Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies accused of being copied from Arabic film Burqa City, netizens say, "Plagirism in India. Not a new concept"

Laapataa Ladies faces plagiarism allegations

Kiran Rao's directorial film Laapataa Ladies received huge praise from the critics and audience alike. The film was a huge hit among fans and was India's official entry to the Oscars 2025. However, the film recently faced controversy with allegations of plagiarism.

The film is said to be a copy of a 2019 Arabic film called Burqa City. The plagiarism allegation was fueled after a video from Burqa City swirled around the internet. The social media users drew similarities between the two films, questioning the originality of Laapataa Ladies.

Filmmaker Fabrice Bracq created the satirical short film Burqa City in 2019. The 19-minute narrative, set in the Middle East, revolves around a newlywed man's desperate search for his wife after she is mistakenly replaced by another woman wearing the same burqa.

Burqa City offers a thought-provoking commentary on patriarchal societies, the restrictive norms imposed on women, and how women's identities are often erased.
However, now the fans have criticized Kiran Rao and accused her of copying the theme of the film by just replacing the burqa with ghunghat.

Kiran Rao's Lapata 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 Middle East, the 19 min film follows a newlywed man whose wife gets exchanged due to identical pic.twitter.com/b7GcHN2MmI
THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) March 31, 2025

A second internet user penned, “Plagirism in India. Not a new concept.” A third person tweeted, “Abhi kuch nahi ho sakta..I was under the impression that it was original..good that this movie gave one beautiful song Sajni re by Arijit.”

Also Read: Laapataa Ladies dominates IIFA Awards 2025 with 10 wins, Nitanshi Goel bags Best Performance in leading role award

For the unversed, Laapataa Ladies was produced by Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, and Jyoti Deshpande under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures, and Jio Studios.

The film features Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastav in the lead roles alongside Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma.