Aamir Khan Productions’ film ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has been generating massive buzz ever since it released on Netflix last Friday. The movie had enamoured theatre-going audiences too, when it was playing in theatres since March.
Laapataa Ladies is directed by Kiran Rao, and produced by Rao, Aamir Khan, and Jyoti Deshpande of Jio Studios. The film stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan in pivotal roles.
The delightfully quaint movie, set in a rural backdrop, has touched a chord with film fans all over the world. Laapataa Ladies is currently trending at Number 1 on Netflix in India, and is in the Top 10 in our neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh.
While everyone on social media is going ga-ga over Laapataa Ladies, a shocking fact has come to the fore. Apparently, the film’s central idea has been ripped off from a 1998 movie. The movie in question is ‘Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol’, and it has been written and directed by well-known actor-filmmaker, Ananth Mahadevan.
Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies centres on the stories of two newly married girls, both of whom go missing from a tiny, rural Bihar station. What follows is a comedy of errors, combined with important life lessons, conveyed in a delightful, non-judgemental way.
Ananth Mahadevan’s ‘Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol’ also follows two such young brides who end up going home with different grooms owing to the fact that both have “ghunghats”, aka veils, covering their faces. Ananth Mahadevan’s film also gives life lessons in a similar vein as Laapataa Ladies.
The treatment of both movies may be different, but there’s no denying the fact that both movies are strikingly similar. Giving credibility to the rip-off angle of Laapataa Ladies is the even more shocking fact that Ananth Mahadevan’s ‘Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol’ has mysteriously disappeared from YouTube ever since Laapataa Ladies released in theatres. It was available to watch on YouTube until a few months ago.
Even Ananth Mahadevan has no clue who pulled down his Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol from YouTube. While the director has not mentioned anything on his social media handles regarding Kiran Rao copying his central idea, he has been vocal about it on online forums.
Scroll down the comments to check out Ananth Mahadevan’s comment on this post on a Facebook group –
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/aDhHVyEJcBmqbJgu/?mibextid=oFDknk
As one comment says in this thread, after reading the synopsis of Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, it’s as clear as day that both films share a strikingly similar storyline. But Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol came first, Laapataa Ladies much later.
If that isn’t a rip-off then what is?