‘Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai’: the unreleased Indian remake of ‘My Cousin Vinny’

Posted On July 25, 2024July 25, 2024

Movies are being remade all the time in various countries around the world, but it’s always a wise idea to ask for permission first. Legal dramedy My Cousin Vinny was hardly a straightforward production to begin with, but it was a breeze compared to a do-over that didn’t even get to see the light of day.

Screenwriter and producer Dale Launer spent years trying to get the project off the ground, after being inspired by a story he’d heard about a lawyer who eventually passed the bar exam at the 13th attempt. The story was eventually honed and refined, but getting in front of cameras wasn’t easy.

In its finished form, My Cousin Vinny stars Joe Pesci as the titular lawyer who continues on with his chosen career despite never having won a case. When his cousin and a friend are accused of murder, the untried and massively unsuccessful litigator is forced to defend them in court despite his background coming entirely in personal injury trials that he’s always ended up on the losing side of.

Danny DeVito flirted with the idea of both directing and playing the title character, with Will Smith and Ben Stiller under consideration for supporting roles they didn’t end up getting. In the end, My Cousin Vinny was a modest box office success that delivered a major Academy Awards upset when Marisa Tomei took home the prize for ‘Best Supporting Actress’.

More than a decade and a half later, director Ravi Chopra shot Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai with Govinda in the lead role, a decision that turned out to be a waste of everyone’s time and money. Despite effectively remaking My Cousin Vinny in blatantly obvious fashion, from its plot and characters down to its courtroom set pieces, rights-holders 20th Century Fox were never consulted or asked for permission.

Once the Hollywood studio caught wind of what was going on, Chopra was slapped with a legal notice charging him and Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai with plagiarism. Although the company had signed off and agreed to backers BR Films mounting a production inspired by My Cousin Vinny, a “substantial reproduction” wasn’t part of the deal.

Taking the matter to the courts, Fox sought $1.4million in damages for Chopra flouting the initial terms and conditions, which was eventually settled for $200,000. The finished film never ended up being released at all, rendering the hard work on the part of the cast and crew completely and utterly obsolete.

It turns out there’s a thin line between one picture using another as a jumping-off point and an unauthorised remake, and it’s one that Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai evidently crossed. Did the world really need to take on My Cousin Vinny, to begin with? Nobody knows because the question remains unanswered.

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