While the Indian audiences can relate with the OSO throwbacks to the seventies, I would doubt that many would have read Fyodor Dostoevsky's White Nights or seen the versions made by Luchino Visconti or Fellini. So for all practical purposes Saawariya is different to bollywood lovers.....the sets, the cast, the sparsely or non populated neighbourhood, the dream like mood all through and most of all the 'sad' ending where hero does not get his heroine after all. All difficult to digest for those used to the general bollywood formula. Bhansali has tried to evoke a lyrical love story and its best to take it as that. Ranbir and Sonam are more than appealing - their freshness, their youth and a sense of innocence pervade through their performance. So as far as I can say, I liked it because it was oh so very different. As for copying or taking off from Hollywood films - the the name tag 'bollywood' itself stands for that now - so lets not blame Bhansali alone.
