Laapataa Ladies Controversy, Inspired or Copied?

Social Media platforms are engaged in a heated debate about whether Laapataa Ladies is a copied film. Directed and produced by Kiran Rao along with Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande, the film faces plagiarism allegations after a few videos of the 2019 French-Arabic short film Burqa City by Fabrice Bracq surfaced online. Interestingly, Laapataa Ladies was India’s official entry for the Oscars 2024. However, the film was not nominated.

People draw similarities from a small clip of Burqa City, where the protagonist mistakes another woman for his wife because of her Burqa. Laapataa Ladies also revolves around the same theme of mistaken identity between two new brides due to her traditional ghoonghat (veil). While the two films have no direct similarities, speculations erupted that certain scenes are lifted from the 2019 film. However, no conclusive proof exists that the film is copied from Burqa City.

A mix of comedy and social commentary, Laapataa Ladies is set in 2001 in a fictional place, Nirmal Pradesh. The film underwent a similar situation earlier when filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan claimed that the premise of Laapataa Ladies is identical to his 1999 Indian telefilm Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol. Both films have brides swapped at a railway station due to veiled identities. While the swapped brides fall in love with men in Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, Laapataa Ladies takes a different approach. The film is centred around feminism and women’s empowerment.

Despite the claims, Biplab Goswami, the writer of Laapataa Ladies, reiterated that his film is not a copy of any other film but is 100% his original writing.

Until both filmmakers make a claim, the speculation remains an assumption. Although most films are fiction, they draw inspiration from real society. There is a good chance that the two filmmakers will be motivated by the same idea. Both stories have a distinctive cultural context and approach. We will have to wait how and when Laapataa Ladies Controversy ends.

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