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Friday, February 20, 2009 16:34 IST

Dev D, the cool remake of Saratchandra's novel Devdas is making waves and found a solid fan base among the younger movie goer. But there is another remake of a popular old film that has come and gone, alas less heralded despite its merits. Indeed, its original source has not even been acknowledged.

The movie in question is Luck by Chance and the story is loosely based on -- try a guess -- Shri 420. The basic premise: sweet but canny boy comes from outside Mumbai to try his luck in the big bad city,meets a lovely and sweet young girl who sacrifices a lot for him but two-times her with a more sexy woman whom he uses to climb to the top. In Shri 420 Raj has the talent to card-sharp and gets taken in by the glamour of the upper class world who too use him; in LBC, Vikram is an actor who is selected by a producer in dire need for a new face. Substitute Konkona and Isha for Nargis and Nadira it all falls into place.

Of course there is no mention of it anywhere, even though this is a film about the film industry and what is more, nods to many other well known foreign movies.

Here are a few (not my original work, all of it) that are available on websites:

* The scene where Sona is shot under the bedsheet is reminiscent of one of Claire Danes' scene in ROMEO+JULIET

* The costume and choreography of Bhaware is very similar to chamma chamma in Moulin Rougeincluding the way the girl is suspended in the ring. Nicole Kidman did it in Moulin Rouge which was also inspired from Hindi film dances

There are many more and to give the benefit of the doubt, one can say that Zoya Akhtar was merely marking her tribute to some films she likes and has enjoyed.