Laapataa Ladies writer breaks silence on accusations of plagiarising Arabic film Burqa City: 'These allegations not just...'

Biplab Goswami, who penned the story of Kiran Rao's critically-acclaimed film Laapataa Ladies, on Saturday dismissed the claims that the movie's plot has been plagiarised. Many social media users earlier this week shared a short clip from 2019 Arabic short film Burqa City, noticing similarities between the stories of the two movies. 

In Burqa City, a newlywed man sets out to find his wife after she is mistaken for another woman in a burqa. Similarly, Laapataa Ladies follows newlywed Deepak as he searches for his new bride, who is accidentally swapped with another ghoonghat-clad woman on a train. 

In a statement, posted on his Instagram page, Goswami said the allegations are "completely untrue". "Our story, characters, and dialogues are 100% original. Any allegations of plagiarism are completely untrue. These allegations not just undermine my efforts as a writer, but also the tireless efforts of the entire filmmaking team," he said. 

Goswami also stated the screenplay for Laapataa Ladies, which released in theatres in March 2024 and was later selected as India's official entry to 2025 Oscars, was developed extensively over many years. "I first registered the film's detailed synopsis, outlining the entire story with the working title 'Two Brides', with the Screenwriters Association on July 3, 2014. Even within this registered synopsis, there is a scene that clearly describes the groom bringing home the wrong bride and being shocked and stricken upon realising his mistake because of the veil, along with the rest of his family. This is where the story takes off. I had also clearly written about the scene of the worried groom going to the police station and showing the only photograph he had of his missing bride to the police officer, but the bride's face was covered with a veil, resulting in a comedic moment," he wrote. 

The writer added that he registered the feature-length script of 'Two Brides' with the SWA in June 2018. "This script won the runner-up award at the Cinestaan Storytellers Competition in 2018. Again, in this screenplay, I had the scene of the policeman amused by the photograph of the veiled bride," he added. 

According to Goswami, the concept of veils and disguises resulting in mistaken identities is a classical form of storytelling used for centuries by writers such as William Shakespeare, Alexandre Dumas and Rabindranath Tagore. "Laapataa Ladies uses this mistaken identity form with entirely original and unique characters, setting, narrative journey, and social impact. The story, the dialogues, the characters, and the scenes-all stem from years of research and honest reflection. I was deeply invested in understanding the nuances of gender discrimination and inequality, rural power dynamics, and male chauvinisoa across both Indian and global contexts," he wrote. He also shared the relevant documents to support his statement.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Biplab Goswami (@biplabgoswamicinema)

Directed by Kiran Rao, Laapataa Ladies featured Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan. The movie is produced by Rao's Kindling Pictures, Aamir Khan's Aamir Khan Productions and Jio Studios. The comedy drama is streaming on Netflix.