Harinder Sikka is wrong to accuse IANS

Mumbai, May 13 (IANS) On Wednesday, writer Harinder Sikka launched an attack on IANS claiming the agency had stated that his original story, on which Meghna Gulzar’s 2018 film “Raazi” was based, hadn’t been changed by the filmmakers. “Raazi” is based on Sikka’s book “Calling Sehmat”.

“@ians_india WRONG to say story wasn’t changed. I made Meghna director under condition, she shall NOT fiddle with my 8 yrs of hard work. I was back stabbed, more than one once. People must know Sehmat was proud Indian, did NOT come back depressed,” Sikka tweeted.

To set the record straight, IANS has made no such statement.

Sikka’s reference is to a news report that has appeared in hindustantimes.com on May 12, credited to the news agency ANI. The report has used an IANS quote by actor Vicky Kaushal, who was a member of the film’s cast, where he says that the cast and crew of the film were conscious “not to tamper with anything”.

The exact lines, as it appears in the news report of ANI in hindustantimes.com:

Talking about the film, Vicky had told IANS earlier, “Since the film is based on a true life incident, there was a certain amount of responsibility on all of us to get the story right. Whether it is me, Alia Bhatt or anyone who was a part of the film…We were conscious about not to tamper with anything.”

The actor had further said: “The character has many shades — of a patriot, of a son, a husband and an individual who is dealing with so many complex situations. I think it was a huge responsibility for director Meghna Gulzar as well and she treated the story very sincerely.”

This was an interview given by Vicky to IANS before the film’s release in May 2018, and whatever is stated within quotes is not the opinion of IANS, but a replication of what the actor told the agency.

Sikka has erroneously attributed the gist of the quote to IANS, and has accused the agency of saying that the story of the film wasn’t changed, from what he wrote in his book.

–IANS

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