Showing posts with label Shah Bano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shah Bano. Show all posts
Haq is not singling out people from a certain community or maligning it-Emraan Hashmi
10:34 AM
Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi meet the winners of HT City Stars in the City as they talk about their upcoming film and its hopeful impact
Compiled by Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 5, 2025)
Emraan Hashmi and Yami Gautam Dhar were in Delhi recently to meet the winners of the latest edition of HT City Stars In The City. The actors, who will soon be seen together in Haq, were game for any questions that came their way.
The conversation with Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor-Entertainment & Lifestyle, began with a light-hearted chat about Delhi and its food, but soon ventured into serious territory. The duo’s upcoming film, revolving around the landmark Shah Bano case, deals with a sensitive theme: a divorced Muslim woman fighting for maintenance from her husband.
Sharing how he approached the role and the nuances it demanded, Emraan said, “I had to see it from the lens of a Muslim for the first time. The script wanted to humanize the man a bit, although in retrospect, it might seem like a patriarchal angle. Hero vs villain would have been typical; that’s what we generally do in Bollywood to sell our films. But this film takes a very unbiased look at the case.”
As for Yami, who has often been labelled the ‘poster girl of nationalism’ and is now taking what could be seen as a ‘risk’ with Haq, she said, “I have been in the industry since 2012. I made my debut with a film unconventional for its time, Vicky Donor (2012). I’m trying to stick to being that person I always was. The only reason I should exist here, or mean something to someone, is through my work. For that, my role, my script, and my team are very important.”
On a scale of 1-10, when you heard that Haq is inspired by the Shah Bano case, how jittery were you thinking this is controversial?
Yami: Controversy, debate, discussion — that is not the first thought as an artiste. It’s always how I feel after reading the script. Of course, it’s the powerful story of a very courageous woman back in the 1980s. Today, there are multiple conversations to express what we want, what can be done to make things better. Back in the day, there was nothing of that sort. That woman did it without the intent of making it controversial, but just to literally do what every mother does for their child. How can she provide the best for her children? I thought Haq was a wonderfully written script.
Emraan: There were questions when I signed this film. I have done films of a certain nature. But it’s very important as an actor to do a gamut of characters. That, for me, is growth as an artiste. If you don’t risk things, that’s not art, that’s empty marketing. You do those popcorn flicks that release and are forgotten after the first week of theatrical release, which is fine, that’s part of business. But films (like Haq) are important, too. You want to do films that leave behind a message and will stay in people’s conversations... Haq is not singling out people from a certain community or maligning it. It’s about people from a community; it could be any community.
Yami, you have the image now of being the poster girl for nationalism. People think you are sticking to tradition when other women in Bollywood are more westernized. Were you told that Shah Bano’s case supports a nationalistic cause of common laws in the country, and was that a reason to do this film?
If there is any other motivation for me to choose the kind of roles that I do other than creative, the whole purpose of being an artiste fails.
Emraan, your recent role in The Ba***ds Of Bollywood went viral. How’s it been?
First of all, that line ‘Akkha Bollywood ek taraf, Emraan Hashmi ek taraf’ was a masterstroke by writers Bilal Siddiqui and Aryan Khan (also director of the series). That was not the original scene written for me! At first, (my character) was supposed to be at a film premiere, and (actor) Raghav Juyal’s character starts crying as he sees me. But one month before the show’s shoot, (the role) became an intimacy coordinator. Aryan called Bilal, and then I was asked if I was okay doing it. I was like, ‘If I can’t play an intimacy coordinator, nobody else can!’ Shah Rukh (Khan, actor) sir loved the idea, and we shot the scene. There was a lot of improv… Raghav’s crying had us in splits. We didn’t expect that he would go to that level of OTT (over the top)! You don’t know what goes viral and sticks with the audience.
How did your son Ayaan react to the show’s popularity?
Life hasn’t changed after the show; I realized it’s something fans have been missing, a vintage version of what people had seen. My son, though, is embarrassed about it. In school, they had to facilitate things, either head a certain society or something. All his friends said, ‘Why don’t you become an intimacy coach?’ He’s like, ‘You have ruined things for me at school! (laughs)’
Yami Gautam-starrer Haq in legal trouble; Shah Bano’s daughter sends legal notice
8:30 AM
Shah Bano’s daughter has sent a legal notice to the makers of the Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi-starrer
Yashika Mathur (HINDUSTAN TIMES; October 12, 2025)
Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi’s upcoming film Haq, a dramatised retelling of the landmark Shah Bano case, has landed in legal trouble just ahead of its release.
Siddiqua Begum, daughter and legal heir of the late Shah Bano, has issued a legal notice (a copy of which is with HT City) to the Central Board of Film Certification, director Suparn S Varma, Junglee Pictures and Baweja Studios, citing multiple violations and demanding certification be withheld or revoked.
In the notice, Siddiqua alleges that Haq represents an unauthorised use, distortion, and commercialisation of Shah Bano’s private life, infringing on her mother’s rights to dignity and privacy. She has framed her claims under Article 21 (right to privacy and dignity), defamation, personality/publicity rights, and copyright/moral rights under Sections 57 and 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
The film, which features Yami in the lead role and Emraan as her husband, was filmed in parts of Lucknow, including Kakori and Sandila, and is said to revisit the 1985 Supreme Court verdict. In 1978, Shah Bano, a Muslim woman, was divorced through triple talaq by her husband and later filed for maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Supreme Court ruled in her favour in 1985, affirming that Muslim women could claim maintenance beyond the iddat period, a decision that stirred political backlash and led to the enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the verdict’s reach.
As of now, the film’s makers have not responded publicly to the legal notice.
Suparn Varma to back a film on Shah Bano case
9:00 AM
Sources say Sirf Ek Bandaa maker Suparn to back a film on Shah Bano case; legal drama to be helmed by National Award-winning director
Hiren Kotwani (MID-DAY; February 5, 2024)
Often, the best stories come from real-life events. Suparn S Varma firmly believes it. After Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023) that was based on the case that led to the conviction of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, the filmmaker is set to make a courtroom drama on the Shah Bano case, which is considered an important case in India’s constitutional history.
The case remains relevant even today as it examined women’s rights, religious principles and their place in a democracy. Sources reveal that Varma has finalised the script after extensive research. “He is locking the principal cast. Suparn has already zeroed in on the director—a National Award-winning filmmaker who, he believes, will lend the intellectual acuity and sensitivity that the subject deserves. They are confident that Shah Bano’s case is important for this generation as it also showcases women empowerment,” says a source.
For the uninitiated, in 1978, Shah Bano Begum, then 62, filed a criminal suit against former husband Mohammed Ahmad Khan when he stopped paying her Rs. 200 a month as promised. With no means to support herself and their five children, she demanded a maintenance amount of Rs. 500. While in 1979, the local court directed Khan to pay a measly sum of Rs. 25 per month to Bano, the Madhya Pradesh High Court increased the amount to Rs. 179.20 in 1980. When Khan knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, it ruled in Bano’s favour in 1985.
The judgment was a big step for Muslim women’s fight for equal rights. But it led to an uproar in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and some sections of society that believed it was in conflict with the Islamic law. In 1986, the Rajiv Gandhi-led government passed The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act that nullified SC’s judgment. Since then, there has been a debate about having different civil codes for different religions in India.
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