Bollywood has a huge collection of movies and is one of the biggest entertainment hubs on earth. This vast reservoir’s depth can be difficult to fathom as it is also the industry that releases most number of movies than any other industry on this planet. Nevertheless, netizens always dig out something or the other and make it trend on the internet. And now the target of netizens wrath is “Munna Bhai MBBS” one of the most successful and loved films across India. In this age of the internet where nothing stays hidden for long, it is quite common for such things to come up. Netizens are claiming on platform X about Munna Bhai is a remake of a Hollywood movie named Patch Adams which was released back in 1998. There are mixed reactions to these claims made by fans. Some defend them while others are surprised and call their lives a lie.
Munna Bhai was released in the year 2003 and starred Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani & Gracy Singh in the lead roles. The story was of a man who came to Mumbai to become a doctor but couldn’t fulfill his dream and decided to become a goon because becoming a goon is easier than becoming a doctor. But later owing to simping tendencies which every protagonist in Bollywood shares he joins a medical college for the sake of his love interest. The movie focuses on Munna’s unique approach to treating people by giving hugs, the “Jaadu Ki Jhappi” to ease their ailments and give a hope. The bottom line of the plot was to send a message that patients not only require treatment but also a positive and caring environment around them. But little did people know that the movie was inspired by a Hollywood film with the same story.
Patch Adams is a movie based on the real-life of Patch Adams, a doctor who used humor as a medicine to treat his patients. It was released in the year 1998 starring Robin Williams. The movie was a box office disaster and wasn’t well-received by the audiences and received harsh criticism. The plot revolves around the life of Dr. Patch Adams who had a degree in psychotherapy and was popular for his unique approach towards treating mental illness by laughter. Hence, he would go to any length to make his patients laugh in the pursuit of curing them. Well, this is what was shown in the movie. When this movie was released the real Patch Adams heavily criticized the movie and accused the makers of simply portraying him as a funny doctor.
Bollywood and its obsession with remakes have been a known love story. There have been innumerable instances where Bollywood has copied not only movies but songs that have been superhit. The industry lacks creativity and imagination, which is evident in movies failing terribly at the box office. All thanks to the internet the audience now has access to all kinds of movies from around the world because of which acts of plagiarism cannot be concealed. A surge can be seen in regional movies being released on a mass scale and audiences have started loving them too. Korean movies and TV shows have become the talk of the town in no time and are receiving love from all over the world. Earlier it was difficult or impossible for people to know that what they were watching on screen is copied due to the absence of internet and lack of access to content coming from outside India. But all thanks to the Internet that made this possible and now original content is getting more recognition and credit it deserves.