One fact I would like to tell everyone about Kashmiri Muslims is that they are not terrorists. I penned Calling Sehmat because it is the story of how a young Muslim girl in Kashmir puts her life in danger to safeguard her country.
We must not base our opinions on a handful of separatists,” urged author Harinder Sikka, at the release of the Hindi edition of his much-acclaimed book that Meghna Gulzar made into a movie, Raazi.
The book, published by Penguin Books, was launched by the Naval chief Admiral Karambir Singh along with actor Janhvi Kapoor at the Constitution Club, Rafi Marg in New Delhi last weekend.
“Calling Sehmat took eight years of research,” the author revealed, adding the movie is just one-fifth of the book, seemingly unhappy and dissatisfied with how the facts panned out in the movie.
“Though Raazi ends with the protagonist Sehmat entering a phase of depression, in reality, she turned into an angel. She guided me on a number of things. I did whatever she told me to, without giving it a second thought,” shared Sikka.
Supporting his comment, Sikka, who is the Group Director, Strategic Business, Piramal Group, narrated an incident wherein he was able to free a kidnapped colleague after consulting Sehmat, and following each of her instructions with complete faith. Sikka is ready with another book, Vichhoda, also set be adapted into a Hindi feature film.
“It is the story of a strong woman like Sehmat,” he said. His two other upcoming books will focus on women empowerment.
But this time, he doesn’t plan selling their rights to someone else to create the movie. “I want to ensure that the storyline doesn’t get altered again.”
Sikka is going all out to dig out stories of powerful women for his books to send out a strong message to society to treasure the girl child.
“We all must follow the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and respect women. A lot of injustice is happening in Punjab due to which the gender ratio has got skewed.”
Speaking on the occasion, Jahnvi said just like the book’s protagonist, Bollywood too, has presented stories of strong and independent Indian women to the audiences.
“How can we forget movies like Mother India, Kahaani, Mardaani, Margarita With A Straw, Queen, Highway and Masaan among many others? All had strong women lead actors,” the actress said.
The author now plans to translate Calling Sehmat into other regional Indian as well as foreign languages.