movies help him stay ahead of the police? India produced several versions, but the story also became one of the country’s most successful cultural exports.

The biggest international version was China’s ‘Sheep Without a Shepherd’, directed by Sam Quah and starring Xiao Yang, Tan Zhuo, Joan Chen and Philip Keung. Released on 13 December 2019, it reworked the setting and parts of the ending and went on to gross roughly USD 199 million in China. Sri Lanka had already released the Sinhala adaptation ‘Dharmayuddhaya’, directed by Cheyyar Ravi and starring Jackson Anthony and Dilhani Ekanayake, on 14 July 2017. The newest addition is Indonesia’s ‘Ayah, Aku Mau Cerita…’, directed by Danial Rifki and led by real-life couple Vino G. Bastian and Marsha Timothy. It opened on 20 August 2026.

4. Kaithi - Malaysia

Lokesh Kanagaraj’s ‘Kaithi’ arrived on 25 October 2019 with Karthi as Dilli, a newly released prisoner desperate to meet the daughter he has never seen. Instead, he is pulled into an all-night mission involving poisoned police officers, seized drugs and an army of criminals. Narain, Arjun Das, Harish Uthaman and George Maryan were also central to the largely song-free Tamil action thriller. Its stripped-down plot was built like an engine: one night, one mission and almost no wasted movement.

Malaysia rebuilt that engine as ‘Banduan’, the first official Malaysian remake of an Indian Tamil film. Directed by Kroll Azry, it starred Aaron Aziz, Rosyam Nor, Afdlin Shauki, Fadhli Masoot and Abi Madyan, and opened in Malaysian cinemas on 6 November 2025. The adaptation retained the themes of fatherhood, redemption and survival while translating the characters and milieu for Malay audiences. Karthi even attended its Malaysian premiere.

5. 3 Idiots - Mexico

Released on 25 December 2009, Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘3 Idiots’ starred Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Boman Irani and Omi Vaidya. Beneath its campus comedy sat an anxiety understood well beyond India: an education system obsessed with ranks, parental expectations and respectable careers. Rancho’s rebellion against learning by rote therefore required very little explanation when the story headed to Mexico.

Carlos Bolado directed the Spanish-language remake ‘3 Idiotas’, with Alfonso Dosal, Christian Vázquez and Germán Valdés III as the central college friends and Martha Higareda as the female lead. The film opened in Mexico on 31 March 2017 before its US release on 2 June. It localised the jokes and characters but preserved the friendship, missing-classmate mystery and critique of an unforgiving academic culture.

6. A Wednesday! - Sri Lanka and English language

Neeraj Pandey’s ‘A Wednesday!’ released on 5 September 2008 and brought Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher together as an anonymous caller and the Mumbai police commissioner forced to respond to his extraordinary demands. Jimmy Sheirgill, Aamir Bashir and Deepal Shaw completed the principal cast. The film’s real weapon was not spectacle but structure: a ticking clock, two commanding performers and a moral argument that becomes increasingly uncomfortable.

Sri Lankan filmmaker Chandran Rutnam transformed it into the English-language thriller ‘A Common Man’, starring Ben Kingsley, Ben Cross and Patrick Rutnam. The film premiered in Beverly Hills on 15 March 2013 and received its US home-entertainment release on 21 May 2013. It moved the action to Colombo but retained the tense battle of wits between a seemingly ordinary citizen and the authorities. One very eventful Wednesday had survived a change of city, country and language without surrendering its ticking-clock tension.

7. U Turn - the Philippines

Pawan Kumar’s Kannada mystery ‘U Turn’ released on 20 May 2016, starring Shraddha Srinath as an intern investigating motorists who illegally move concrete blocks on a Bengaluru flyover. Roger Narayan, Dileep Raj and Radhika Chetan played the other major roles. What starts as a traffic story soon swerves into police procedural and supernatural territory.

The Philippines followed it in 2020 with ‘U-Turn’, directed by Roderick Cabrido and starring Kim Chiu, JM de Guzman and Tony Labrusca. Released digitally on 30 October 2020, when the pandemic had disrupted conventional theatrical distribution, it became the first Kannada film to be remade in Filipino. The setting and some narrative details changed, but the fatal consequences of one selfish road habit remained intact.

8. Raja Rani - Sri Lanka

Atlee made his directorial debut with ‘Raja Rani’, released on 27 September 2013. Arya and Nayanthara played a couple pushed into an arranged marriage while still carrying grief from earlier relationships. Jai, Nazriya Nazim and Sathyaraj completed the principal cast. The film worked because its glossy romantic-comedy packaging concealed a more mature idea: a love story does not necessarily begin with first love.

More than a decade later, the premise received a Sinhala makeover in Sri Lanka. ‘Sihinayaki Adare’ –translated as ‘Love Is a Dream’ – was co-directed by Sarov Shanmugam and Donald Jayantha and released on 18 January 2024. Hemal Ranasinghe, Pooja Umashankar, Uddika Premarathna and Sheshadri Priyasad assumed the central roles. Production had begun in 2019 before delays, including the pandemic, stretched its road to theatres.

9. Parinda - Hollywood

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Parinda’ released on 3 November 1989, with Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Nana Patekar, Madhuri Dixit and Anupam Kher leading its story of two brothers trapped in Mumbai’s underworld. Its smoke, shadows and sudden violence helped move the Hindi gangster film away from cartoonish villains and towards something more bruising and psychologically dangerous.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra revisited his own film in English as ‘Broken Horse’s, shifting the action from Mumbai to the territory near the US-Mexico border. Released on 10 April 2015, it starred Anton Yelchin, Chris Marquette, Vincent D’Onofrio, María Valverde and Thomas Jane, with Chopra again directing. ‘Broken Horses’ was a reworking rather than a scene-for-scene transfer – the locations, professions and several character details changed – but the doomed bond between two brothers and a manipulative crime boss remained its backbone.

10. Black – Turkey but without authorisation

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Black’, released on 4 February 2005, starred Rani Mukerji as Michelle, a deafblind woman whose fiercely unconventional teacher, played by Amitabh Bachchan, helps her communicate with the world. Ayesha Kapur and Shernaz Patel also had important roles. The film drew on the Helen Keller-Anne Sullivan story, but its performances, wintry visual design and operatic treatment gave it an unmistakably Bhansali identity.

Turkey’s ‘Benim Dünyam’ (My World) arrived on 25 October 2013. Directed by Uğur Yücel, it starred Beren Saat, Yücel, Ayça Bingöl and child actor Melis Mutluç. It is frequently described online as a Turkish remake of ‘Black’, but there is an essential correction: SLB’s production team said no rights had been obtained and called it an unauthorised, near frame-for-frame adaptation, threatening legal action before its release. Here the story crossed borders, but the paperwork apparently did not.

11. Awaara – Turkey

Released on 14 December 1951, Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awaara’ starred the filmmaker alongside Nargis, Prithviraj Kapoor, Leela Chitnis and KN Singh. The social drama followed Raj, a young man pushed towards crime by poverty and rejection, while questioning whether criminals are born or created by their circumstances. The film became a sensation across the Soviet Union, China, West Asia and Turkey, while ‘Awaara Hoon’ turned Raj Kapoor’s Chaplinesque vagabond into a globally recognised character.

Turkey did not simply watch ‘Awaara’ – it kept recreating it. After a Turkish-dubbed version titled ‘Avare’ became a major success in 1955, the story inspired at least five local interpretations. The most prominent was Semih Evin’s ‘Avare’, released in 1964 and starring Sadri Alışık, Ajda Pekkan and Kenan Pars. It retained the basic story while giving it a happier conclusion. Another adaptation, ‘Ağla Gözlerim ‘(1968), reinvented the vagabond as a female pickpocket played by Türkan Şoray.

12. Aahwanam - United States

S.V. Krishna Reddy’s Telugu drama ‘Aahwanam’ was released on 2 May 1997 and starred Srikanth, Ramya Krishna, Heera and Brahmanandam. Its wonderfully unusual premise centred on Ravi, a married man whose obsession with wealth leads him towards another woman. When he seeks a divorce, his wife agrees – but insists that the marriage must end with a lavish divorce ceremony attended by the same people who witnessed their wedding. What begins as an almost comic spectacle gradually forces Ravi to confront everything he is about to lose.

Krishna Reddy later transported that central idea to American cinema with ‘Divorce Invitation’. The English-language romantic comedy, released internationally in 2012 before its Los Angeles premiere in May 2013, starred Jonathan Bennett, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Nadia Bjorlin, Elliott Gould, Lainie Kazan and Paul Sorvino. Krishna Reddy once again occupied the director’s chair, adapting the divorce-ceremony hook to an American setting and new cultural context.

Honourable Mentions

Several other Indian films also travelled beyond the country through foreign-language adaptations. Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’ (1957) was recreated almost scene for scene in Turkey as ‘Toprak Ana’ (1973), while Rajinikanth’s Tamil blockbuster ‘Baashha’ (1995) became the Sinhala action film ‘One Shot’ in 2005. Raghava Lawrence’s horror comedy ‘Kanchana’ (2011) received a shot-for-shot Sri Lankan remake titled ‘Maya 3D’ in 2016, and Venkat Prabhu’s cult cricket comedy ‘Chennai 600028’ (2007) travelled to Sri Lanka as ‘Super Six’ in 2012. Allu Arjun and Sukumar’s Telugu hit ‘Arya’ (2004) also found a Sinhala version in ‘Adaraye Namayen’ (2008). These adaptations may not have attracted the international headlines generated by ‘Maharaja’, ‘Kill’ or ‘Drishyam’, but they further demonstrate how easily a compelling Indian story can cross linguistic, cultural and geographical borders.