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Netflix's Korean drama Squid Game is reminding Indian fans of the 2009 Bollywood film Luck.
Many of those who have watched the survival game series, which has taken the world by storm, took to Twitter in recent days to point out that Squid Game seems like an elaborate version of the Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan and Shruti Haasan starrer.
Squid Game is a nine-part series that revolves around 450-odd contestants playing to win a jackpot prize.
Six games are arranged for the participants to play. While the ones clearing the games move forward, those who fail to complete the tasks die.
Luck also followed a similar formula, thus leaving fans screaming that "Bollywood did it first".
"If you want to see the difference between Bollywood and foreign movies/television series, then watch Squid Game Korean drama. It has same story as Luck film but presented way way better than Luck film," a fan tweeted.
Another said: "Ok does #SquidGames remind anyone else of that Sanjay Dutt, Shruti Haasan film LUCK?! It's like the TV show form of the movie!"
A third Twitter user noted: "We already have Luck long before Squid Game!! It looks like a Korean version of that movie."
Luck is said to be closely inspired by the Hollywood film The Condemned.
Squid Game stars Lee Jung-jae, Jung Ho-yeon, Park Hae-soo and Wi Ha-joon, among several others.
The Korean drama also features Indian actor Anupam Tripathi, who made his full-length K-drama debut with the show.
He plays Ali Abdul, a debt-ridden Pakistani migrant.
Anupam said he landed the role soon after his return to South Korea after a break in India.
The actor's character required him to look powerful and he gained six kilograms with some help from a friend.
"At that time I didn't have the correct body shape because I had just come back after eating home food," he told Variety.
"And, once they said, 'Okay you are doing this character,' I was like okay now I have to put on weight, I have to work for it."
Anupam went to South Korea to pursue a course in acting in 2010.
He was planning to study at the National School of Drama in New Delhi when he won a scholarship at the Korea National University of the Arts.
"I spent 10 years in Korea as a student and a theatre actor with the thought of persevering every day," he told Yonhap News.
The 32-year-old added that his parents did not agree with his decision to pursue acting.
"My father, who came from a middle-class family in India said that I should study and get a job and earn money," he said.
However, the success of Squid Game has made his family proud.
Anupam told News18 that his mother was particularly very happy.
"She is very sweet," he said.
"I told her that her son is now the talk around the world. She was very happy for me and congratulated me. She also said, 'Don't get carried away by your success, be rooted'."
Anupam also said during the interview that his mother "gave me that kind of humility and upbringing and I am very thankful to her".
He added: "All my relatives and people I know are very happy about the show and they have only great things to say."
The actor also told Variety that he was "not prepared" for the kind of response the show received".
"We felt that it will be received well but, when it became a phenomenon and sensation, it was not expected, I was not prepared," he said.
Anupam, who grew up in Delhi, has expressed a desire to perform in front of his home audience.
Before bagging a role in Squid Game, he had played small roles in South Korean dramas, including Descendants of The Sun.
"I've done theatre only in India, but I want to see and explore how I will do in my own language," he said.
"I would love to express myself there. That is my ultimate dream - to perform in front of my own home audience."
Indo-Asian News Service
"I've done theatre only in India, but I want to see and explore how I will do in my own language. That is my ultimate dream - to perform in front of my own home audience."
- Anupam Tripathi (right)
