Haal-e-Dil is ditto copy of DDLJ

After directing Raju Chacha and Blackmail, Anil Devgan is returning with ‘Haal-e-Dil’, starring newcomers Nakul Mehta, Amita Pathak and Adhyayan Suman and produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak. A source says, “For his third, Anil Devgan wanted to choose a story that was universally accepted as he didn’t want to go wrong this time. What better than ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya La Jain ga’ (DDLJ) a timeless love story that has been running successfully for the last ten years? Like DDLJ, Anil’s ‘Haal-e-Dil’ is about two strangers, Shekhar and Sanjana (a young boy and girl played by Nakul and Amita) living in London, going on a holiday but missing the train, embarking together on a journey in Europe and finally falling in love. While Sanjana confides in her mom about her dilemma Shekhar goes to the girl’s village in Punjab to woo her and her family.” Pointing out more similarities, the source adds, “Like Raj (Shahrukh) does in DDLJ, Shekhar woos and wins over her family but there’s a twist in the tale when Rohit (Adhyayan) comes into it. Sanjana’s marriage is fixed to Rohit. Amita has a Kajol fixation and is dressed like her in the film. There’s even a song between Shekhar and Sanjana amongst the sarson ka khet in Punjab and a song similar to Zara sa jhoom loon shot in Switzerland! Shekhar is seen strumming a guitar like SRK played the banjo while Sanjana is a simple girl with spectacles who loves reading books a la Kajol.” However producer Kumar Mangat denies that his film is anything like DDLJ, “Haal-e-Dil is not a remake. It’s a love story with similar situations like DDLJ where the hero and heroine meet on a train and fall in love and the hero goes to the village to woo her family. It’s just coincidences. The universal theme of love and boy meeting girl on train is common for 5 out of 10 films.” Has he seen DDLJ? “Yes I have seen it at least 20 times. It’s a masterpiece and is going on even now. It’s the ultimate in romance and a perfect love story.”