Other forms of rewriting

Rewriting can take place outside the language system also. It is most prevalent in the popular art form of cinema, where the concept of remakes is widely accepted. A remake is usually the ‘translation’ of a film from one language/culture to another. This means that it is not only the language that is changed, but all the cultural nuances associated with it. For example, the Hindi film Sholay is the remake of a Hollywood western called Magnificent Seven, which in turn was adapted from Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese film Seven Samurai. However, the Hindi film does not bear much resemblance to the ‘original’ Japanese except for the basic idea of a village defending itself against cruel dacoits. This is more of adaptation than translation.

There are other rewrites or remakes which change in language but retain the cinematic narrative style. By cinematic language what is meant is the way in which the story is told which means the sequence of shots, the songs etc. A good example of this is the Hindi film Saathiya which is the copy of the Tamil film Alaipayuthe. The language differs and so do the actors, but the Hindi film is an exact replica in terms of the screen play and dialogue. The songs too are the same, except that they are modified to suit the changed locale and culture. This should not be confused with dubbing of a film. A film made in one language can be dubbed in another language. This means that the film retains its original cultural context, and only the language of the dialogue changes. So Spiderman can speak in Hindi or Tamil without moving out from New York city.