Thaindian News

By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, May 13 (IANS) “The Joneses”, a romantic comedy starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny that released in the US last month, will be remade in Hindi at an estimated budget of Rs.60 crore, though not in the same style as the original.

It will be produced by Sheetal Talwar and Madhu Mantena’s company Vistaar-Religare that has financial stakes in the Demi Moore-starrer.

Bhavna Talwar, of ‘Dharm’ fame, will direct it and she intends to completely turn the American film around.

“I want to remove ‘The Joneses’ from the rom-com space and make it a mirror of suburban life in India,” Bhavna told IANS.

This is the first time that a Hollywood release is being remade in Bollywood so soon after its original release.

Bhavna says she fell in love with the material the minute she read the script. It was her husband Sheetal’s idea that she should remake it in Hindi.

“At first I baulked at the very idea of doing a remake, and that too of a Hollywood rom-com. Both my films so far ‘Dharm’ and the about-to-release ‘Happi’ are original works. I reluctantly read the script for ‘The Joneses’. I loved the material, not the way it is, but in the way it can be modified, restructured and adapted into our own style and environment.”

While the focus in ‘The Joneses’ is on the couple played by Moore and Duchovny who move into an American suburb, Bhavna’s instant adaptation would shift the focus from the couple to their son.

Bhavna would like Ranbir Kapoor to play the son.

“I’m not talking about the cast as yet. But yes, I find the idea of looking at the suburban jungle through the son’s eyes very interesting. That’s how my version of ‘The Joneses’ will be structured,” she said.