Vasool Raja MBBS (2004) is a Tamil-language remake of one of my favorite movies, Munnabhai M.B.B.S..
This is not unusual; popular Hindi films are often remade in various
Indian languages, and Munnabhai alone has been remade in Tamil, Telugu,
and Kannada. (And if the IMDB is to be believed, will be remade in the
US as Gangsta, M.D., making it a rare case of Hollywood lifting wholesale from Bollywood.)
If you’ve seen Munnabhai, then you already know the plot of Vasool Raja. If you haven’t seen Munnabhai, here’s the short version. Raja (Kamal Haasan) is a gangster with a heart of gold. (”Vasool Raja” means “King of Collections.) His mother and father (Rohini Hattangadi, Nagesh) think he’s a doctor, and rather than tell them the truth and break their hearts, he stages an elaborate deception every time his parents visit. When Raja’s visiting father bumps into old friend (and actual doctor) Vishwanathan (Prakash Raj) and decides to arrange a potential marriage between Raja and Vishwanathan’s daughter Janaki (Sneha), nicknamed “Pappu”, the truth comes out. Thanks to that pesky heart of gold, Raja decides to avenge his father’s humiliation by actually becoming a doctor and marrying Pappu rather than just having Vishwanathan killed. He enrolls in medical college, and wackiness ensues.
As I’ve mentioned, Munnabhai is one of my favorite movies, so it’s very hard for me to be objective and look at Vasool Raja as its own film rather than as an adaptation. Even the actors seem conflicted; while Nagesh (playing Raja’s father) is clearly doing his own thing, Prakash Raj seems to be doing his very best Boman Irani impression. For that matter, the hero’s mother and Anand the coma patient are played by the same (respective) actors in both films.
Despite my noble intentions, though, I can’t help but compare. The little details make all the difference. For instance, both heroes sing a song to cheer up a young patient who attempted suicide out of unrequited love, but while Raja’s song boils down to “There are other women out there, you know. You should date one of them,” Munna’s advice is closer to “I’ve been there, dude. It sucks, but that’s life. Oh, and there are other women out there. You should date one of them. I did.” which strikes me as a bit more likely to work. And while sneaking a terminally ill patient out to a club is more plausible, it doesn’t have quite the same dramatic flair as suspending a stripper from the hospital ceiling.
My biggest problem with the film was the lack of Circuit. The chemistry between Sanjay Dutt and Arshwad Warsi was a big part of the charm of Munnabhai, and there’s nothing like that here. Raja has a sidekick, Vaddi (Prabhu), but he’s presented as more of a subordinate than a best friend, and it’s just not the same.
Taken by itself, Vasool Raja is a fine movie. The premise is golden, the script is genuinely funny even when filtered through subtitles of dubious quality, and the cast is engaging. When I compare the two films, I’m not damning Vasool Raja with faint praise, I’m praising it with faint damns. “Not as good as Munnabhai” is still pretty darned good.
If you’ve seen Munnabhai, then you already know the plot of Vasool Raja. If you haven’t seen Munnabhai, here’s the short version. Raja (Kamal Haasan) is a gangster with a heart of gold. (”Vasool Raja” means “King of Collections.) His mother and father (Rohini Hattangadi, Nagesh) think he’s a doctor, and rather than tell them the truth and break their hearts, he stages an elaborate deception every time his parents visit. When Raja’s visiting father bumps into old friend (and actual doctor) Vishwanathan (Prakash Raj) and decides to arrange a potential marriage between Raja and Vishwanathan’s daughter Janaki (Sneha), nicknamed “Pappu”, the truth comes out. Thanks to that pesky heart of gold, Raja decides to avenge his father’s humiliation by actually becoming a doctor and marrying Pappu rather than just having Vishwanathan killed. He enrolls in medical college, and wackiness ensues.
As I’ve mentioned, Munnabhai is one of my favorite movies, so it’s very hard for me to be objective and look at Vasool Raja as its own film rather than as an adaptation. Even the actors seem conflicted; while Nagesh (playing Raja’s father) is clearly doing his own thing, Prakash Raj seems to be doing his very best Boman Irani impression. For that matter, the hero’s mother and Anand the coma patient are played by the same (respective) actors in both films.
Despite my noble intentions, though, I can’t help but compare. The little details make all the difference. For instance, both heroes sing a song to cheer up a young patient who attempted suicide out of unrequited love, but while Raja’s song boils down to “There are other women out there, you know. You should date one of them,” Munna’s advice is closer to “I’ve been there, dude. It sucks, but that’s life. Oh, and there are other women out there. You should date one of them. I did.” which strikes me as a bit more likely to work. And while sneaking a terminally ill patient out to a club is more plausible, it doesn’t have quite the same dramatic flair as suspending a stripper from the hospital ceiling.
My biggest problem with the film was the lack of Circuit. The chemistry between Sanjay Dutt and Arshwad Warsi was a big part of the charm of Munnabhai, and there’s nothing like that here. Raja has a sidekick, Vaddi (Prabhu), but he’s presented as more of a subordinate than a best friend, and it’s just not the same.
Taken by itself, Vasool Raja is a fine movie. The premise is golden, the script is genuinely funny even when filtered through subtitles of dubious quality, and the cast is engaging. When I compare the two films, I’m not damning Vasool Raja with faint praise, I’m praising it with faint damns. “Not as good as Munnabhai” is still pretty darned good.
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