*UPDATE* , Anuraadha Tewari has been following the comments on this post and wanted to respond to some of the comments. Here it goes!
Heya people! Thanx so much for all your FANTASTIC comments . . . truly touched and humbled . . . just one clarification . . . my comment on Rani was hardly a derogatory remark . . . its just a comparison . . . an obvious one at that . . . I am a HUGE fan of Rani's by the way and think that she is easily the BEST actress of our times . . . would so lovvvvvve to work with her when I can . . . hence the comment she is not 'considered' hot . . . I didn't say she isn't hot . . . but 'mass sex appeal' has other parameters and my point was that Motherhood has nothing to do with it like the way the debate was being portrayed . . . so hey Rani Fans . . . chill . . . I am soooo one of you!!! :)
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A day after Madhur blogged on why he shelved Heroine, Anuraadha Tewari, the co-writer of the movie penned her thoughts on the whole 'Heroine' brouhaha. Here it goes.
I think this one has to be the non debate of the century . . . I mean I can't believe its become about gender discrimination . . . my first reaction was huh???? And that is from me . . . often 'accused' to be Feminist and accusation or not . . . often known for standing up for the right thing . . . and being as unbiased about things as one can . . . at least I try. And here's my thought . . . Dude, this is the VISUAL medium . . . unlike any other profession . . . this is work where writers and directors 'visualize' things and break their backs trying to make it all real or believable or both. Am not even harping on glamour . . . am just saying believable . . . and here's a simple fact . . . the character in 'Heroine' (since I have written it) CANNOT be pulled off by someone pregnant . . . it is as SIMPLE as that . . . forget the physical strain and emotional stress and all that jazz . . . we can keep debating that ad nauseum . . . it simply does NOT fit into THIS role. This is a strictly adult film with mature content (no its not porn) . . . its just bold in the visual and mature in what its depicting.
Of course, people have gone on about it without knowing ANYTHING about the script . . . but surely knowing the kind of cinema the Director is known for . . . I can assure you . . . it is NOT nice . . . even for an informed audience member like me to see a pregnant woman . . . drink and smoke and snort coke and sleep with various people and what have you . . . I would cringe . . . seriously I would. Much like if I knew Mallaika was pregnant WHILE doing Munni Badnaam (not before and after) . . . or Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Or Hema in Sholay as Basanti or Kareena in We Are Family while the other actress in both the Films (Jaya and Kajol) was pregnant . . . cause it didn't get in the way of their roles . . . simple.
It is about creative liberty and NOT about desirability in Motherhood that its suddenly been turned into. OF COURSE Mallaika is hot even now, post motherhood . . . most Hollywood actresses are . . . what's sex appeal got to do with Motherhood anyways??? Rani isn't considered hot without being married or a mother, Mallaika is hot with both . . . so??? Am just amazed that we have such short attention spans that anything that is said in a high pitch with authority becomes the truth . . . I mean really!!!
As for the contentious pregnancy clause . . . well, I am personally all for it. Because its a CLAUSE not a LAW . . . no one is saying that there soul be a law stating that no actress can ever be a Mother. It is a clause that may be needed in a certain Film . . . i think that should be left to the Producers as well as the actress . . . actors include clauses of their own (some of them would really kill you!) so why not one from the makers' side . . . the actress can REFUSE if she doesn't find it important or applicable . . . or offensive . . . or whatever . . . She has a Choice. But here is what the clause protects . . . not just the Producers' money but hey . . . the hard work of an ENTIRE unit . . . people seem to be forgetting that altogether!!! Like in the case of 'Heroine' . . . where because of the actress not fitting into the role anymore . . . the Film gets plugged and at least a 100 technicians find themselves jobless . . . all of us employed for the next 6 months (not writers but the others) are suddenly without work and NO MONEY!!! (Even writers are only paid about 50% before shoot). So the situation is not just responsible for the Makers . . . it is so for the ENTIRE unit . . . the true victims of the case.
Having said all of this, and in no mood to mud sling . . . and as the only woman on the team I must state that I am quite CONVINCED that the intention of the Actress was NOT to be unfair or dishonest. I personally think (and have said so earlier) she was genuinely warm and receptive and TRULY CARED for the script . . . however, my sense is that she was caught in a personal situation . . . a very tricky one at that . . . and so kept the truth from us . . . and perhaps hoped that it would all work out in the end . . . specially, since I have no doubts on her dedication and sincerity to the Film . . . my feeling is that it sort of got baldy handled from the announcement onwards . . . even after that things could have been sorted from both ends . . . and knowing the Director if sorted amicably, there is no DOUBT in my head that he would have waited for her to return. Alas . . .
What saddened and intensely angered me though were the planted stories thereafter (I must congratulate the PR though . . . its a great job done, seriously!) . . . to try and fudge and confuse the issue . . . and getting gender into it. But am over that now . . . past the anger and past the frustration of watching 4 months of hard work, sleepless nights and missing life . . . for a script DESIGNED for someone . . . to go down the drain overnight. Knowing that my market value itself will suffer because of a shelved project . . . I am done with that . . . and moved on . . . and let go . . .
In this business, and otherwise, the only thing one can be is being true to one's craft . . . and retain one's integrity . . . and keep up the passion o matter what . . . hopefully we have all done that . . . and now let go . . . knowing the Universe will do the right thing . . . do the needful. Like it always does. :)