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Laapataa Ladies Plagiarism Row: Is Burqa City Available Online? Where To Stream The Short Film In India?
Laapataa Ladies Plagiarism Controversy: 'Laapataa Ladies' is back in news once again. Despite being a box office dud, the Kiran Rao-directed slice-of-life film is one of the most successful Bollywood movies of 2024. Featuring Sparsh Srivastava, Pratibha Ranta, Nitanshi Goel and Ravi Kishan in the lead, Laapataa Ladies has been sweeping with maximum number of awards at almost every award function. The film also garnered global attention after becoming India's official entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards (Oscars 2025).
However, the film has been under scrutiny lately for all the wrong reasons. Laapataa Ladies came under fire after a video clip of an Arabian short film 'Burqa City' went viral on social media. The viral clip pointed out alleged similarities between the 2024 full-length Hindi feature film and the 2019 short film. Amid the ongoing 'plagiarism', everyone is curious about the Arabian short film. Is Laapataa Ladies really copied from 'Burqa City'? Is Burqa City available online? Where can we watch the short film online in India? Read on to know...
Laapataa Ladies Plagiarism Allegations: Burqa City Director Breaks Silence On Similarities
The plagiarism allegations against Kiran Rao's much-loved film Laapataa Ladies have been all over the news. French director Fabrice Bracq, who helmed the 2019 Arabian short film Burqa City, recently called out Laapataa Ladies and revealed that he was "both surprised and shocked" after watching "how closely the pitch" of Laapataa Ladies matched with his short film.
Talking to India Today, the filmmaker stated, "First of all, even before watching the film, I was surprised by how closely the pitch matched that of my short film. Then I watched the film, and I 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. Notably - and this is by no means an exhaustive list - the kind, loving, naive husband who loses his wife, contrasted with the other husband who is violent and despicable. The scene with the police officer is also striking: a corrupt, violent, and intimidating policeman surrounded by two sidekicks. Of course, there's the moment with the photo of the veiled woman."
Pointing out further similarities, Bracq added, The scene where the kind husband searches for his wife in various shops is particularly revealing - he shows the shopkeepers a photo of his veiled wife, just like in the short film, and then the shopkeeper's wife comes out wearing a burqa, almost like a nod to Burqa City. There's also the similarity in the plot twist at the end, where we learn that the woman deliberately chose to run away from her abusive husband - a key narrative element in Burqa City."
"And more broadly, the film carries a similar message about women's emancipation and feminism," he concluded.
Is Burqa City Available Online In India? Where To Stream?
Ever since Laapataa Ladies got embroiled in plagiarism controversy, the 2019 Arabian short film Burqa City started to gain spotlight in India. Is the short film available online in India? The answer is - YES!
Burqa City is available on YouTube in India. You can watch the short film for free on YouTube.
Laapataa Ladies Writer Issues Official Statement On Plagiarism Claims
On Saturday (April 5), Laapataa Ladies writer Biplab Goswami broke silence on the ongoing plagiarism allegations against their film. Denying the accusations, he issued an official statement on Instagram and provided relevant documents to prove the originality of the story, characters and dialogues of Laapataa Ladies.
"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, (sic)" a part of his official statement read.
For those unversed, Laapataa Ladies, available on Netflix, had its theatrical release on 1st March 2024.
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