National Award-winning filmmaker
Ananth Mahadevan
recently accused
Kiran Rao
of copying her critically acclaimed film
Laapataa Ladies
from his 1999 telefilm
Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol
. The allegation ignited a heated discussion online, with some netizens backing Mahadevan, while Lapataa Ladies writer
Biplab Goswami
staunchly defending the film’s originality.
On Friday, author
Nivedita Shukla
voiced her support for Mahadevan. Sharing posters of both films on Twitter, 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 Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, which first aired in 1999 on Doordarshan Gold under their Director’s Cut series.”
Nivedita further alleged that since the release of Laapataa Ladies, Mahadevan’s film had been removed from YouTube. “Surprisingly, the telefilm which was available on YouTube, has now been removed after Lapataa Ladies picked up and Ananth called out the makers. All that morality, work ethic gyan, and self-righteousness to dump on the public but when it comes to practicing it, then all goes down the drain,” she added. Mahadevan thanked Nivedita and other supporters on Twitter saying, “Thanks for the kind words.”
Earlier, Mahadevan maintained that Laapataa Ladies shares significant plot points with Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, which revolves around a mix-up involving two brides. However, Mahadevan acknowledged that the narratives diverge after the initial mix-up.
Kiran Rao at KASHISH Pride Film Festival: LGBTQIA+ members, disabled persons, caste minorities should be represented well and cast in movies
Responding to the
plagiarism
allegations, Laapataa Ladies writer Biplab Goswami insisted his story is entirely original. He revealed that he submitted the script at the Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Contest in 2018 and received the first runner-up award for it, adding that he wrote the synopsis a decade ago.
Lapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao, features a cast including
Nitanshi Goel
,
Pratibha Ranta
,
Sparsh Shrivastava
, and Ravi Kishan.
