Just when the chatter around Dhurandhar had put spy dramas and patriotic storytelling back in the pop culture spotlight, an old wound from Raazi has burst open again. Harinder Sikka, the author of Calling Sehmat, has publicly reopened his long-simmering discontent with the 2018 Alia Bhatt starrer, calling his decision to appoint Meghna Gulzar as director his “gravest misjudgment” and jolting one of Hindi cinema’s most celebrated espionage adaptations back into debate.
Sikka shared the remarks on X, where his blunt criticism quickly began circulating. Referring to his 2008 novel Calling Sehmat, he wrote that it “ranks among the top books on espionage ever written, globally” and added that it “exposes Pakistan across border, hostile forces in Bollywood & a Punjab-based criminals within.” He then turned to the film, stating, “Appointing Meghna Gulzar was my gravest misjudgment. Despite clear warnings, I failed to foresee how ideological bias would end up diminishing the true spirit of the protagonist.”
Harinder Sikka’s Fresh Criticism Of Raazi
What makes the timing especially striking is the larger mood around the genre right now. With Dhurandhar driving conversation and renewing audience interest in stories of covert missions, loyalty and nationhood, Sikka’s comments have landed at a moment when viewers are already looking back at landmark spy narratives from the last decade. That has placed Raazi squarely back under the microscope, not for its box office run or awards recall, but for the ideological fault line its source author says never healed.
Sikka’s post also suggested that his frustration lies with the adaptation itself, not with the enduring life of his novel. In the same note, he wrote, “Nearly two decades later, the book continues to leave its mark across the world. Penguin best sellers; Vichhoda, Gobind, The Chabimaster are being scripted, for our beautiful nation deserves to see the complete truth.” The statement framed Raazi less as a triumph in his eyes and more as a missed opportunity to preserve what he sees as Sehmat’s original essence.
Released in 2018, Raazi starred Alia Bhatt as Sehmat, a young Indian spy who marries into a Pakistani military family in the lead-up to the 1971 war. Directed by Meghna Gulzar and co-starring Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapur, Shishir Sharma and Jaideep Ahlawat, the film emerged as one of the year’s most acclaimed Hindi releases and became a defining title in Alia’s career.
Why Raazi Still Matters In Alia Bhatt’s Career
The reason this controversy resonates beyond a single social media post is simple: Raazi remains one of the performances most closely associated with Alia Bhatt’s rise as a leading star capable of balancing commercial pull with critical acclaim. Long after its theatrical run ended, the film has continued to hold a special place in conversations around female-led mainstream Hindi cinema, especially within the spy and political drama space.
That is precisely why Sikka’s comments carry unusual aftershock now. He is not revisiting a forgotten adaptation, but questioning the creative choices behind a film that still sits prominently in Alia’s body of work and in the audience’s memory. With Dhurandhar reigniting excitement around the genre, Raazi has returned to the spotlight with a very different charge this time, less celebration, more reckoning over whose version of Sehmat ultimately endured.
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