Salman in 'Dookudu' remake?

Producers of the original blockbuster give the actor top priority over others clamouring to make the Hindi version of the same

Producers of the original blockbuster give the actor top priority over others clamouring to make the Hindi version of the same

While Bollywood's dream run at the box-office seems to be waning (hopefully temporarily till the promising Diwali releases), there's one South film that has been garnering enough eyeballs to make it a winner in the overseas market, too.
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Mahesh Babu's Telugu film Dookudu has earned more than R 30 crore so far (collecting 82,000 dollars at a multiplex in Virginia, US), making Brad Pitt's Moneyball the only movie to surpass it financially. No wonder, then, the Salman Khan camp is abuzz with plans of remaking the movie in Hindi soon.

Kona Venkat, who worked on Ready in Telugu and Hindi, and is also associated with Anees Bazmee's No Entry sequel and Sohail Khan's Sher Khan, confirms the same.u00a0 "Sreenu, who directed Ready in Telugu, is keen to remake Dookudu in Hindi with Salmanbhai.

In fact, the lead character's heroism suits Salman bhai perfectly. We won't need to make alterations for the Hindi version," he says, adding that their entire team was aware that the Dabangg star would do the remake. "Even Mahesh Babu said that Salman bhai would be the best actor for the Hindi version," he adds.


A still from Dookudu

Interestingly, the Telugu Dookudu was written keeping Salman in mind. However, while the Mahesh Babu film cost Rs 35 crore to make, the budget set aside for the Bollywood version with the Bodyguard star is pegged at
Rs 60 crore.

Police problem
There may be a problem though as the protagonist in the Telugu movie is a cop.

"Salman bhai isn't keen on another policeman role before the Dabangg sequel," explains Venkat, informing that he is waiting for the actor, currently in Mumbai, to take a call after watching Dookudu.
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He further states that if the producer and director decide to wait till Dabangg 2 is ready, then there should be no reason for Salman to decline the movie.

Ever since Mahesh Babu's film released, Bollywood producers and actors are vying for the remake rights, believed to be over R 3 crore. But till Salman makes his mind, everything on the remake has been put on hold.