This director made the same film thrice in a year with 3 superstars, all big hits; yet never worked in Bollywood again
The trend of remaking one's own film in another language is not new. Priyadarshan made a career for himself in Hindi cinema by remaking his old Malayalam classics in Bollywood, and doing it quite successfully. Of late, Atlee has repackaged elements from his films in his Hindi debut, Jawan. But nobody did it quite as successfully as one man in the late 2010s. This maverick made the same film in three languages, with three different star casts, all in one year. And all of them were blockbusters. Yet, this was his final foray in Bollywood.
Siddique Ismail, known in the film world as simply Siddique, started his film career as an assistant to Fazil in Malayalam cinema. He later teamed up with Lal, and the Siddique-Lal duo gave Mollywood many hits. But after their split in the 90s, Siddique began to direct films solo. In 2010, he directed Bodyguard, starring Dileep with Nayanthara and Mithra Kurian. The film was a roaring box office success, sparking calls for a remake in the Tamil and Telugu industries. Just months later, Siddique mounted the Tamil remake - Kaavalan. This starred Vijay, Asin, and Mithra Kurian (reprising her role from the Malayalam original). Kaavalan became Vijay's first film to gross ₹100 crore and was declared an industry hit.
Not to be outdone, barely a year after the release of the original Bodyguard, Siddique went on the floors with the Hindi remake. Also titled Bodyguard, this film starred Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor, alongside Raj Babbar and Hazel Keech. The film earned ₹253 crore and was one of the highest-grossing Hindi films at the time of its release.
After the success of the three Bodyguard films, Siddique went back to Malayalam cinema. Reportedly, he had offers from top Bollywood stars, who wanted to replicate the Bodyguard success. But Siddique had Malayalam cinema on his mind. In 2018, he made a Tamil film - Bhaskar Oru Rascal - again, a remake of his film. And in 2020, he directed his final film, Big Brother, starring Mohanlal and Arbaaz Khan. Siddique suffered from liver cirrhosis in his final days and died after a prolonged illness in July 202. He was only 55.
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