The makers of Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies recently faced plagiarism accusations after a social media user claimed the film was 'copied' from the 2019 Arabic movie Burqa City, with several comparison clips circulating online. While the film's writer has denied the allegations, Burqa City director Fabrice Bracq has addressed the striking similarities, stating that he was "shocked."Fabrice Bracq shared that when he watched Laapataa Ladies, he was surprised by how closely the pitch matched that of his film Burqa City. He expressed that he was both 'surprised and shocked' to see that although the story had been adapted to Indian culture, many elements from his short film 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," Fabrice told India Today.The director further pointed out a specific scene in Laapataa Ladies where the husband searches for his wife across various shops. He noted that the moment where the husband shows a photo of his veiled wife to shopkeepers—followed by the shopkeeper's own burqa-clad wife emerging—is particularly revealing and felt almost like a direct nod to Burqa City.He added, 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."On Saturday, Laapataa Ladies writer Biplab Goswami issued a statement reacting to plagiarism accusations against the film."I was deeply invested in understanding the nuances of gender discrimination and inequality, rural power dynamics, and male chauvinism across both Indian and global contexts. Our story, characters, and dialogues are 100% original. Any allegations of plagiarism are completely untrue," he wrote.