Actor-director Ananth Mahadevan opened up about the plagiarism allegations against Kiran Rao‘s Laapataa Ladies, a project produced by Aamir Khan. According to Ananth, the film’s premise closely resembles his directorial debut, Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol, which was released in 1999. Despite raising these concerns, Ananth clarified that he wasn’t sure whether Aamir or Kiran were aware of any potential copying in the project. “My film’s story had two guys who get their wives mixed up at the train station and reach the cities thinking they have come with their own wives. However, when the ghoonghat lifts they get to know that this is not the girl they were married to and the hunt starts for the real spouse. Is it a coincidence that this is the same theme of Laapataa Ladies? Now, nobody will claim they have copied. Even if they have done it, what is the proof?” Ananth Mahadevan told Siddharth Kannan.
When asked if he believes Laapataa Ladies is plagiarised from Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol, Ananth Mahadevan responded, “Up to a point, it is the same film but after the discovery of the brides they have gone on a different tangent of women liberation. That is the modern way of looking at it. In Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, women respected the men for keeping them in their houses with honour, even when the women were not their wives. So, there is a subtle difference. But, there are scenes which are very similar to Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol. If you think there can be so many similarities without plagiarism, it is great. Great minds think alike.”
Ananth Mahadevan also revealed that despite raising concerns about the similarities between the two films, neither Aamir Khan nor Kiran Rao reached out to him to address the issue. He said, “They are too powerful, too big. I am nonexistent for them. They will just say, “Who is he, let him talk, who cares? We’ll carry on with our lives and our films.’ I won’t expect anyone to call me as I am too unimportant for them to justify anything.”
Laapataa Ladies features Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastav in pivotal roles. Directed by Kiran Rao, the film has been collectively produced by Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao and Jyoti Deshpande under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures and Jio Studios. Laapataa Ladies is India’s official entry for the 2025 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.