'Laapataa Ladies' Accused Of Copying Arabic Film 'Burqa City': Here Are The Striking Similarities (Image-X/aamirkhanproductions)

Director Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies, India’s official entry for the Oscars 2025, has found itself at the center of plagiarism accusations. The striking similarities between the Hindi film and the 2019 Arabic film, Burqa City, have raised questions regarding the authenticity of the film, which was nominated to represent the country at the Academy Awards.

The Hindi comedy entertainer made heads turn since its nomination in 2024. But now the film is making headlines for the wrong reasons. A recent clip from the Arabic short film Burqa City has been going viral on the internet as it portrays scenes similar to the much-talked-about Laapata Ladies.

What is ‘Buqa City’ all about?

Directed by Fabrice Bracq, Burqa City is a 19-minute satirical short film that was released in 2019. Set against the backdrop of the Middle East, the film narrates the story of a newlywed man who finds himself frantically searching for his wife after she is mistakenly swapped with another woman wearing an identical burqa. Through this narrative, Burqa City delivers a critique of patriarchal societies, gender-based restrictions, and the erasure of women’s identities.

Burqa City follows the same plot as Laapata Ladies?

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

The similarities between Laapataa Ladies and Burqa City have not gone unnoticed. Numerous scenes from the movies were found to be identical and the social media users began to draw parallels between the two films.

The only difference that the two films have is that Kiran Rao replaced burqas with ghoonghats to add cultural context to the film. Even the Ravi Kishan police station scene seems heavily inspired.

Social media reacts to these striking similarities

Since the film was presented as India’s original creation at the Oscar nominations, netizens widely questioned the originality of the film. Moreover, it also raises questions over the fine line between the concepts of imitation and inspiration.

One netizen commented, “It screams duplicity and it’s sad to see copied/ inspired work like Laapataa Ladies presented as original for the Oscars. They also conveniently shifted from a Muslim to Hindu context in India just to fit a narrative; it feels disingenuous and unfair.”

It screams duplicity and sad to see copied/ inspired work like Laapataa Ladies presented as original for the Oscars.

They also conveniently shifted from a Muslim to Hindu context in India just to fit a narrative feels disingenuous and unfair.

— Ankit (@ankitruhil95) March 31, 2025

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Others commented, “Nothing that Bollywood produces seems to be an original work of art. They are all brazenly copy pasted from somewhere else, shamelessly billed as original work.”

Nothing that Bollywood produces seems to be an original work of art. They are all brazenly copy pasted from somewhere else, shamelessly billed as original work

— Brutal Truth (@sarkarstix) March 31, 2025

One netizen questioned the choice of nominating the film for the Oscars. The comment reads, “And the biggest irony is that they sent it to the Oscars. Why do they keep making such blunders again and again? Barfi, gully boy and now this. Why can’t they find some original movies to choose from ?

And the biggest irony is that they sent it to oscars. Why do they keep making such blunders again and again. Barfi, gully boy and now this. Why can’t they find some original movies to choose from ?

— GHANASHYAM PARIDA (@GHANASHYAMPAR12) April 1, 2025

Another found Laapataa Ladies‘s concept similar to the 1999-released Doordharshan series Ghoonghat ke Pat Khol, directed by the national award-winning filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan. In an interview the director even mentioned that many movies are made on Bhagat Singh and their resemblance is quite natural as he is popular, “but brides getting mixed up at a railway station cannot be a coincidence.”

This movie is originally inspired from ‘Ghoonghat ke Pat Khol’ which aired on Doordarshan in 1999.

— Amit Sahu (@AmitSahu89) March 31, 2025

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Released on March 1, 2024, Laapata Ladies revolves around an incident that occurs after a marriage. The story is set in 2001 in rural India; two brides get separated on a train journey, and thus a police officer, Manohar, investigates the missing case.

Laapataa Ladies is jointly produced by Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Pictures and presented by Jio Studios. The movie features an ensemble cast including Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam, and Ravi Kishan in significant roles.