Anurag Kashyap has reacted to the Made in Heaven controversy and come out in support of director Neeraj Ghaywan. In a new interview with Bollywood Hungama, Anurag opened up about the controversy surrounding the fifth episode directed by Neeraj Ghaywan in Made in Heaven Season 2, in which Radhika Apte plays a Dalit bride and opts for a Buddhist wedding. (Also read: Neeraj Ghaywan on Made in Heaven 2’s Radhika Apte episode: ‘Calling it Dalit wedding was wrong, it was Buddhist wedding’)
What Anurag said
In the interview with Bollywood Hungama, Anurag 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.”
On the controversy
Anurag further added, “It’s a debatable issue… You (Yashica Dutt) are not really concerned about the issue because then you can’t be two-sided. You are attacking this guy (Neeraj Ghaywan)… 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.”
The controversy erupted when Yashica Dutt, author of Coming Out as Dalit: A Memoir, had demanded recognition for inspiring the character of Pallavi Menke (played by Radhika Apte) and the storyline of a Made in Heaven 2 episode titled The Heart Skips A Beat, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, as she wasn’t formally credited. A few days later, the makers of the show released a statement denying the claims.
Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan have collaborated in the past. Anurag co-produced Neeraj Ghaywan’s directorial debut film Masaan. Meanwhile, Neeraj also co-directed the second season of Netflix’s Sacred Games with Anurag.