This is what Gulzar promised author Harinder Sikka about Meghna Gulzar's 'Raazi'

It was on veteran lyricist Gulzar's determination that author Harinder Singh Sikka, whose book 'Calling Sehmat' got adapted into the film titled Raazi, and agreed to have Meghna Gulzar as the director of the 2018 spy thriller. Raazi is the real-life story of a young Kashmiri girl who agreed to marry a Pakistani army officer to spy for India.

However, Gulzar wanted work for his daughter and made Meghna the director and also a part of his contract because Harinder took a promise from me that whoever produces the movie, the director would only be Meghna. All of this was in the contract but Gulzar denied that it was not the case or anything like that. The other two clauses in the contract were that only Alia Bhatt would play the role of protagonist and it would be full and final payment, no instalments.

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Even though the film did exceedingly well at the box office and got rave reviews from movie critics, but Sikka was not happy with how the production turned out. He said that if they had followed the book to the tee, the movie would have become folklore. His major disagreement was the climax of the movie, which he said had cost the film a National Award. In the book, when Sehmat returned to India, she was given a red-carpet welcome at the airport, but when she saw the tri-colour she stepped aside and saluted the tri-colour.

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But in the movie, they showed that she came back all depressed as if she had done a blunder. When he asked them not to change the scene they told him that they knew the industry better. Now, in Sikka’s opinion that was the reason the film did not get a single National Award. Sikka also said that Raazi could have been a 'Mother India' kind of thing, had they (filmmakers) not thought of making it too commercial.

Also read | Meghna Gulzar Movies: Raazi, Filhaal And Other Notable Works Of The Filmmaker

Harinder Sikka's new book 

His new book Vichhoda, which also features a strong female protagonist, is the real story of Bibi Amrit Kaur who reunites with her sons six decades after she was forced to leave Pakistan in 1950 because of the Nehru-Liaquat pact. Also known as the Delhi Pact, the bilateral agreement was signed between India and Pakistan to provide a framework for the treatment of minorities in the two countries. He also said that through the stories of these strong women, he wants to make his country and its people realise the true capability of women. According to reports, Vichhoda will soon be adapted into a movie.

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