YRF show inspired by Jeffrey Archer book?

Is Kane And Abel an inspiration for the show, Bhagya?

The first five Sony-YRF (Yash Raj Films) shows, Rishta.com, Mahi Way, Lift Kara De, Seven and Powder, launched between January 1 and 3 this year, wrapped up in June. Production for the next set of shows has begun. The bouquet will contain five to six shows.

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One of the fiction shows, Bhagya is rumoured to draw its storyline from novelist Jeffery Archer’s Kane And Abel. The show, it’s learnt, will have 64-episodes. The story is about two friends born on the same date, August 15, 1947 in different countries. Archer’s Kane and Abel (1979) revolves around two Biblical brothers by the same names, who have a common birth date (April 18, 1906) and a zeal to succeed in life.

William Lowell Kane is a wealthy and powerful Boston Brahmin while Abel Rosnovski is born in poverty who eventually emigrates to the US.

However, YRF insiders claim that there is no similarity between their show and the book. Naresh Malhotra, who earlier directed Yeh Dillagi (1994) toplining Kajol, Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar for Yash Raj Films, is directing Bhagya.

Sony’s marketing head, Danish Khan refused to comment. CEO NP Singh, however, says that the Sony-YRF shows will come in installments: “Bringing five shows at a time became chaotic. We couldn’t focus. So, even with fabulous content we couldn’t attract eyeballs.” Raveena Kohli from Yash Raj Films confirmed that production for the next set of Sony-YRF shows is on but refused to divulge any more: “It’s too early to comment.”