Following filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's defense in favour of the Made In Heaven Season 2 makers, author/journalist Yashica Dutt, who's been single-handedly calling out the team for its their 'blatant' use of her back-story in EP 5 of the show, without giving her the due credits for it, posted a long post in response.
She took to Instagram and shared a lengthy textual post with the caption that read, "Update: In response to my gentle demand for acknowledgement on an episode that blatantly used my likeness, the makers of MIH put out a hostile statement calling it ‘misleading’. Was it also misleading when Alankrita Shrivastava, who is a writer and director of the show and co-signed that condescending statement, requested a meeting with me in New York on July 15, 2022 that lasted five hours? Where she asked me everything about my life but refused to reveal anything about her intentions.
The distortion of this narrative is all about protecting the ‘progressive’ image of indie Bollywood as they continue to steal from Dalit people’s lives, silencing them when they ask for their rightful credit. Even the ‘vanguards’ are complicit in this.
I have immense respect for Neeraj Ghaywan’s struggle to make his space within these savarna power structures. But I never met him or told him my story. I met Alankrita Shrivastava. Now the same savarna power structures are pitting us against each other while making Ghaywan be accountable in public for their blatant theft. I hope this moment is a lesson that our stories are not for taking without credit or permission. This theft of Dalit labor ends now. Jai Bhim!"
Check out the post below:
Her carousel post contained 4 textual images with a detailed account of her meeting with filmmaker Alankrita Srivastava in New York on July 15, 2022. As per Dutt, Srivastava posed as an 'anti-caste ally' and obtained details about Dutt's life and struggle without revealing her purpose. While Dutt maintains that she has immense respect for Neeraj Ghaywan, who directed EP 5 titled 'The Heart Skipped A Beat' starring Radhika Apte, she has called out the savarna filmmakers (Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Srivastava) for denigrating her claims with their hostile joint statement.
When Dutt's claims initially surfaced following her viewing of the said episode, Zoya and other makers had issued a collective statement stating, "We categorically deny any claim that Ms. Dutt's life of work was appropriated by us."
For the unversed, EP 5 of Made In Heaven Season 2 has been widely discussed by netizens for its first-ever depiction of a Buddhist wedding and for its respectful depiction of a Dalit woman's right to have an equal wedding.
The show stars an ensemble of actors featuring Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin, Shashank Arora and Shivani Raghuvanshi.
