The second season of Made In Heaven is here and obviously, people have a lot to say about it. Mostly, good things, though. The series touches upon sensitive and important subjects like caste discrimination, homophobia and domestic abuse. And it is a good thing, to see Indian content finally talk about issues that exist, but are hardly addressed otherwise. However, there are a number of controversies that have been associated with the show.
Recently, Yashica Dutt, the author of Coming Out As Dalit, posted about an episode from the season that shows a Dalit wedding. Starring Radhika Apte and directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, this episode has been immensely appreciated by audiences for highlighting caste discrimination in our society. But, Yashica Dutt mentioned that the story of the said episode is based on her work and life.
The author added that the idea was inspired from her book and life’s work, but she wasn’t credited for the same. After her post, the director and the creators of the show shared a note and denied claims of appropriation. The note reads that the story is based on a wedding and the issues of caste associated with it, which is not derived from Yashica’s work. Neeraj Ghaywan had earlier acknowledged Yashica’s book in an Instagram post, adding that it inspired ‘Pallavi’s interview section’ in the episode.
Pointing at that, Yashica Dutt asked for an official credit in the show, given that her work was mentioned and acknowledge informally. After the timeline of events, people are talking about the fact that a formal credit is the norm, especially when some part of the episode is appropriated from the author’s work. Understandably, if the makers claim that the work is inspired from the author’s book, even if it is some part of it, it requires formal credits. In fact, it’s almost hypocritical when a show that talks about a marginalized community, does exactly what it labels ‘wrong’.
While the show aims at breaking stereotypes associated with the marginalized communities, people have also pointed out how it contributes to some issues. After the release, a number of people pointed out the representation of Muslims in one of the episodes. Directed by Alankrita Srivastava, the episode starred Dia Mirza as the protagonist.
Audiences from the community pointed out how it perpetuated stereotypes associated with Muslims that are already associated with them in our society. A Twitter user, Anmol Irfan, for example, mentioned that the episode talked about multiple marriages. They also added that small things like rooh afza and shararas were used to represent the characters in the show. And this raised concerns among people.
There’s another controversy associated with the costumes used in the show. In an episode starring Mrunal Thakur, we see her character visiting a designer for outfit fittings. This becomes an important part in the show given that the designer, portrayed by Kashyap Harsha Shangari also plays Karan’s partner, later in the series. However, Kashyap who plays the designer, is shown to own a label under his character name – Akshay Jaiswal.
There are multiple scenes where the fictitious designer presents the costumes as part of his fictitious label. But, a number of these outfits were provided by Tarun Tahiliani. The designer pointed out the issue with this representation and how it was a shocking breach of faith. The label shared a note citing the misrepresentation on their official Instagram handle.
These controversies certainly raise a lot of questions and opinions.
