• Source:JND
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Saiyaara, directed by Mohit Suri and starring newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, may have had a good start at the box office, grossing Rs 21 crore on its first day and surpassing Rs 80 crore in just three days. The movie's surprising success and the enthusiastic reaction from the people show the power of narrative over conventional marketing strategies, and it marks a pivotal point in Bollywood's film history. However, the romance drama is currently being criticised online for allegedly being too similar to a well-known Korean movie.

Saiyaara is similar to that of a Korean movie called A Moment To Remember, as many people who saw it on its first day of release noted. Actor and movie critic KRK also confirmed that Mohir Suri's directorial is a copy of the 2004 Korean movie. "For those, who are asking! Film #Saiyaraa is the copy of this Korean film! “A Moment To Remember (sic)," the tweet read.

SPOILER ALERT!

A shy, ambitious journalist named Vaani (Aneet Padda) and a short-tempered musician named Krish Kapur (Ahaan Panday) fall in love, and this is the main focus of Saiyaara. Their romance, however, encounters an unforeseen obstacle when Vaani is found to have early-onset Alzheimer's.

A similar plot is also followed in the Korean movie, which came out in 2004. A woman named Su-jin (Son Ye-jin) and a man named Chul-soo (Jung Woo-sung) are the subjects of the John H. Lee-directed movie. The movie explores the two's reactions to Su-jin's early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. Even though Su-jin decides to go, Chul-soo stays by her side and helps her recreate all of their past shared experiences.

Social media users noted how closely certain story aspects resembled those of Saiyaraa. One of the users wrote, "Saiyaara is a remake of the Korean movie A Moment to Remember. After the success of this movie, I think Indian filmmakers will start copying more Korean movies lol." Another user wrote, "Mohit Suri's most movies are copied from Korean movies only." A third user said, "Bollywood does nothing but copy." 

Many also came to Mohir Suri for plagiarism allegations. A user wrote, "Always remember every top artist copies from one another, but you have to give your own flavour while doing and not every filmmaker can do justice or copy another work if they don’t have the talent to do so." Another user wrote, "It's a well-made adaptation even if it is. But I don't think so. This alzheimers/disease-ridden love story is a common trope among many love stories, and it works since it provides a direct emotional connect."

Saiyaara makers have not disclosed any information on whether the movie is a remake of A Moment to Remember.