'Laapataa Ladies' writer Biplab Goswami refutes plagiarism accusation, says film is "100% original"

'Laapataa Ladies' directed by Kiran Rao had gone on to receive a lot of appreciation and love from critics and audiences alike. The film was also India's official entry to the Oscars 2025 and the internet was divided about whether or not the film deserved to be or was worthy enough to be representing India at the Oscars. It was around the same time that the film was accused of plagiarism. Internet users pointed out the similarities between 'Laapataa Ladies' and an Arabic film called 'Burqa City'. Over the last few days, netizens kept debating and it is only recently that an official team member of the film has shared their opinion. 

The writer of 'Laapataa Ladies', Biplab Goswami issued a statement on social media recently where he addressed the accusations of plagiarism. Not only did he share his feelings over the statement but also made it a point to share documents that prove the fact that the film has not been copied from the 2019 film 'Burqa City' which had been directed by Fabrice Bracq. 

Biplab in the statement mentioned, "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."

The writer of the film shared that he registered the feature-length script of the film which was then called 'Two Brides' with the Screenwriters Association (SWA) on June 30, 2018. He also mentioned that the script went on to win the runner-up award at the Cinestaan Storytellers Competition that very year. 

In the statement, he mentioned that the very concept of disguises and veils was as old as time and had been used as a theme in classics over a long period by popular writers such as Alexandre Dumas, Rabindranath Tagore and William Shakespeare. 

Biplab wrote, "Laapataa Ladies uses this mistaken identity form with entirely original and unique characters, setting, narrative journey, and social impact. 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. Our story, characters, and dialogues are 100% original. Any allegations of plagiarism are completely untrue."

He further added, "These allegations not just undermine my efforts as a writer, but also the tireless efforts of the entire filmmaking team."

While Kiran Rao re-shared this post on her Instagram story, she has herself not made any statements pertaining to this matter as yet. Netizens are hoping that she will come up with a reasonable statement to address these accusations. 

 featured Pratibha Ranta, Nitanshi Goel, Sparsh Shrivastav, Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam in pivotal roles. The film was produced by , Kiran Rao, and Jyoti Deshpande under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions.