Filmmakers of Laapata Ladies Respond To Burqa City Plagiarism Claims

Mumbai, 7th April 2025: Laapata Ladies, a film that received widespread acclaim from both audiences and critics following its release last year, has become a major hit on OTT platforms and was even showcased at several international premieres. Directed by Kiran Rao, former wife of Aamir Khan, and written by Biplab Goswami, the movie won the prestigious IIFA Award for Best Film Original. However, recent claims of plagiarism have sparked controversy, with social
media users accusing the film of copying elements from the 2019 release Burqa City, directed by Fabrice Brack.

Many scenes in Burqa City resemble Laapata Ladies. For example, when the wife went missing, the actor went to the police station and asked the police to find him by showing the photo of his wife’s burqa. In such a situation, social media users say that this film is a copy of Burqa City. Now, writer Biplab Goswami has broken his silence on these allegations.

In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Biplab Goswami, the writer of Laapata Ladies, responded to accusations of plagiarism. He clarified, “I registered my story with the Screenwriters Association in 2014 and have proof of that. The entire script was completed in 2018. No one approached me about these claims, and I had no idea comparisons with Burqa City were being made until Saturday.”

The Laapata Ladies team recently discussed the plagiarism allegations, and tensions were high, according to Biplab Goswami. “Everyone was wondering, ‘What is happening?’ and the mood was tense,” he shared. “As a writer, when something like this happens, it damages your credibility. It feels bad and disheartening that no one even bothered to ask me about it. I spent 10 years working on this story, and the entire film team put in their effort. Yet, someone makes an accusation, and suddenly everyone starts to believe it. The perception shifts, and it’s truly sad.”

Recently, the director of Burqa City weighed in on the plagiarism controversy, claiming that certain scenes from his 2019 film bear similarities to Laapata Ladies. In an interview with IFP, he explained that he wrote the script for his short film in 2017, shot it in 2018, and premiered it in 2019. Adding to the mounting accusations, filmmaker Anant Mahadevan also accused the makers of Laapata Ladies of copying elements from his 1999 film Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol. However,
the writer of Laapata Ladies has firmly denied these allegations, defending the originality of the work.

As the plagiarism accusations against Laapata Ladies continue, the film’s team remains firm in their defense of its originality. Writer Biplab Goswami and the crew stress that the story was developed years before Burqa City was released. Despite the rising controversy, they are standing by their work, with the situation still unfolding. As the debate heats up, the future of the film’s reputation remains uncertain, leaving both fans and critics closely watching for further developments.