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The Alia Bhatt-Vicky Kaushal starrer Raazi did not do justice to his book, claims author Harinder Sikka.
Raazi, directed by Meghna Gulzar, is based on Sikka's book "Calling Sehmat".
The author now says he is not happy with the omission of the "tricolour scene" in the film, which is based on a real incident during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
The story revolves around a young Kashmiri girl named Sehmat, played by Alia, who agrees to marry a Pakistani army officer in order to gain information from him.
"In the book, the story ends with Sehmat saluting the tricolour (Indian flag). If the film had the same ending, it would have won the National Award," said Sikka.
"I told the director that you have stopped the film from getting the National Award by cutting out the tricolour scene.
"This was done according to the wishes of the filmmakers, but I still have resentment over it."
Talking about the book, Sikka said: "Calling Sehmat was my first book and it sold around five lakh copies. Sehmat taught me how to live.
"We very easily paint all Kashmiri Muslims with the same brush, saying that they are terrorists. We have to understand that no mother wants her son to carry a stone in his hand.
"Terrorism has been funded there for so many years. But there have also been Kashmiris like Sehmat who gave up their entire families for the country."
Indo-Asian News Service
