A lot of folks on social media have noticed that Kiran Rao's 2023 movie Laapataa Ladies shares some notable similarities with Fabrice Bracq's 2019 Arabic short film Burqa City. Fabrice recently chatted with IFP about how these similarities caught him off guard and left him feeling both shocked and saddened.

Burqa City director addresses the plagiarism controversy surrounding Laapataa Ladies

Fabrice shared with the publication that he hadn't seen Laapataa Ladies until the recent discussions highlighted the similarities. When asked about what he noticed, the French director pointed out that the film's premise closely resembled his short film. He also mentioned parallels in character types, such as the 'kind, loving, naive husband,' the 'violent and despicable' husband, the 'corrupt, violent' police officer, and notably, the image of the veiled woman.

He added, “There’s also a similarity in the plot twist at the end, where we discover that the woman intentionally chose to escape her abusive husband – a crucial narrative point in Burqa City.” Fabrice mentioned that he wrote the short film in 2017, filmed it in 2018, and it was showcased at festivals in 2019, including two festivals in Kolkata and Auroville in 2020.

When asked about his feelings after watching the film, he said, “I was both shocked and saddened to learn about it, especially since the film has been a massive hit in India and even made it to the Oscars shortlist. I had hopes and was in talks to turn Burqa City into a feature film. But is that still an option now?” He also expressed a desire to reach out to the producers of Laapataa Ladies to discuss the situation.

Laapataa Ladies author refutes allegations of plagiarism

Biplab Goswami, the writer of Laapataa Ladies, released a statement on Saturday to refute all claims of plagiarism. He asserted that he registered Laapataa Ladies with the Screenwriters Association back in 2014 and submitted the feature-length script, originally titled Two Brides, to SWA in 2018. “These accusations not only diminish my work as a writer but also the hard work of the entire filmmaking team,” he stated.

Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran, is produced by Aamir Khan and features a cast that includes Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan.

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