Tom Tykwer's high-powered classic from 1998 is getting a Bollywood makeover. Sony Pictures Films India is co-producing the Hindi-language version of "Run Lola Run," starring Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin.
Run Lola Run, Tom Tykwer's best-known film, is getting a Hindi language remake. Titled Looop Lapeta, Sony Pictures India revealed on Twitter on Tuesday that they were co-producing with Ellipsis Entertainment "this edge of the seat, thriller-comedy that promises to leave your hearts racing" to be directed by Aakash Bhatia.
Taapsee Pannu is taking on the role of the film's lead actress, Franka Potente, while Tahir Raj Bhasin will be playing the boyfriend originally portrayed by Moritz Bleibtreu.
Taapsee Pannu, described by the Times of India as "the busiest actress in B-Town" for starring in films like Pink and Saand Ki Aankh, also shared her enthusiasm for the project on Twitter: "I'm greedy for good scripts, here's one more," she wrote.
"Looop Lapeta is a shining addition to our slate of clutter-breaking and compelling motion pictures," Sony Pictures Entertainment India managing director Vivek Krishnani told the Hollywood Reporter, adding, "We love the amazing cast which has come on board to breathe life into this cutting-edge script."
Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin will take on the lead roles
Why it became a world hit
After Run Lola Run premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1998, the unconventional thriller went on to win several international awards, including at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as seven accolades at the German Film Awards.
Beyond its critical acclaim, it was also a commercial success that had a wide international distribution. The most successful German film of 1998, it scored $7 million at the US box office.
Tom Tykwer's third feature film as a director revealed a bold visual style and a thumping soundtrack to accompany the running Lola (Franka Potente), who only had 20 minutes to secure 100,000 Deutsche marks to save her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu).
The film also broke with traditional narrative structures to reflect the impact of chance, with events restarting and unfolding in three different ways.
More than a running Lola: Franka Potente's many roles
Her big breakthrough came with her role in Tom Tykwer's cult Berlin film, "Run Lola Run." Since then, German actress Franka Potente has embodied a variety of characters.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN
International success as the red-haired Lola
Potente achieved her international breakthrough by starring in the lead role of Tom Tykwer's "Run Lola Run" (1998). To save her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), Lola had to run through Berlin to collect 100,000 Deutsche Mark in 20 minutes. The award-winning thriller was a box office hit in the US. Potente was selected as Actress of the Year at the German Film Awards - also known as the Lolas.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Potente as a brothel madam
In the TV series "Taboo" on Amazon Prime, Franka Potente is a brothel manager called Helga von Hinten. With her daughter, she is an ally of the main character, James Keziah Delaney (played by Tom Hardy), a man who has to fiercely fight for his inheritance upon returning to London. Set in 1814, "Taboo" deals with greed, power, revenge and betrayal.
Image: Taboo Productions Limited 2017
Film debut
When she was discovered by casting agents for the film "After Five in the Forest Primeval" (1995), Franka Potente was still an acting student. In her debut film by Hans-Christian Schmid, Potente played a rebellious 17-year-old girl from a respectable family. She won best young actress at the Bavarian Film Awards.
Image: pictures-alliance/United Archives
A soft spot for particular stories
After the success of "Run Lola Run," Potente appeared that same year in the episode film "Bin ich schön?" (Am I beautiful?), by German director Doris Dörrie. She depicted a woman who fakes being deaf. Featuring some of Germany's top actors, such as Iris Berben, Heike Makatsch, Senta Berger and Otto Sander, it's a film about love, the fear of commitment and the search for identity.
Image: picture-alliance/KPA
A variety of genres
In 2000, Franka Potente starred in "Anatomy," directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. In this horror film, she is the ambitious medical student Paula, who is selected for a prestigious class with a renowned professor. She discovers an ancient secretive society of doctors whose members kill students for their research. Potente was once again selected as Actress of the Year at the German Film Awards.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Korr
Another Tom Tykwer film
Potente starred for a second time in a Tom Tykwer movie in 2000 - this time for a romance called "The Princess and the Warrior." The psychiatric hospital nurse Sissi (Potente) and the former soldier Bodo (Benno Fürmann) need to save themselves before they manage to find love. This film was also acclaimed by critics.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN
Hollywood debut with Johnny Depp
The success of "Run Lola Run" also sparked Hollywood's interest in the German actress. In 2001, she featured in "Blow," by Ted Demme, starring Johnny Depp as a drug dealer. In the movie, Potente is his first love, an airline stewardess who smuggles marijuana for him. Her character dies from cancer 30 minutes into the film - but that was long enough for her to convince Hollywood of her talent.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Kinowelt
Jason Bourne's partner
The following year, Franka Potente obtained a lead role along with Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity," by Doug Liman, securing her fame in the US. In the film, she helped her partner, a CIA agent suffering from amnesia, to piece back his identity. Her character, Marie Kreutz, also appeared in the 2004 sequel, but was killed a few minutes into the film.
Image: picture-alliance/Mary Evans Picture Library/Ronald Grant Archive
Slower phase
After hit films like "Blow" and "The Bourne Identity," the next movies Potente featured in weren't quite as successful. Among them was "Creep," a 2004 horror film directed by Christopher Smith. She played a woman who's locked in the London Underground for a night with a hideously deformed killer.
Image: picture-alliance/Mary Evans Picture Library/PATHE/Ronald Grant Archive
Many talents
In 2005, she directed her own film, called in German "Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt" (The one who unearths the deadly nightshade). In this silent movie, a punk lands in the year 1918. Pictured is Potente on set with actor Max Urlach. She also plans on directing a new script she's already written, described as "a modern underdog story."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/X-Verleih
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An influential style
Lola's iconic red hair and the editing style of the film inspired different works afterwards. Characters would be seen running through gritty alleys; still images would punctuate their frantic efforts to get somewhere on time.
For instance, the music videos for "Walk Me to the Bridge" (2014), by Manic Street Preachers, as well as Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" (2000) feature some of the film's stylistic elements and a condensed version of its narrative.
Similarly, the influence of Run Lola Run can be seen in the music video "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard and an opening sequence in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which had a girl with pink hair running to techno music through a German street.
The Simpsons also parodied the film in an episode in 2001, while many other comedy series directly refer to the film as well: the episode "Run Gary Run" in the series Early Edition, "Run, Candace, Run" in Phineas and Ferb or "Run Johnny Run" in Johnny Bravo.
In Germany, the film was also adapted into an opera by the Theater Regensburg in 2013.
And now a Bollywood version
It now remains to be seen how the Hindi-language remake of Run Lola Run will differ from the original.
The shoot for Looop Lapeta will start in April 2020 and is scheduled for worldwide release on January 29, 2021. Other international works are also set for a Bollywood remake, including Forrest Gump, which will star the extremely popular actor Aamir Khan in the lead role
