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EXCLUSIVE: Badhaai Ho writer Shantanu opens up about false claims & withdrawing name from Filmfare nominations
After the Badhaai Ho writer Shantanu Srivastava and Akshat Ghildial withdrew their names from the Filmfare nominations for Best Original Story, the former spoke with Pinkvilla exclusively about the claims made by Jyoti Kapoor and the reason behind their decision. Read to know more.
One of the most successful films of 2018 was Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Badhaai Ho. The film was based on the story of the middle-aged couple who get pregnant by accident and have two sons already. How the family comes to terms with a new member coming in the family was Badhaai Ho’s story. The film surely broke many records and was one of the biggest hits of 2018. Also, the movie received many nominations in the awards including for the Best Original Story in Filmfare Awards 2019.
The nomination had listed Shantanu Srivastava, Akshat Ghildial and Jyoti Kapoor’s name for Badhaai Ho. However, 4 or 5 days back, her name was dropped as the story, screenplay and dialogues were written by Shantanu and Akshat. Post this, she gave some interviews in which she demanded her name to be included. Post this, Shantanu and Akshat withdrew their name from Filmfare nomination for Best Original Story.
Pinkvilla got in touch with Shantanu who spoke about the entire issue related to the false claims made by Jyoti Kapoor. He even spoke about the decision to withdraw the nominations. Read on!
Pinkvilla: What do you have to say about the controversy wherein the writer Jyoti Kapoor is claiming that she has written the film? What prompted you to withdraw your name from the Filmfare nominations?
Shantanu: After Jyoti's interview in the First Post, she believed that it was a conspiracy according to which she was writing a story and somehow that story got leaked from Junglee Pictures to Amit who then gave it to us to work upon. This completely rattled us as its not the case. We were writing our own story and Jyoti was writing her own story. Nothing about the film has been taken from Jyoti's writing. That is why when the interview came out, we decided we will not stay silent. We decided that we will not share the nomination with someone who hadn't worked on our film.
Pinkvilla: How is Jyoti associated with the Junglee pictures or Badhaai Ho? What is her designation?
Shantanu: Apparently, there was an idea which was conceived by Junglee's creative team from which she started writing the story. Akshat and I hadn't met anyone from Junglee films at that time. We have never even spoken to her or met Jyoti Kapoor. We worked upon our own idea and our own story. Junglee pictures ran with the story that we had. I would request everyone to read our script which is on Film Companion and compare it with Jyoti's script and see that it doesn't match anywhere.
Pinkvilla: When you were told about these claims by Jyoti, how did you react?
Shantanu: We were frustrated and heartbroken. Especially Akshat, as he had worked on the screenplay, story and the dialogues. It is entirely his story, entirely his idea and I just feel very frustrated and disappointed that someone not associated with the story is claiming this.
Pinkvilla: How did your Badhaai Ho team react when you withdrew your names from Filmfare Best Original Story nominations?
Shantanu: Our director and producers stand by us. They know we will not stay silent on this. Everyone who knows us is standing by us and is supporting us. We have been flooded with calls since morning and people who know us have believed us. They are all proud of our decision.
Pinkvilla: How did Amit Sharma react to Jyoti's claim?
Shantanu: Amit has been saying right from the start that Akshat and I have written the story, screenplay and the dialogues. He stands by us.
Pinkvilla: What is the one thing you want to say in the end about this issue where Jyoti's name has been included in the Filmfare nomination and then dropped?
Shantanu: I have only one thing to say. Don’t stay silent. Speak for your rights. Don’t let yourself be a victim.
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