New Delhi: Social media went ablaze with jubilation when Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan's cult class ‘Sathyaa’ celebrated its 36th year in January of this year. Famous filmmaker Suresh Krissna made his feature film debut with Sathyaa, which starred Kamal and Amala Akkineni. When it debuted in theatres in 1988, it quickly rose to the top of Tamil cinema's blockbusters that year.
News of this classic's current adaptation or remake surfaced on Wednesday, starring Ashok Selvan and directed by Vignesh Raja of 'Por Thozhil' fame. Ever since this news surfaced, social media has been divided about the remake.
‘Sathyaa’ plot
In the 1988 movie, Kamal Haasan portrayed Sathyaa (Sathyamurthy), a rough-and-tumble young man without a job who can't stand injustice of any kind and frequently gets into fights. Additionally, he meets and falls in love with salesgirl Geetha (Amala Akkineni) one day.
The narrative then shifts as Sathyaa discovers the truth, but not before a dishonest politician uses Sathyaa for his own purposes. It's interesting to note that Sathyaa was a remake of the Sunny Deol Hindi movie Arjun, but Suresh Krissna, Kamal, and Ilaiyaraaja left their lasting marks on the movie, turning it into a cult favourite in Tamil.
Social media divided with ‘Sathyaa’ remake news
The announcement that Sathyaa and Ashok Selvan will be playing Kamal Haasan on X (previously Twitter) did not seem to sit well with many users.
“Sathyaa is my all time favourite movie. No one can replace Kamal and Ilayaraja in that. Please don't spoil.” A user on X wrote.
“Adhu innum paakala (have not seen that film), but his other movies paathadhu varaikum solren (have seen other films), ik we all know the actor are acting and it's fake nu, but romba rare aana scenes la dhaan he's convincing (personal opinion), don't want sathya remake with him (sad emoji).” Another post read.
It will be quite difficult to emulate Kamal Haasan in this movie, and many of his followers believe that no one can match him.
“Don't remake kamal movies reaching his acting level is not possible.” A Kamal Haasan fan wrote.
“I know that Satya itself is a remake of Arjun. But Kamal knew exactly how to give it a local flavor. He got Ananthu to write the dialogues, lines that dripped with power, not a direct translation of the Hindi lines. The casting too was spot on. Tall order this (smile emoji).” Another X user shed light on Kamal Haasan’s contribution to the film.
“Nothing against Ashok Selvan! But Sathya CANNOT be remade by anyone. Not even by Suresh Krishna! Illayaraja can never compose such songs again! Sometimes classics should be left untouched!” Another fan wrote.