‘The Great Gatsby’: Trailer For ‘The Xpose’ Lifts Heavily From Luhrmann Film

Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby is getting the Bollywood treatment. OK, not really. But that is almost what it looks like in the trailer for The Xpose, which is scheduled for release on May 24.

But it’s not just The Great Gatsby that is serving as “inspiration” for this Bollywood thriller. Several Indian publications have taken note on how the two look very similar, in terms of style, but the plot sounds like it came from another film.

BusinessofCinema.com reports that it also steals from another Bollywood film called Om Shanti Om.

IBNLive has a slideshow that shows images from The Xpose, which shows how similar it looks to The Great Gatsby and other films.

IndiaToday placed the posters for The Great Gatsby and The Xpose next to each other, and one can easily see that the Bollywood film copied the concept of the Gatsby poster.

Set in the 1960s, The Xpose revolves around the mysterious death of a film star and sex symbol. IndiaToday reports that Himesh Reshammiya will play the “cop turned star,” while Yo Yo Honey Singh will play the “bad guy.” The IMDb page doesn’t have names listed for the characters.

So, it doesn’t completely rip off The Great Gatsby, which told the story of a Midwesterner, who gets lured into the exotic world of his millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby, during the 1920s. Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, and Carey Mulligan.

The Great Gatsby did have a hard time getting to theaters. Back in 2012, The Inquisitr reported that Luhrmann’s film was pushed to the summer of 2013– knocking it out of the Oscars race. But the film did well, when it finally hit theaters, earning $144.8 million domestically.

The Xpose is a Hindi film, and the trailer, unfortunately, doesn’t have subtitles for those who don’t speak the language. IndiaToday pointed out that the film has some very bad dialogue, though.

However, as you watch the trailer, the description of the plot is all in English. There’s also a great anti-smoking message that appears at the bottom right corner of the screen throughout the trailer.

It’s very evident that the filmmakers looked at The Great Gatsby and thought it would be a splendid idea to copy a lot of the same scenes; colors; and pizzazz. Examples include the main character lifting his glass to the camera, while fireworks are going off in the background, and a shot on him looking out the window, while he has a cigarette in his hand.

One could think that it also looked to Chicago for some ideas, too, as the trailer promises that the film will be “the biggest vintage musical thriller,” and there are extravagant scenes where a man and woman are approaching each other.

See for yourself. Do you notice any resemblance in the trailer for The Xpose and the trailer for The Great Gatsby?