One movie, many copies — but at what cost?

In 2016, an Italian film titled Perfect Strangers (Perfetti Sconosciuti) released. The film, an ensemble entertainer, revolved around a simple premise. A group of friends meet for dinner. A few pleasantries later, they all decide to take a challenge where they will share all the messages and calls they get on their individual phones. Things go awry as secrets get revealed, fights ensue and relationships go sour.

Much like Drishyam, Perfect Strangers turned into remake gold, with the film finding itself getting adapted in nearly 20 languages. Interestingly three remakes came from India. While one is an official remake, the other films have been loosely adapted, thus earning the “freemake” tag.

The first freemake of Perfect Strangers came from the Malayalam industry, from none other than Jeethu Joseph, the man behind Drishyam. His film 12th Man released directly on Hotstar in 2022. It starred a host of Malayalam actors, along with Mohanlal. The movie had decent reviews. An year later, there was another freemake, this time from the Telugu industry.

Richie Gadi Pelli, directed by KS Hemraj, starred the likes of Praneeta Pattnaik, Bunny Vox, SK Sathya and Kishore Marrisetty. The film sank without a trace, neither creating an impact in the box office or with the critics.

Cut to present day, just when Akshay Kumar’s Sarfira, the Hindi remake of Soorarai Pottru, bombed in the box office, the actor’s next film Khel Khel Mein scheduled to release on August 15, is an official remake of Perfect Strangers. Khel Khel Mein — featuring the likes of Fardeen Khan, Vaani Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Aparshakti Khurrana and Johnny Lever — has an ensemble cast that is slightly more high profile than that of 12th Man or Richie Gadi Pelli.

Since nobody in the north is aware of 12th Man or Richie Gadi Pelli, Khel Khel Mein might also do some good business, despite the film being a remake. But the release of Khel Khel Mein placed after Sarfira and Akshay Kumar’s back-to-back box office failures might also negatively impact the project. It remains to be seen, whether this particular remake and this particular Akshay Kumar film, will work out or not.