While quite a few are not enamored with "Phir Mile Sur" ( an underestimation) others are fine with it - they may still prefer the older version but credit the new one with the inclusion of more diversity, technology, children, sign language etc.
And I speculate ... just how much of this commotion is due to "what-we-see-or-hear-first-we-like-better" syndrome !! Ok now what is the technical term for this ? :)))
Consider the following
1. Same songs/movie in different languages
- Cheeni Kum and the song from Mouna Raagam [ Tamil ]. It is a straight tune lift !
- Saathiya songs vs the Alaipayudhe [ Tamil ] songs
- Anjali movie songs as well as the movie - I prefer the Telugu version which I watched and listened to first.
- Ghajini vs the Tamil movie ( forgot the name ) - yep I prefer Ghajini ( although I have not seen the entire movie )
- e. The day earth stood still - I can't imagine even wanting to watch the 1951 version ! :)
The cricketing world proverbially erupted on this issue and yet see the cash cow that T-20 is now. This clearly shows the demand for cricket in this format never mind the purists' views ! :)
3. Books converted to Movies
Although the mediums are different - if a person has seen the movie first and then reads the book - more often than not he/she prefers the movie and vice versa.
4. Old Hindi songs and the new remixed versions
Yes people like the old versions but there are few kids I know who prefer the new ones. And I did think couple of the remixes were done tastefully so that one could listen to the old and the new with pleasure. Bonus ! :) The videos of these songs though .... are not my cup of tea at all ...
5. Strange but Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead
Most Ayn Rand lovers seem to like both books but prefer the book read first !!! :)
And so on ..... I do think the in the long run purists lose ground simply because change ( good or bad ) is a juggernaut wheel that is just unstoppable !!!
Having said that; for "Phir Mile Sur" - I think they should have considered making it crisper - 5 - 6 min preferably and included more national icons and gotten off the excessive Bollywood train .... there were Bollywood people in the original but they did not choke you with their number ! :)