Anurag Kashyap on Made in Heaven 2 controversy: ‘You are looking for validation…’

Anurag Kashyap has come out in support of Neeraj Ghaywan, who directed Episode 5 of Made In Heaven Season 2, which featured Radhika Apte as a Dalit bride. Yashica Dutt had accused the show's makers of basing Radhika's character on her life without her consent.

Anurag Kashyap supported Neeraj Ghaywan, who directed Episode 5 of Made In Heaven. (Pic: Anurag Kashyap/Instagram)

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | Updated: August 30, 2023 09:53 PM IST

4 min read

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After accusing Made in Heaven (MIH) Season 2 makers of basing Radhika Apte’s character on her life without giving her credit, Yashica Dutt got into an online spat with writer Sumit Baudh. Sumit had called Yashica a ‘hypocrite’ for not crediting his 2007 article in her 2019 book, Coming Out as Dalit: A Memoir, while she asked for credit from MIH makers.

Now, Anurag Kashyap has come out in support of Neeraj Ghaywan, who directed Episode 5 of MIH Season 2 which featured Radhika Apte as a Dalit bride. In his conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Anurag sided with Neeraj and said, “I get scared for people I care about when they get attacked. I have seen the entire journey of Neeraj Ghaywan and the time he took to find the courage to speak up and then I saw him get cancelled in a day on social media. I got very affected by that because he got cancelled by people without them understanding the issue.” Earlier in an interview with Mid-Day, Neeraj had revealed that Radhika’s character is in many ways based on him. “Yes it’s me,” the director had said.

Anurag also addressed the Sumit Baudh-Yashica Dutt controversy without naming the writers. He said, “It’s a debatable issue. If it’s really that big an issue, then why are you (Yashica) attacking the other person (Sumit) who before you said ‘I used this word’? Then you are looking for validation. You are not really concerned about the issue because then you can’t be two-sided. You are attacking this guy (Neeraj Ghaywan) and you are also attacking the guy who before you said something in a blog. So, if you are only looking for validation then to me you look like an opportunist and nothing more than that. And I have seen that man (Neeraj) who found courage to be the voice, struggle, shrink because he got attacked by his very people. Then what is important in this day and age when we talk about representation? Is representation more important than self? Is yourself bigger than the representation? Because then you are a false self. You are a badge wearer. You are not really representing something and that makes me angry.”

Also read | Yashica Dutt and Made in Heaven: When moral right is not copyright

Though Anurag didn’t name Kangana Ranaut, he related Yashica Dutt’s Made in Heaven controversy to the actor’s fight against nepotism. He said, “I did not know about the fight. I found out later and then I read about it and by the time I found out about it I saw the other side of it happening. Ghaywan was out and the other person was being attacked. I will not be afraid of saying this but it is how a certain person from the industry was fighting against nepotism and then went so far out that now nobody wants to hear that person. It’s a similar thing.”

He added, “When you become larger than your fight that is a massive problem and it will emerge in the future. You made it about you, that’s the problem.” When the interviewer said, “This is what the nepotism fight became.” Anurag agreed and said, “Exactly.”

After Yashica’s statement against Made in Heaven makers came out, the show’s directors – Nitya Mehra, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Prashant Nair, Alankrita Shrivastava and Neeraj Ghaywan – shared a single statement refuting all the claims made by the writer.

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Anurag Kashyap Made in Heaven Neeraj Ghaywan