RIP Dharmendra: Phool Aur Patthar, Seeta Aur Geeta - Movies so iconic they were remade into South Indian language films

How many Dharmendra movies did you know were remade into South Indian language films?

Dharmendra

It is truly the end of an era with Dharmendra's passing away. The veteran actor left behind a legacy like none other. A Punjabi boy who had humble beginnings, Dharmendra was declared a superstar in late 60s and gained peak stardom when he appeared in Sholay in 1970. The actor, who worked in over 300 films during his career span, even had multiple movies remade in the South Indian languages because of the kind of impact they left.

Remembering Dharmendra movie that were remade in the South Indian languages:

Phool Aur Patthar (1966) - Remade in Tamil as Oli Vilakku (1968), in Telugu as Nindu Manasulu (1967), and in Malayalam as Puthiya Velicham (1979)

Phool Aur Patthar originally became the film that recognized Dharmendra as an actor. The movie was remade in three of the four major South Indian languages. The movie was adapted in Tamil, Telugu as well as Malayalam. Interestingly, all the movies, including the original, went on to find major success.

Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) - Remade in Telugu as Ganga Manga (1973) and Tamil as Vani Rani (1974)

Seeta Aur Geeta, featuring Hema Malini in the lead role and Dharmendra as one of the male leads, was also among those that were later remade in other languages. They were seen as iconic dual role films in Hindi, Tamil as well as Telugu.

Insaf Ki Pukar (1987) - Remade in Tamil as Guru Sishyan (1988) and Telugu as Guru Sishyulu (1990)

Directed by T. Rama Rao, Insaf Ki Pukar was declared a semi-hit, but the Tamil remake Guru Sishyan, starring Rajinikanth, was a commercial success. The movie celebrated its silver jubilee by screening in theatres for over 175 days.

Jugnu (1973) - Remade in Tamil and Telugu as Guru (1980)

Dharmendra's Jugnu was an action-comedy movie that became a super hit. The Tamil and Telugu versions also achieved the same status.

Tamil film Kalyanaraman (1979)'s remake is Dharmendra's Ghazab (1982)

Seeing how his movies broke the language barriers, Dharmendra also decided to star in the remake of a successful Tamil film, Kalyanaraman. Needless to say, the Hindi version Ghazab was also accepted at the Box Office.

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