Laapataa Ladies plagiarism row: Burqa City director 'shocked and saddened,' says film plans now ruined

With the video of the short film Burqa City going viral, Kiran Rao's much-acclaimed film Laapataa Ladies has found itself in hot water for allegedly copying the movie. Netizens have been targeting the makers of the film for copying the idea and claiming it as their own. While Kiran Rao has chosen to maintain her silence on the topic, the director and writer of the short film Burkha City, Fabrice Bracq, broke his silence and revealed how he was shocked after he got to know about Laapataa Ladies.

Burqa City director shocked over similarities with Laapataa Ladies

In an interview with IFP, when asked about the similarities he found in the Kiran Rao directorial, the maker of Burkha City revealed that he was shocked by the mere fact that the pitch of Laapataa Ladies was so close to his short film. "Then I watched the film and was both surprised and shocked to see that, although the story had been adapted to Indian culture, many aspects of my short were clearly present," he revealed.

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Further, while talking about the climax of the Kiran Rao directorial, Bracq stated that he also noticed how the end of Laapataa Ladies is heavily inspired by his film and that even on the broader aspect, it addresses the same issue of "women’s emancipation and feminism."

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On Laapataa vs Burqa City debate

In the conversation, the director was questioned about whether he is aware of the debate happening in India on the visible similarities between Laapataa and Burqa City, and exactly when he got to know about Kiran Rao's film. He revealed, "I discovered the existence of the film on the morning of April 3rd, when I received an email about Burkha City and a message from Omar, my actor, who had been contacted on Instagram about the topic."

He added, "When I found out, I was both shocked and saddened, especially since I understood that the film has been a huge success in India and was even shortlisted for the Oscars. As for me, I had hopes and was in discussions to adapt Burkha City into a feature film. But is that even possible now?"

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Burqa City director wishes to talk to Laapataa Ladies' production team

Copying anyone’s idea is not cool, and with Laapataa Ladies evidently looking like a stolen idea, when questioned about his next step to address the issue, Bracq said, "For now, I'm not sure — probably to have a discussion with the production team of Laapataa Ladies."

Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan, and the team are yet to react to the claims. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.