Continuing his keen interest in the Telugu film industry, filmmaker Karan Johar has now purchased the rights to remake in Hindi the latest Telugu blockbuster, "Oopiri." The Bollywood filmmaker had last year purchased the remake rights of S.S. Rajamouli's Telugu film "Baahubali – The Beginning" for a whopping amount, and the film became a huge success worldwide, with the Hindi version crossing Rs 100 crore mark.
"Oopiri," which stars Akkineni Nagarjuna, Karthik Sivakumar (Karthi), Tamannaah Bhatia and Shriya Saran, has turned out to be a blockbuster within less than a week of its release worldwide. It opened with positive reviews, and is running to packed houses in Andhra Pradesh and the U.S.
"I am glad that 'Oopiri' and its Tamil version 'Thozha' have been warmly accepted. We wanted the film to be seen as a celebration of life and for the audience to understand how valuable every moment is. Like all good things in my life, 'Oopiri' also happened because of my wife," Nagarjuna told DNA, referring to his wife Amala, who had first seen the French film and recommended it to him.
Talking about Karan acquiring the rights for the Hindi remake, Nagarjuna said, "I am really happy Karan Johar bought the remake rights. Would I be in the Hindi film? I don't know. That's up to Mr Johar. I am just happy to have done the two versions in Telugu and Tamil."
"Oopiri," directed by Vamsi Paidipally, is an official remake of the French film, "The Intouchables." It is the story of the friendship between a wheelchair-bound billionaire and his male caregiver.
