Bodyguard: Siddique’s glitzy tryst with Bollywood

Bodyguard: Siddique’s glitzy tryst with Bollywood

The mimicry artiste-turned Mollywood director is poised to mimic his friend Priyadarshan’s success in churning out Bollywood blockbusters

Jojo Puthuparampil 

Bodyguard is not Siddique’s first rendezvous with Bollywood. The ace Mollywood director, who is known for his breezy comedies, had earlier scripted Hera Pheri (remake of Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking), Hulchul (Godfather), Bhagam Bhag (Mannar Mathai Speaking) and Dhol (In Harihar Nagar), directed by his friend Priyadarshan. Siddique had directed the original versions of all these films, except Mannar Mathai Speaking, in collaboration with his childhood pal Lal—the duo was known as Siddique-Lal—who has over the years made his presence felt in Malayalam film industry as an actor and producer. 

In the tinsel world where relationships are short-lived Siddique is known for his enduring friendships. His prolonged collaboration with Lal is just one case in point. Though the duo broke off in 1993, Siddique later directed Hitler (1996) and Friends (1999) for Lal's production house Lal Creations (meanwhile, Lal returned to directing with two sequels to In Harihar Nagar—2 Harihar Nagar and In Ghost House Inn).

Siddique, who has been living with Bodyguard for five years making it first in Malayalam, then in Tamil (Kaavalan) and finally in Hindi, has begged off directing a Telugu remake, fearing another remake would drain his creative energy. The Malayalam version with Dileep in the lead and the Tamil adaptation with Vijay were box office hits though they have paled in comparison with the Salman-starrer which has emerged the highest grossing Hindi movie in the first week (Rs102.86 crore) and Bollywood's second highest-grossing film ever (Rajkumar Hirani's Aamir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots is the biggest grosser). Interestingly, it was also the highest opening day grosser and the biggest grosser ever for a single day, breaking the records earlier held by Dabangg, another Salman-starrer. In a bid not to replicate himself, Siddique has changed the shades of the lead character in each version—in the Malayalam film the protagonist is asked to become the heroine’s bodyguard; in the Tamil version he is duty-bound; and in Hindi he is a thorough professional.

R Mohan’s Shogun Films—which produced Gardish and Kabhi Na Kabhi that established Priyadarshan as a Bollywood icon—had earlier approached Siddique to direct a Hindi film. The director declined the offer as he wanted his Bollywood debut to be based on a theme that is universal. He was convinced that a romantic-action flick like Bodyguard, with an ample dose of suspense and clever twists, would appeal to the audience in the north. 

Siddique has started out as a mimicry artiste with Kalabhavan (which means ‘the house of art’), a travelling troupe in Kerala. In fact, most others who were part of Kalabhavan’s initial five-member mimicry team along with him in the early 80s later became names to reckon with in Mollywood—while Siddique and Lal established themselves as two of the finest directors in the history of popular Malayalam films, Zainuddin and Rahman went on to become a well-known comedians.

Interestingly, Siddique and Lal were initiated into films by Fazil, another mimicry artiste-turned director. The due were assistant directors under Fazil before making their directorial debut with Ramji Rao Speaking (1989) which was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films ever. Curiously, Fazil—who has directed cult films like Manichithrathazhu (1993) which has been re-made in Kannada (Aaptamitra-2004), Tamil and Telugu (Chandramukhi-2005), Bengali (Rajmohol-2005) and Hindi (Bhool Bhulaiya-2008)—also introduced Mohanlal, arguably the finest and most prolific among Indian actors. 

Equally interesting is Siddique’s collaboration with Priyadarshan who has preceded him in migrating to Bollywood and making it big there. The first engagement of Priyadarshan (who has directed super-hit Malayalam flicks such as Chithram (it completed 365 days in theaters) and Kilukkam) with Bollywood was not very successful—Muskurahat (remake of Kilukkam), his Bollywood debut was a flop. Though his second Hindi film Gardish fared well at the box office, it was Hera Pheri, the remake of Siddique’s Ramji Rao Speaking, which has changed the destiny of Priyadarshan in Bollywood. The film, starring Sunil Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal, has earned laurels as a landmark Hindi cinema and was a huge hit at the box office. Subsequently, Priyadarshan has successfully remade four of Siddique’s Malayalam films, emerging in the process as one of the leading Bollywood directors.

Bodyguard has come on the heels of a bevy of Hindi films which were either made by South directors or remakes of South films. AR Murugadoss’ Ghajini, the remake of the Tamil film by the same name, was one of the biggest hits in Bollywood. South actor-director Prabhudeva’s Wanted (2009), starring Salman Khan, also became a super hit (it is the second remake of 2006 Telugu film Pokiri). The success of these films was replicated by Rohit Shetty’s Ajay Devgn-starrer Singam, a remake of the 2010 Tamil film by the same name featuring Suriya and Anushka Shetty and directed by Hari. Ready directed by Anees Bazmee, starring Salman Khan and Asin in the lead roles, is a remake of the 2008 Telugu film with the same name directed by Sreenu Vaitla. Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap and Force are two other recent remakes. 

Right from Vyjanthimala to Rekha (yes, Rekha appeared as a child actress in the Telugu social satire Rangula Ratnam in 1966 and made her debut as heroine in the Kannada film Goadalli CID 999 in 1969) to Sridevi, the trend of South actors making a huge splash in Bollywood has always been around. Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai also made their debuts with Kannada (Aishwarya-2006) and Tamil (Iruvar-1997) films. Newer imports from the South include Asin, Genelia, Priyamani, Surya, Vikram and Rana. 

With the success of Priyadarshan and now Siddique in Hindi, Mollywood directors making it big in Bollywood is emerging a perceptible trend.