Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger To Pull Curtains On South Remakes?

Salman Khan was the one who started off the trend of remaking south action entertainers with Wanted. Ready and Bodyguard followed next and such was the blockbuster success of both films that whenever a film down south turned into a hit, it was Salman Khan who was expected to procure its remake rights and act in it. However the tremendous response to the promo of Ek Tha Tiger is all set to change the rules of the game. While Salman has already moved ahead with the film, others are expected to follow suit as well.

“Since Salman himself is doing a slick urban entertainer like ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and the last South remake that he would now do is ‘Kick’, he is all set to take Bollywood into a different direction,” says an insider.

This is apparent from the fact that Ek Tha Tiger is not just Yash Raj Films’ most expensive offering till date, it is also one film where Salman would be getting into an avatar like never before. Though one does expect him to stay on a man of the masses, the very fact that he is playing a RAW agent and would be seen in a globe trotting avatar would be enough for makers of ‘desi’ films to wonder if they would have to get inventive all over again sooner than they would have thought.

“As of now the only film that is expected to have a free run is ‘Rowdy Rathore‘ since it would be released before ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. Also, Akshay is being seen in this avtar after ages so it still carries good level of excitement. Ditto for Ajay Devgan who is doing ‘Himmatwala’ remake. However don’t expect top stars to continue on the South bandwagon,” the insider adds.

On last count, at least half a dozen south remakes are in the pipeline and another half a dozen have the casting process in progress. However the trend isn’t expected to last long if the success of films like Kahaani, Vicky Donor, Jannat 2 and Ishaqzaade is anything to go by. With new subjects back in vogue and Ek Tha Tiger making a strong announcement as well, looks like Salman would pretty much pull down the curtains for the very trend that he started.