Thread by @LaffajPanditIND

The Anatomy of Meghna Gulzar and how Political Correctness kills creativity in even the best in their art -

Well, I'm not that Twitter savvy, but given that I hate staying mum, I thought to share some of my thoughts about the issue with Meghna Gulzar.

So Lieutenant Commander Harinder Sikka [retd.], a distinguished ex Indian Navy officer cum author, recently accused Meghna of destroying the ethos of his book 'Calling Sehmat', with her movie adaptation 'Raazi'.

I happened to cover this in a small article of my own as well -

tfipost.in/2020/07/the-ra…

However, the more I delved into this topic, I found that Meghna fell to the very vice which most of the Indian filmmakers are suffering from, the 'Darbari' syndrome.

In this, no matter how great you are, once you start licking the boots of the ideology in power, your talent and your ability goes down the drain.

Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu are some of the best examples of this deadly pandemic, even worse than COVID 19.

I had seen 'Talvar' before 'Raazi', and I must admit, I fell in love with Meghna's style of filmmaking.

It's not everyday that you see a filmmaker in India delving into the unchartered territories, and be popular commercially as well.

As such, I had high expectations from her in 'Raazi', and initially, I was delighted to see the movie being a good watch as well.

However, when the author said that 'Raazi' won't earn any National Awards, I decided to investigate myself.

After reading 'Calling Sehmat', I'm really angry at Meghna Gulzar. But no, I'm not angry because she ruined the ethos of the book. I'm angry because she fell to the very vice she had tried to destroy in 'Talvar', i.e. mediocrity.

Imagine that you have got a gold mine of a script, and it can change your fortunes. But in order to be politically correct, and not seem as anti ___, you destroy the very spirit of the book.

Such a person would only be called a duffer. Meghna Gulzar is unfortunately the one.

In the book, 'Sehmat' does not come back as a depressed woman, guilty of killing a 'family' that was affectionate to her.

She came back as a proud woman, saluting the Tiranga and thanking it for accepting her back. This is exactly what Lieutenant Commander Sikka wanted.

But wait, there's more to it. Did you know that Meghna Gulzar never covered two bold incidents in the book?

If she had, 'Raazi' would've been an undisputed classic like 'Andhadhun'.........

.........But oh the political correctness. Those two incidents were removed completely, and Raazi became a subtle propaganda, subtly pro Pakistani and aiming to whitewash their involvement in Operation Searchlight.

The two incidents were -

1) Iqbal Syed was not Sehmat's first lover. She had fallen in love with Aniruddha, a devout Hindu and her college mate. Sehmat even adored Shri Krishna in this book. She hated to leave him, as she learnt of her ultimate mission.

2) This incident would've burnt LIBEROLS inside out.
After her return, Sehmat converted into Sikhism. She named her son Samar Khan [after her father], and not Samar Syed.

Ek masterpiece ka kabaada kaise karte hain, ye Meghna Gulzar se seekhein.

Whatever reputation Meghna had, despite the 'Raazi' fiasco, was destroyed by the PR stunt of Deepika Padukone for 'Chhapaak'.

If this continues with 'Sam', Meghna might turn out to be the female Anurag Kashyap, who let propaganda and political correctness overwhelm her talent.

I had high expectations from 'Sam', given that it is a tale about the legend, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

However, post 'Chhapaak', and the injustice meted to 'Calling Sehmat', I have my own doubts.

One more talent murdered at the altar of political correctness.