Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies faces plagiarism with Arabic film, Burqa City

A video went viral with Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies visuals resembling the 2019 Arabic film 'Burqa City', leading to accusations of plagiarism. On March 1, 2024, the Kiran Rao-directed film was releas

A video from the Burqa City, a 2019 Arabic film recently went viral on social media, making some question whether Kiran Rao's Bollywood film Laapataa Ladies was not an original production. On March 1, 2024, the Kiran Rao-directed film was released in theaters. 

 

The film, which was produced by Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Productions, was Kiran Rao's first directorial effort since Dhobi Ghat. The movie was shown at the esteemed Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2023 prior to its theatrical debut. A standing ovation was given to it by the festival attendees. Numerous industry celebrities also gave it appreciation, and it was eventually chosen as India's official entry for the 2025 Oscars' International Feature Film category.

 

Laapataa Ladies face ‘plagiarism’: What’s the scene?

A social media user posted a 56-second video of a scene from the 2019 short Arabic film 'Burqa City' on the X account, showing a man at a shopping mall with his wife wearing a burqa, who unintentionally brought home another woman wearing a black burqa.

 

Using the same theme, Kiran Rao created Lapata Ladies, substituting ghoonghats for burqas. The film conveyed the same message regarding women's identity, patriarchy, and social conventions. Even the setting at the Ravi Kishan police station appears to have been greatly influenced by the 2019 film.  

 

Online users quickly noticed the resemblance to the scene in Laapaata Ladies, where the main actor Deepak unintentionally brings home Jaya instead of his wife Phool during a train ride. Since the video went viral, it has received over 600k views, and many users have questioned the Bollywood movie's originality.

Netizen reactions to the Laapataa Ladies vs Burqa City

Many social media users have pointed out the similarities between the plots of Burqa City and Laapataa Ladies, indicating that the two storylines are identical.

 

One took to X and wrote, “Kiran Rao's Lapata Ladies, India's official entry to the Oscars and projected as an original work, actually seems heavily inspired by a 2019 short film titled Burqa City.... Kiran Rao made Lapata Ladies, with the same theme, replacing burqas with ghunghat. The film carried the same message about patriarchy, societal norms, and women's identity. Even the Ravi Kishan police station scene seems heavily inspired.”

 

Another one commented, “There is nothing Original about Bollywood anymore". This was a topic of discussion on Reddit as well, with the title “Burqa city , 2019 short film - Replace Burqa with Ghunghat you get original Oscar nominated Indian movie”.

 

Another user commented, "So what will you call it? Inspiration or Copy?"

Laapata Ladies accused of copying; The previous plagiarism

Accusations of plagiarism against Kiran Rao's film are not new. Anant Mahadevan, an actor and director, had previously accused her of stealing his movie. He said that 'Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol', his first feature film, told the story of two brides who were accidentally switched on a train and ended up in Bombay with the wrong husbands. Mahadevan wrote, "Amused and humbled to find that it has inspired a similar film this year."

 

This is not the only instance of plagiarism in the movie. Actor Ananth Mahadevan also criticized the movie in July 2024 for lacking creativity, saying it was a lot like his first film as director, ‘Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol’ (1999). Brides getting confused at a train station was the film's original plot point.