Laapataa Ladies is copied from my film, claims filmmaker

Laapata Ladies is that one film that has been making headlines for multiple reasons for more than a month now. The film had a successful run in the theaters and is a massive hit on the OTT platforms as well. Directed by Kirran Rao, the film has won appreciation from everywhere but is now facing allegations for being not being an original but a copied one.

Veteran and National Award- winning filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan, has alleged that the film has been copied from his 1999 film Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol. Ananth is receiving support from netizens while Bilap Goswami, the writer of Laapata Ladies says that everything about film is 100 per cent original. As per the news that is doing rounds on the internet, since the release of Laapata Ladies, Ananth’s film, which was available on YouTube all this while has been taken down.

On Saturday, author Nivedita Shukla took to X to lend her support to Ananth. Sharing posters of both the films in question, she wrote, "In the past I had appreciated Laapataa Ladies, and it is now being celebrated for surpassing views of Animal on Netflix. But little did I know, that it has been copied from @ananthmahadevan 's "Ghoonghat ke pat khol". Which was first aired in 1999 on Doordarshan Gold under their Director's cut series."

Reacting to Ananth's allegations, Laapataa Ladies' Biplab Goswami had told the publication that he had submitted the script at the Cinestaan India's Storytellers Contest in 2018 and his story is original. He said, "I received the first runner-up award for it. I wrote the synopsis a decade ago. My story, script, dialogues, characterisation and scenes are all 100 per cent original. I have not been inspired by any story, movie or novel."