Bollywood was notorious for blatantly copying films — whether from Hollywood or South cinema and in some cases Korean films back in the 80s and 90s. While most films were ‘heavily inspired’, often Hindi film audience got to watch films that were frame-to-frame copies of previous hits such as Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahi, Satte Pe Satta and Karz being a few of the examples. In a recent interview, veteran actor Paresh Rawal admitted the same and revealed that this practice of ‘stealing’ from foreign films stopped after profits dipped, hence the initiation of original scripts.
During a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, the actor said, “I have even experienced it first hand. If you go to a director and say that you want to make a film, they would hand you an old cassette with dust on it. They would just say, ‘Yeh dekh le, fir baad mai isme ek aur mix karenge (watch this film, we will later add another film to this)’. It was actually a good thing that their offices came here and our stories got out, otherwise hum toh chori ka maal hi uthaate the (we would steal earlier). We were just good thieves.”
He further added that once the filmmakers started using their original scripts, they had great results. “We used to just steal foreign films. Their offices got opened here and then we had to pay them all the money for the films. Then everyone thought that we shouldn’t do this because we won’t earn any profits this way. Tab pata chala inn ulluon ko ki humaari kahaniyan kitni powerful hain (that’s when these idiots realised how powerful our stories were) – they are so strong, dramatic, new and innovative. Earlier, it was only stolen work. There was lethargy and mental bankruptcy. When they started working hard, then got results as well. Why go there?” shared Paresh.
On the professional front, Paresh Rawal has a great lineup of films ahead. He will next be be seen with Akshay Kumar and Tabu in Priyadarshan’s Bhooth Bangla. The horror-comedy is scheduled to hit the theatres on April 2, 2026. Besides that, he will also star in Welcome To The Jungle, which also features Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon, and Jacqueline Fernandez, among others in pivotal roles. He also has Hera Pheri 3 in the pipeline.
