Haseen Dillruba writer Kanika Dhillon says Navjot Gulati has ‘paan shop’ mindset, slams his ‘sexist’ comments

Screenwriter Kanika Dhillon has slammed fellow screenwriter Navjot Gulati’s comments, which were perceived by Kanika as being against her. Navjot had written in a tweet that the quickest way for a writer to earn plum billing was to marry the producer.

Kanika Dhillon recently tied the knot with Himanshu Sharma, one of the producers of Haseen Dillruba. The film’s trailer prominently featured her name.

She told a leading daily, “Inhone paan ki dukaan ke neeche baithe aurton pe comment karne wali admiyon ki mansikta darshayi hai. Agar koi aurat tarakki karti hai, toh pan ki peek nikal ke yeh log kehte hai iske pati ya baap ki wajah se. Yahi soch toh badalni hai. Get well soon Navjot ji. Hope apki behene khoob tarakkki karein aur apke jaise ghatiya soch wale log unki mehnat aur tarakki ko gaali na de (He displays the mindset of men who sit at paan shops and pass comments on women. If a woman makes progress in her life, such men spit their paan and attribute her success to her husband or father. I hope that the sisters of such people make success in their lives without people like him passing such comments on them).”

Asked if she’d say anything to him if they met at a party, Kanika said, “When I meet him I will say ‘I hope you and others like you learnt your lesson and before passing a sexist remark to any other woman, you will now think twice because women are now going to fight back. If you whistle or catcall, you will be slapped. If you ridicule their work, you will be called out’. Letting go is not an option.”

On Monday, Kanika reacted to Navjot’s tweet and wrote, “Hi @Navjotalive I am quite shocked by ur extremely SEXIST – MYSOGINIST and bordering on IDIOTIC comment Neither will I list down my body of work cos ur pea sized brain will not be able to process a successful woman making it on her own! U may hav a brain freeze! Have a good day.”

Navjot, the writer of films such as Jai Mummy Di and Ginny Weds Sunny in his original June 11 tweet had written, “If you want top billing as a Screenwriter in a trailer(something that should be the norm)You need to marry into the production house. Once the Writer becomes a family member, is treated like an Actor-Star. #Goals.”

Also read: Kanika Dhillon slams Jai Mummy Di writer for ‘sexist’ comments, Taapsee Pannu provides support

Haseen Dillruba, starring Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey, is slated for a July 2 release on Netflix.

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