Aamir Khan Productions, Kiran Finally React To Multiple Plagiarism Allegations Against Laapataa Ladies With Proof

Laapataa Ladies has been mired in controversy after a social media user alleged, by sharing instances, that the Bollywood movie directed by Kiran Rao is similar to the Arabic film Burqa City (2019). While Laapataa Ladies was India's official entry to the 97th Academy Awards, many have questioned this pick due to recurring plagiarism allegations against it. Before this, Bollywood director Ananth Mahadevan accused the makers of Laapataa Ladies of plagiarising his 1999 telly film Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol.

Now, Laapataa Ladies screenwriter Biplab Goswami has released a statement. He talked about writing the entire story with the working title Two Brides and registering it in 2014 with the Screenwriters Association. "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, among many others. Laapataa Ladies uses this mistaken identity form with entirely original and unique characters, setting, narrative journey, and social impact," Goswami said.   

'Our story, characters, and dialogues are 100% original'

"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 chauvinism across both Indian and global contexts," Goswami's note read. "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 added.

Goswami on how Two Brides became Laapataa Ladies

Goswami also detailed how Laapataa Ladies has been made from the story originally titled Two Brides, written by him. He claimed that he was awarded at the Cinestaan Storytellers Competition in 2018 for his feature-length script Two Brides, and that it was registered by the Screenwriters Association (SWA) in the same year.

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"The screenplay for Laapataa Ladies 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. On June 30, 2018, I registered the feature-length script 'Two Brides' with the SWA. 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," Goswami shared.

Aamir Khan Productions also shared the statement on their Instagram handle. Laapataa Ladies director Kiran Rao also shared a photo of the registered storyline of Two Brides in 2014.