TOI: HIMYM finale copied from KKHH

Popular international show's finale similar to Kuch Kuch Kota Hai, say fans

Aanchal.Tuli@timesgroup.com

Globally, fans of the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), which ended with a special series finale episode last week, are still stuck in the love it/hate it dilemma. But desi followers of the series took the after-show discussion to another level, claiming that there was a decidedly in-your-face similarity between the finale and the iconic 90s Bollywood romance, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH). Shah Rukh Khan's pyaar dosti hai' rule probably found believers in the HIMYM writing team, with the show ending with Ted going back to his one true love, Robin, after a push from his kids, years after the death of their mother. Sure, the kids didn't have to go to summer camp to find the stepmom (a la chhoti Anjali), but the other elements, including a suitwearing good-guy fiance/husband (Salman Khan, Barney Stinson in the sitcom), a rainy moment of realisation between the best friends before the girl's marriage, and t he oh-so-romantic getting back together (the blue French horn is as good as the dumb charades in KKHH) were uncannily similar.
Many viewers found the parallels between the two stories, and once they posted them online, the discussion went viral (see box). Jokes on how it took the makers nine years to do what KKHH managed in three hours made it to the official online page of the show as well.
Meanwhile, dissatisfied fans of HIMYM abroad are campaigning for a new ending to the finale. Despite earning a series-high rating of 12.9 million viewers in the US, a number of plot twists left viewers stunned', said reports. Some fans have started an online petition, demanding that the creators rewrite and re-shoot the episode. More than 6,725 fans globally have signed the plea.

ONLINE REACTIONS

How I Met Your Mother finale " took nine years to say what Kuch Kuch Hota Haidid in 3 hours!
#HIMYMFinale like the longest Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ever. So in essence, the #HIMYMFinale just pulled a Kuch Kuch Hota Haion us?
It was almost like watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai all over again, but instead you really like Tina for Rahul, not Anjali.
How the HIMYM Finale was basically a Bollywood movie (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, to be precise). How did I not make this connection!?
#HIMYMFinale was a mash-up of Hum Tum and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Carter Bay and Craig Thomas got stuck deciding the ending of HIMYM, then they got hold of a DVD of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
I love this show and liked the twist but am I the only person to notice that the plot is the same as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? (which for those dudes that are not Indian is one of the three most successful Bollywood movies of all time).
HIMYM India: Ted: That's how I met your mother. Kids: Papa Kuch kuch hota hai.
Don't you just love how they turned HIMYM into Kuch Kuch Hota Haiin one episode? Well, me neither.

How I Met Your Mother

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

#robarney FTW

robin never loved ted🤢🤢

Everyone Back to season 1 of themselves.

its more like how i met your step mother

i shipped robarney throughout the seasons

as a fan its a disappointment for me

i think from all the narrations ted loved the mother

and she shouldn't have died

I know right?. I am the hugest robin-barney shipper. I was near tears when their marriage failed. They pulled an epic effed up kkhh on us 🤢

Plus I was really starting to like the mother. It was just baaad

they shouldn't have showed us the hope in the first instance

ketka maiiya shows have better endings