'Bala' team should have done something about similarities: Ujda Chaman director

Abhishek Pathak is saddened to spot similarities between his feature directorial debut "Ujda Chaman" and Ayushmann Khurrana's "Bala", and he says the latter should have made some changes to stand out and be original.

"Ujda Chaman", a remake of the 2017 Kannada movie "Ondu Motteya Kathe", features "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety" star Sunny Singh as a young bald man.

"Bala" stars Ayushmann as a young bald man and the film's poster and subsequently even the trailer was similar to "Ujda Chaman", the director said.

"There are some similarities that can be seen between 'Bala' and 'Ujda Chaman'. I don't know what's happening. I came with my trailer on October 1 and they came out with it around 10-11 October," Abhishek told PTI,
"I know the original film so well and mine is an official remake. People don't know yet, because they are just seeing the trailer, but I know. I can see the glimpses of the original film in that trailer ('Bala'). So, I was like fine, let the legal team handle it."
"They said except for the character being bald, nothing is similar and I bought their words. But now that doesn't seem to be the case. Dialogues, situation, everything seems similar and even people have caught it."
"I respected the Kannada filmmaker by signing agreement and putting it everywhere that it's a remake and someone just making it... There are so many films, which are official remakes, so there's nothing like you want to be the first one, who thought about this idea. No. If someone has thought about it, give him that respect. Why you want to take a flag and say, 'We thought about it?"
Abhishek says unlike "Bala" team, he doesn't want to get into "that mess to prove a point."
"This is about proving a point. Come on Nov 8. One day before, how does that really make a difference? I don't understand. You are just trying to prove a point, 'Oh we were the first ones to do this.'
"First you said Nov 22, then Nov 15 and now Nov 7. How is it going to change the dynamics of my film? And you have a big star. If you were coming on Nov 15, I wasn't going to eat into your business."
When asked if it is unsettling for him that "Bala" is headlined by a star like Ayushmann, he said,