Recently, there has been a discussion on social media that there are some strange similarities between Kiran Rao's 2023 film "Laapataa Ladies" and Fabrice Bracq’s 2019 Arabic short film "Burqa City". Fabrice recently shared his feelings on these similarities in a conversation with IFP and said that these similarities shocked and saddened him.

Fabrice said that he had not seen the film "Laapataa Ladies" until he came to know about the similarities between this film and "Burqa City". When asked where the similarities are in the two films, Fabrice first talked about the similarity of the plot of the film. He felt that the plot of both the films is very similar. Apart from this, there are similarities in the film's portrayal of the 'kind, loving, and innocence-filled husband', 'cruel and hateful husband', 'corrupt, violent police officer', and especially the 'veiled woman'.

Fabrice also revealed that both the films have a big twist at the end, where it is revealed that the woman had deliberately decided to run away from her husband, which is a major aspect of "Burqa City". Fabrice also clarified that the story of "Burqa City" was written in 2017 and shot in 2018, which was screened at several international film festivals in 2019. It was also screened in Kolkata and Auroville in 2020.

When asked what he felt after watching “Laapataa Ladies”, Fabrice said, “I was quite shocked and saddened, especially after knowing that the film was very successful in India and was also shortlisted for the Oscars. I wanted “Burqa City” to be adapted into a feature film, but is it possible now?” He expressed interest in talking to the makers of “Laapataa Ladies” to resolve the matter. This development has given rise to a new debate in the film industry and raised the question whether the rights to the idea and plot of films can be protected or not.