Laapataa Ladies writer breaks silence over plagiarism post similarities drawn to an Arabic movie

Biplab Goswami, the author of Laapataa Ladies, responded to recent claims of plagiarism against his film in a statement released on Saturday. Recently, several online users discovered parallels between the Arabic film Burqa City and the Kiran Rao-directed movie.

Long before the Arabic movie was produced, in 2014, Biplab claimed in a social media statement that he had registered Laapataa Ladies with the Screenwriters Association. Additionally, he claimed that the registered synopsis contained the contested scenes. He claimed to have registered the feature-length script with the SWA in 2018 under the name Two Brides. According to the statement, it even took home a prize in the Cinestaan Storytellers Competition that year.

Then, citing authors like William Shakespeare and Rabindranath Tagore as examples, he noted that the idea of veils and disguises leading to mistaken identities is a popular cliché that has been employed for ages.

“Laapataa Ladies uses this mistaken identity form with entirely original and unique characters, setting, narrative journey, and social impact,” a segment of the statement read.

In addition to “understanding the nuances of gender discrimination and inequality,” he asserts that his story, dialogues, characters, and situations are the result of years of research and “honest reflection.” “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.”

The Hindi movie that was India’s official Oscar nominee recently faced criticism after a number of online users shared footage from Laapataa Ladies and Burqa City, Fabrice Bracq’s 2019 film, highlighting the similarities between the two movies. In Burqa City, a newlywed man is frantically trying to find his wife after she is inadvertently switched with another lady who is wearing the same burqa.