It was only recently that Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been accused of filmmaker Anant Mahadevan's Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, which was telecast on Doordarshan Gold in 1999. Now another keen-eyed user has pointed out striking similarities between Kiran Rao's film, which was submitted as India's entry to the Oscars (but did not make it to the finals), and a 2019 French-Arabic short film called Burqa City.
A viral clip from Burqa City, showing a married man searching for his missing burqa-clad wife who was mistaken for another woman in the same attire, in addition to a similar police station scene and the presence of common themes, has led social media users to question whether Kiran Rao lifted the subject of her film from the 2019 film.
The user, who posted the clip, wrote, "Kiran Rao's Lapataa 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. Set in the Middle East, the 19-minute film follows a newlywed man whose wife gets exchanged due to identical burqas. He then embarks on a journey to find her. The satirical comedy highlights the absurdity of a society where women are treated as interchangeable objects rather than unique individuals, critiquing extreme patriarchy, gender-based restrictions, and the loss of identity. Kiran Rao made Laapataa Ladies, with the same theme, replacing burqas with ghoonghats. The film carried the same message about patriarchy, societal norms, and women's identity. Even the Ravi Kishan police station scene seems heavily inspired."
While some wonder why Kiran Rao couldn't come up with an original concept considering the talent, clout and resources at her disposal, others argued that the idea of bride-swapping isn't new considering how similar stories have shown up in Indian fiction, such as the works of Rabindranath Tagore, or the television soaps from the early 2000s. However, given how similar the incidents depicted in the two films are and the way they are picturised, some users firmly believe that Kiran Rao lifted the idea from Burqa City.
Gone are the days when filmmakers could easily lift story ideas or musical tunes from international content and get away hoping nobody would notice it. Screenwriters and filmmakers have to be more cautious in this day and age where some of the rarest of films are available freely on the internet.