Neeraj Ghaywan: Pallavi Menke is me!

Pallavi Menke is merdquo filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan confesses before apologising for emotionally choking up during a video call with midday along with Alankrita Shrivastav Reema Kagti Zoya Akhtar writerdirectors of the second season of the Emmynominated series Made in Heaven MIH on Amazon Prime VideoGhaywan is referring to Radhika Aptersquos Ambedkarite Dalit upperclass leadcharacter in the fifth episode of MIH titled The Heart Skipped A Beat directed by him Thatrsquos singularly turned into a conversationstarter onlineThe episodemdashfocusing on publicly reclaimingowning onersquos Dalit identitymdashclimaxes with the protagonist putting her foot down to host an additional Buddhist wedding while getting married into an uppercaste familyGhaywanmdashwho Akhtar describes as ldquowild card entryrdquo into the MIH franchise and has been credited for ldquoadditional storyrdquo for the said episodemdashsays ldquoThe writers Alankrita Reema and Zoya had an idea about where they wished to go with the episodemdashabout an accomplished person from the marginalised Dalit community whorsquos received love adulation internationally But is still not off the clutches of casterdquoNeeraj GhaywanldquoWhich hearkens back to BR Ambedkar This man was the most wellread in our country And when he was coming back to India after his education abroad reading law at Columbia University he expected garlands to welcome him But he was thrown out of the lodge he was staying Thatrsquos when it hit him that no matter what you do the intergenerational trauma is not going to escape yourdquoWhen Ghaywan entered the writersrsquo room he recalls ldquoI somehow ended up speaking about my entire life I havenrsquot even spoken as much to my therapist And I poured a lot of myself into the writing later It is scary to put out something yoursquove spent all your years growing up hiding away from the worldrdquoFor instance Ghaywan points out ldquoWhen she Pallavi Menke talks about using a casteneutral last name Kumarmdashthatrsquos me Soon as you tell someone your full name there is endemic scrutiny in our country People want to know where you are from location gotra castehellip Itrsquos genuinely scarring In my passport my last name is still Kumar But Irsquove reclaimed Ghaywan Itrsquos been five yearsrdquoIn 2018 Ghaywan had publicly owned his Dalit identity over a post on X formerly known as Twitter He says ldquoA lot of the press picked that up My extended family were still masking their Dalit identityldquoThey felt miffed that itrsquos public now and everybody knows theyrsquore related to me Which is what we used for Pallavirsquos brotherrsquos track in the MIH episode And that boyrsquos character is also right about having to live with Indiarsquos realityrdquoGhaywan adds ldquoThe other thing that weighs me down is being the only acknowledged artiste in the whole of the film industry while 25 per cent of the country belongs to the Dalit community That weight is too much to carry I have doubts about myself That reflects in Pallavirsquos life tooldquoAlso as an artiste who wants to tell different kinds of stories Irsquom always pulled into every panel discussion to talk about caste Even on MIH they want to talk to me about episode five Which was my way of exorcising demons a catharsis I was scared about how the parents would react Will my niece unfollow me on InstagramldquoBut therersquos been so much love I didnrsquot expect people crying to me to say itrsquos the first time in centuries theyrsquove felt seen heardmdashthat we exist with our beauty that is ours Dalit issues have always been seen in an atrocityporn sort of waymdashthrough a privileged caste lsquowhitemale saviourrsquo complexrdquoThe character Pallavi on MIH is a Columbiaalum who lsquocomes outrsquo a Dalit through her book Which on the face of it relates to author Yashica Dutt who in turn has complained on social media about feeling slighted erased for not being credited for the inspirationldquoWhatever we had to say on the issue we already haverdquo says MIH cocreator Kagti referring to a statement issued by the showrsquos directors citing all other inspirations for the episode to ldquodeny any claim that Ms Duttrsquos life or work was appropriatedrdquoGhaywan adds ldquoArt reflects reality And if it doesnrsquot then itrsquoll become hollow What if you tell Truffaut look at all the postmodern kitsch that yoursquove shownmdashwhy have you not attributed You have to see things through the lens of artrdquoSpeaking of which Akhtar in another context points out instances in MIH that are based on real life ldquoThe inlaws Neelam Samir Soni in love running away from a wedding in episode three was taken from a news report So was the girl marrying herself in the finale episode Stories are rooted in truthmdashyour personal lives familiesrsquo literature news political zeitgeistmdashthatrsquos how you make fictionrdquoApart from caste MIH touches on multiple issues from lsquocolourismrsquo to domestic abuse over a sevenpart second season Was that a conscious call Kagti rebuts ldquoThatrsquos a reductive way of looking at it Womenrsquos empowerment is at the base of the show and the irony of two people Sobhita Dhulipala Arjun Mathur organising weddingsmdashone of whom is divorced the other canrsquot ever get marriedrdquoAccording to Akhtar ldquoMIH is the love story of Tara and Karan the said central protagonistsmdashthat your soulmate can be somebody yoursquore not married to or in physically intimate manwoman relationship withrdquoAs for Shrivastav ldquoThe show is about insiders and outsiders and what it takes to feel like you lsquobelongrsquomdashwhether socially geographically financially Itrsquos reflective of the city of Delhirdquo