While "Udayananu Tharam" starred Mohanlal, Sreenivasan and Meena, its Hindi version, directed by Neeraj Vora, features Arshad Warsi, Akshaye Khanna and Amrita Rao.

"We made some changes in the script to suit Bollywood sensibilities and made it more appealing for north Indians or say core Bollywood audiences. After the script was ready, we thought Neeraj Vora would be the best person to direct the film. I called him up and he was on board," Anil added.

A recent example of a successful Bollywood remake of a south Indian film becoming a huge hit is A.R. Murugadoss' "Ghajini" (2008) that was a remake of the 2005 Tamil film of the same name.

Starring Aamir Khan in the lead, the film went on to rake in more than Rs.290 crore (Rs.2.9 billion) worldwide, making it one of the biggest grossers in Bollywood.

Remaking southern hits is not a new trend in Hindi cinema. There have been hit films earlier like "Nayak", "Saathiya", "Viraasat" and "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein" that were remakes respectively of Tamil films "Mudhalvan", "Alaipayuthey", "Thevar Magan" and "Minnale".

Multilingual filmmaker Priyadarshan, known for remaking his own films in Hindi, had said: "My Hindi films are mostly inspired from Malayalam comedies."

His popular films like "Bhool Bhulaiyaa", "Kyon Ki..." and "Garam Masala" are remakes respectively of Malayalam films "Manichitrathazhu", "Thalavattom" and "Boeing Boeing". His other Hindi remakes include "Virasaat", "Billu" and "Ye Teraa Ghar Ye Meraa Ghar".

Tamil and Telugu filmmaker L.V. Prasad's Hindi films "Sharada", "Miss Mary", "Chhoti Bahen" and "Ek Duuje Ke Liye" were also adaptations of Tamil films. A. Bhimsingh's "Bhai Bahen" was a remake of Tamil hit "Pasamalar".