Reverse Idea Drain

I have heard about Brain Drain back in India (when talented educated minds sought greener western pastures) and also now to some extent we hear "reverse brain drain" - some of those drained brains headed back home.

On a related note, back in India, I have often seen movies inspiried by Hollywood hits - GodFather - for eg. The said "inspiration" has ranged from "being reverential" (eg. RGV's "Sarkar" on the footsteps of GodFather) to outright plagiarism (innumerable). If we call this phenomenon "Idea Drain" from a western world point of view, what I stumbled upon recently, interestingly enough, should be called - for lack of a better word - "Reverse Idea Drain". I came across two movies whose plot is exactly the same as that of two Tamil movies of the 1960-70s era. Both these movies are predominantly British, centered in London and were released in 1998-99 time frame. I dont know how much more are there. Here are the two -

• "The Parent Trap" - 1998 - starring Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson and Lindsay Lohan . ( I should credit my wife for bringing this movie to my attention when it was being broadcast on TV). This is an exact westernised replica of "Kuzhanthaiyum Deivamum" - 1965 - starring Jai Shankar, Jamna Rani and Kutti Padmini in the lead respectively. Lindsay Lohan is no where near Kutti Padmini in playing the young twin girls role, Dennis Quaid compensates.


• "Notting Hill" - 1999 - starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. The story line is exactly the same as "Sumathi En Sundari" - 1971 - starring the legendary Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalitha in the lead. I couldnt stand the stoic expression-less Hugh Grant playing Sivaji's role. But Julia more than compensates for that.


• "Something's Gotta Give" - 2003 - starring Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves and some other girl in the main characters. The story is along the lines of the Balachander's legendary "Apoorva Raagangal" -1975 - starring Major Sunderrajan, Srividhya, KamalHassan and Jayasudha respectively. While the tamil movie, in which RajniKanth debuted in a cameo role, attempts to explore complex human relationship in a decent way, the copycat is falling short of that ideal and seems like a cheap skin flick (distasteful at that too) just capitalizing on the complex human relation aspect of story. The main cast of the original was beaming with acting talent while the copy cat had to contend with quirky Jack Nicholson while the rest just filled the roles name sake. Keanu Reeves seems elegant but fades in front of talented Kamal Hassan. This, if any, is an insult to the original.

Came across the following piece of advise in a mailing list on photography - "Good photographers make good pictures - equipment is secondary. I'd rather listen to a great guitarist on a cheap guitar than a mediocre guitarist on an expensive guitar. " - How true. Today's pic is of a twins I took in Yosemite Glacier point. I hope to capture the shot with their faces not very visible but still giving the idea of twins by their attire. I dont know why I converted it to B&W