The two-week long saga of upcoming film Simran's writer credits has just taken another twist. Kangana Ranaut hit back at writer-editor Apurva Asrani saying he wasn't a writer who matched her expectations, which led to her working on the script.
The story so far has been on writer-editor Asrani's side. After parting ways with director Hansal Mehta, and the team of Simran, Asrani put up a long and detailed post on his Facebook account accusing Ranaut of 'stealing credits' as co-writer for the film. In the post, Asrani also urged director Mehta to 'get some spine', and stand up to the actress.
Apurva Asrani slams Kangana Ranaut for 'lying' and 'discrediting' his efforts on Simran's script
The issue got further complicated when a writer, Sameer Gautam, accused Asrani of the same crime for Mehta's film Shahid. Sameer Gautam, who claimed to have been the writer of Shahid (2010), said Asrani had stepped in and stole credits from him for the film. Calling Asrani a hypocrite, Sameer Gautam wrote 'I know I am not the only one Mr. Asrani has stepped over. He is a regular offender.'
Not known as one to mince her words, Ranaut has hit back at the writer for his comments. In a detailed interview with Huffington Post, Ranaut alleged that it was Asrani's inability to match her expectations that led her to take up writing.
Ranaut maintained that she not only added several story angles to the script, but also rewrote a major part of the dialogues in the film.
In the interview, Ranaut said, "Apurva's story was this dark thriller about a drug-addict who goes into a life of crime. It also had a lot of flavour of Wolf of Wall Street with share market jargon thrown in. I made it very clear that if we're making a film with a budget of Rs30 crore, we need to make at least Rs60 crore, to even break-even. With the kind of script we had, that wouldn't be possible as it'd appeal to very limited people."
The actress went on to say, "When I started collaborating with Apurva, I realised this isn't a writer who matches my expectations. And when I enquired about his previous writing work, I realised he hadn't done them."
Ranaut also blasted Asrani's claims of having worked on '9 drafts' of the film saying it only reflects his flaws. She said, "Yes, he did write 9 drafts but they became so many drafts because both Hansal and I shot them down."
Ranaut suggested that neither the character's background of a Gujarati divorcee housekeeper, or the love story in the plot were present in Asrani's drafts. She also denied any suggestions that director Mehta was 'swayed' by Ranaut's stardom and handed over the credits.
Ranaut also said that Asrani threatened her that the controversy over sharing credits might tarnish her image in the industry further. She says, "When we had the conversation about sharing credits, he lost it completely and drove everyone insane. This was when the nepotism controversy had broken and this man tells me, 'Do you really need another controversy?' It was a threat. Basically he was saying if I don't shut up, he'll go ahead and tarnish my image as a 'trouble-maker' which is exactly what he has done despite getting the credit!"
The most damaging statement though was Ranaut calling out Asrani's claims of being one of the better writers in the industry. She said, "Even this controversy is baffling as I have nothing really to gain to share credits with a writer who isn't exactly the best in the business."
The actress also spoke at length about the growing 'isolation' she faces owing to the perception that she is 'difficult to work with'.
Ranaut's interview follows producer Shailesh Singh's statement saying Asrani is 'doing this for publicity.'
Till date, director Mehta has maintained a stoic silence over the issue.
Simran is set to be released in theatres on 15 September.