Apurva Asrani Takes A Jibe At Hansal Mehta Over Hichki Trailer

Writer Apurva Asrani has sent targeted tweets at director Hansal Mehta months after the two were embroiled in a spat over writing credits in the film Simran . Asrani had alleged that Mehta and the film’s star Kangana Ranaut had removed him from the credits and hijacked his story. Both persons denied the allegations.

Earlier this week writer Nishant Kaushik in a Twitter thread claimed to have not been extended the professional courtesy of being informed that his script would not be used for Rani Mukerji ’s comeback film, Hichki. Kaushik wrote that he was taken aback at seeing the film’s trailer, which was released on Wednesday, and noticing similarities to a script he had been commissioned to write over two years prior.

Landing in India this morning, I watched the trailer of #Hichki which served as a rude reminder of how easy it is to treat writers like trash. I will rant in this short thread after I have collected my composure.

— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) December 20, 2017

Siddharth P Malhotra responded on Twitter by saying that Kaushik’s draft had never been in contention in the first place.

Asrani, recalling his own experiences, wrote on Twitter on Friday that Mehta was wrong in saying that the persons involved should sort out any differences they might have in person and not on Twitter. Mehta said to the Hindustan Times on Thursday, “It’s high time that the concerned parties sort these issues among themselves and stop washing their dirty linen on social media, because people, after reading these long posts on Twitter and Facebook, jump to judgments without knowing the complete truth.”

Asrani reacted on Twitter: “Ashamed of @mehtahansal for calling this a mere rant & belittling the courage it takes to call out unfair practices. Mr Mehta says writers should settle these things personally & not on social media. Agreed, as long as directors like him don’t go into hiding after playing dirty.”

Ashamed of @mehtahansal for calling this a mere rant & belittling the courage it takes to call out unfair practices. Mr Mehta says writers should settle these things personally & not on social media. Agreed, as long as directors like him don’t go into hiding after playing dirty. https://t.co/2k9J5BE7sr

— Apurva Asrani (@Apurvasrani) December 22, 2017

These ‘sell out’ statements come from a man who has ranted against everyone from @narendramodi to @SrBachchan on social media when he is in a position to write to them privately. His social media feed is filled with rants against all & sundry and he has the gall to attack writers

— Apurva Asrani (@Apurvasrani) December 22, 2017

“These ‘sell out’ statements come from a man who has ranted against everyone from @narendramodi to @SrBachchan on social media when he is in a position to write to them privately. His social media feed is filled with rants against all & sundry and he has the gall to attack writers,” he continued.