'Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol' director Ananth Mahadevan: I tell people one of my films is going to Oscars

Stills from Laapataa Ladies

Ananth Mahadevan's first feature film, Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol (1999), is getting a new lease of life. In May, the Joy Sengupta and Sucheta Khanna-starrer came into focus when Mahadevan claimed that Kiran Rao's acclaimed work, Laapataa Ladies, borrowed heavily from it (‘Mix-up in train and station straight from my film', May 10). Now, the digital rights of Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol have been bought by Shemaroo, and the movie will stream on ShemarooMe from January.

Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol

Mahadevan says there has been renewed interest in the film ever since he pointed out that Laapataa Ladies - which revolves around two brides getting switched mistakenly, owing to their veiled faces - was inspired from his movie that had the same premise. "It's a pity that Ghunghat… had a two-time telecast on Doordarshan in 1999. As soon as [the officials at Doordarshan] got to know that Laapataa Ladies was similar to Ghunghat, they immediately called me and took rights for a three-time telecast. Now, [the OTT release] will ensure a wider reach," says the director.

Ananth Mahadevan

Laapataa Ladies has been selected as India's official entry to the 2025 Oscars. As Rao takes the Sparsh Shrivastava, Pratibha Ranta, Nitanshi Goel and Ravi Kishen-starrer to the global stage, Mahadevan says, "Nobody will ever admit to it or prove that Laapataa Ladies was inspired. Though nothing can be done about it, the coincidences are too strong. When people call and tell me that it has been selected as India's entry for the Oscars, I tell them, ‘That's great. It's the first time one of my films is going to the Academy Awards.'"

Meanwhile, Ketan Maroo, who bought the digital rights of Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol, is confident that the 25-year-old film has an eager audience. "People are saying that another movie is inspired by it, so there will be curiosity," he states.