Apparently, most of Bollywood film posters are 'inspired' by Hollywood. However, is it really inspiration or just plain rip-offs? If imitation is the ultimate form of flattery, then the Bollywood film industry has been doing a pretty good job. Check out these Bollywood posters compared side-by-side with their respective Hollywood originals.
Although it is obvious that "Anjaana Anjaani" copied the poster from "An Education" but luckily, the storylines are somewhat different. "An Education" (2009) is a coming of age drama film about a bright schoolgirl and a charming conman that seduces her, while "Anjaana Anjaani" (2009) is about an unlikely romance between unhappy people who meet when they both try to commit suicide by jumping off the same bridge. The story of "Anjaana Anjaani" was actually inspired by the 1999 French film "Girl on The Bridge" and the 2007 American film, "The Bucket List".
Again, the posters look almost identical but the Bollywood producer claimed that it is mere coincidence. "Step Up" is a 2006 romantic dance film that tells the tale about a rebel, Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) and a privileged modern dancer Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan) who are forced to pair up and work together in a showcase that determines both of their futures. Meanwhile, "Ek Villain" is a 2014 romantic thriller film that tells the story of a Guru who is seeking revenge after his lover becomes the latest victim of a serial killer.
Another strikingly similar poster and both the films are of the horror genre! But the stories are not the same. "Final Destination 2" (2003) is the sequel of "Final Destination" (2000). The essence of the plot is similar to the first film; the main protagonist has a premonition that everyone is going to be killed and when the protagonist manages to save everyone from dying, they are then stalked by Death, and each one of them dies in the most gruesome way. On the other hand, "Bhoot" (2003) follows the story of a newlywed couple who moves to a new apartment only to be haunted by the previous owner of the apartment who died of suicide. Things start to turns ugly when the watchman of the building gets mysteriously murdered.
Even though this is undeniably a rip-off, you have to admit Bollywood got quite creative by replacing the sword with a woman to make it look more original. "King Arthur" (2004) retells the story of the legendary king of England in an unusual way. The story portrays Arthur as a Roman officer rather than a medieval knight. While "Hisss" tells the story of a snake woman called Nagin who is on a mission to hunt down the man who kidnaps her lover in exchange for her Nagmani that cures cancer and grants immortality.
Once again, the style of the two posters looks almost the same and both of them are in fact a spy film. The only difference is that one is a thriller and the other is a comedy. Starring Rowan Atkinson "Johnny English Reborn" (2011) is the sequel of 2003's "Johnny English". The film is somewhat a parody of the James Bond films. "Agent Vinod" (2012) is an action spy thriller starring Saif Ali Khan who is on a mission to uncover the activities of a group of terrorist and discover why his colleague was murdered.
The plotlines of these two movies have the same basic essence, even though the story setting is different but yet the plot is almost the same. Even the posters are similarly identical! "License to Wed" is a 2007 American romantic comedy about two lovebirds that go through a marriage preparation course, as suggested by Reverend Frank. However, things start to go downhill when the Reverend intrudes their love life by making impossible demands and setting up difficult tasks for the couple. In the meantime, "Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?" is a 2010 Bollywood comedy film about an unwanted guest who enters the household of a married couple and lives for a long duration by continuously extending his stay. So in conclusion, the two movies are about a third wheel interfering with a happy couple.
"Mausam" clearly copy-pasted the poster from "Titanic", look at the poses, the styles, the heroine hairstyles and outfits, it is the same. Both stories are also of similar genres. The epic romantic disaster film "Titanic" (1997) is a story about two star-crossed lovers who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. On the contrary, "Mausam" (2011) tells the tale of timeless love in the face of political hostilities and religious conflict, between a proud Punjabi Air Force Officer and an innocent Kashmiri refugee.
These posters look exactly alike. From the position, poses, the people at the back, the wedding dresses, can it be more obvious? "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is a 2002 romantic comedy film a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class man. Both of them decided to get married but are refused strongly by the heroine's father for marrying a non-Greek. On another hand, "Hulchul" is a 2004 film about a man and woman from two feuding families who both pretended to fall in love with each other as part of a revenge plot. However, chaos occurs when the two of them began to fall in love for real.
Another case of possible imitation? But the story is nowhere the same. "The Other Guys" is a 2010 action comedy film about two detectives who work in the forensic accounting department and rarely see any action. But things started to change when an opportunity arises for the two of them to step up, however, things do not quite go as expected. Contrarily, "O Teri" is a story about two journalists, who come across a big scam. The film has been noted to have similarities with the 1983 Bollywood film "Jaane Bhi Do Yaroo".
This one is without a doubt a total copy-cat! Not only the poster, the title and even some of the scenes are total rip-offs. The resemblances are so obvious that it became a huge deal on Twitter. However, "The Great Gatsby" (2013) centred on the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbour Nick, who recounts his memory during his encounter with Gatsby in the 1920s. "The Xpose" (2014), however is a retro murder mystery that revolves around two superstars after they are entangled in a murder investigation.