Tollywood’s latest formula: pick a few-years-old Bollywood hit, copy it frame by frame or scene by scene, add some songs, shoot them in Singapore and bingo!

For Mon Maane Na, director Sujit Guha watched Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha for inspiration. Here’s why:

Koel (Ria), rich and spoilt, flees home to marry sweetheart Bobby in Darjeeling. She runs into Dev (Rahul) on a crowded bus, they strike up a conversation and end up fighting. Spot the difference? Kajol and Ajay Devgan were on a plane.

Dev is a small-time thief who has stolen a diamond necklace and in order to fool the cop on his heels he tucks it into Koel’s bag. Then the bag gets stolen, Rahul loses his steal, Ria her money, but the two stick together. They walk the meandering roads of Darjeeling, singing songs in dream sequences (thinking they are in serene Singapore). Just like Kajol’s Sanjana and Ajay’s Rahul.

Post-interval, Koel lands up in Dev’s home, bonds with his family and becomes his best friend. But she has to go back to her boyfriend. Just like Kajol and Ajay.

For the rest of the story, you can sit at home with a DVD of Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha. But that’s no reason to give Mon Maane Na a miss. Watch it for Dev, who lives up to his lover boy image, yet again. Watch it for Koel, who is more restrained than ever and also gets her comic timing right. It’s quite close to crackling chemistry. Besides, Koel looks hot in short dresses and Dev looks smart in baby pink suits.

Tapas Pal does an Om Puri as the cop with a golden heart chasing Dev, and he looks the part in trouser and jacket.

Jeet Ganguly’s six foot-tapping tracks add to the feel-good factor. If only the script was a little original. Which is sad because Mon Maane Na comes from the same director who had once given Tollywood one of its biggest romantic hit, Amar Sangi.