Archive · 22 Jan 2026
Javed Akhtar Opposes Remaking Classics
Javed Akhtar, a famous poet and lyricist, doesn't like remaking old songs and movies.
He was asked to recreate his classic song 'Sandese aate hain' for a new movie called Border 2, but he said no.
He thinks that going back to old work is like giving up on new ideas.
He also doesn't think movies like Sholay or Mughal-e-Azam should be remade because they are already perfect.
The only time he would remake something is if he wasn't happy with it the first time, like with a movie called Do Ustad that he later rewrote as Haath Ki Safaai.
Javed Akhtar refused to recreate his classic song 'Sandese aate hain' for Border 2.
He believes remaking classics is a form of creative death.
Akhtar thinks films like Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam are perfect and should not be tampered with.
He only considers remaking his own work if he was unhappy with the original execution.
He and Salim Saab rewrote Do Ustad as Haath Ki Safaai 15 years later.
- Who
- Javed Akhtar, a poet-thinker-lyricist
- What
- Opposition to remaking classic songs and films
- When
- Not specified
- Where
- Not specified
- Why
- Belief in creative originality and perfection of classics
- Person
- Javed Akhtar
- Original Song
- Sandese aate hain
- Remake Attempt
- Ghar kab aaoge
- Film
- Border 2
- Director
- J P Dutta
- Rewritten Film
- Haath Ki Safaai
- Original Film
- Do Ustad
- Year of Original Film
- 1959
