War of Words

AFTER THE success of Aligarh, the creative team behind the film had once again teamed up for Simran. However, while the film is scheduled to release in September, its director Hansal Mehta and writer Apurva Asrani (pictured) re parting ways on a bitter note. A couple of weeks ago, Mehta, along with the film’s actor Kangana Ranaut , claimed in an interview that the leading lady will be sharing writing credits for the film as she has contributed to the script by improvising it on the sets. But Asrani denied the claim, stating that end-product is the same as the script registered with the Film Writers’ Association. While this move by Asrani of staking claim on his work has been received well by the film industry’s writers, it has not gone down well with Mehta and the producers. In the meantime, Asrani, who was also editing the film, has been booted out from the role. This perhaps marks the end of a creative collaboration that has been behind films such as Shahid and Aligarh. While Mehta remained unavailable for comment, Asrani says, “What happened was unfortunate and hurtful, but I’m trying to see the bigger picture. Writers and editors are often emotionally manipulated into signing lopsided contracts that only protect the producer. We forget we are storytellers, and have as much invested in the film as the person who signs the cheques. We deserve more respect.”

Eva Rinaldi