Is Mohit Suri's Saiyaara a remake of Korean film A Moment to Remember? Fans share ‘eerily similar plots’

Mohit Suri's Saiyaara, starring Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, released on Friday. Fans who saw the film pointed out similarities. !SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SAIYAARA!

Saiyaara, starring Ahaan Panday and Aneeet Padda, released in theatres on Friday (July 18). The musical romance saw a massive opening, collecting ₹21 crore. Many who saw the film on the first day of release noticed that the storyline of the Mohit Suri directorial is similar to the plot of a Korean film called A Moment To Remember. (Also read: Saiyaara is a success already? 4 box office records broken by Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda's film)

Many on the internet pointed out similarities between the two films.

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SAIYAARA!!!

Is Saiyaara copied from A Moment to Remember?

Saiyaara revolves around the love story that blossoms between a short-tempered musician named Krish Kapur (Ahaan Panday) and Vaani (Aneet Padda), a shy, aspiring journalist. However, when Vaani is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, their love story faces an unexpected impediment.

Meanwhile, the Korean film, which was released in 2004, also follows a similar storyline. The film, directed by John H. Lee, follows a woman named Su-jin (Son Ye-jin) and a man named Chul-soo (Jung Woo-sung). The film deals with how the two respond to Su-jin's early-onset Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. Even as Su-jin makes the decision to leave, Chul-soo stays beside her and helps her reconnect to all the past memories they spent together.

Social media reactions

Many on social media pointed out that Saiyaraa's plot was strikingly similar to these plot points. A Reddit user pointed out this issue, which received mixed response. One comment read, "Major plot points are literally the same, like Alzheimer’s, confusion with ex, girl running away. Also, the ending where he recreates the past moment is the same…" Another agreed, “So saiyaara is based on A Moment to Remember? Mohit Suri and his love for retelling South Korean movies. Ek Villain as an adaptation of I Saw The Devil was far apart, as one was an action, revenge drama with no side plot and the other was a romantic drama.”

Many users also defended Mohit Suri. One said, “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 agreed, “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.”

The makers of Saiyaara have not released any statement on whether Saiyaara is a remake of A Moment to Remember. Saiyaara is written by Sankalp Sadanah, with dialogues by Rohan Shankar.

Saiyaara has received praise for its performances and the music. Mithoon, Sachet-Parampara, Rishabh Kant, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, and Arslan Nizami have composed the music for the film. Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films, has produced the film.