 Front Cover of the book | |
| Author | Harinder S. Sikka |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Spy thriller |
| Publisher | Penguin |
Publication date | 14 May 2018 |
| Pages | 256 pages |
| ISBN | 9780143442301 |
| OCLC | 1028623329 |
Calling Sehmat is the 2008 spy thriller novel written by Harinder S. Sikka based on real events. It was Sikka's debut novel, first published by Konark publishers in April 2008. [1] [2] A revised edition was subsequently published by Penguin Random House India in May 2018. [3]
The story is set in India and Pakistan of 1971 and revolves around Sehmat Khan who is born to a Kashmiri Muslim father and a Punjabi Hindu mother. [4] Sehmat is a young college-going girl when she learns of her freedom-fighter father's impending death from cancer. As a part of his final wishes, her patriotic father convinces Sehmat to marry a Pakistani army officer, the son of his friend who is a high-ranking Pakistani army general himself. His intention is to place Sehmat as an undercover operative within the Pakistani army household.
Before the actual ceremony, she is hastily provided spy training by members of the Indian intelligence organization RAW. After marriage, Sehmat not only manages to gain confidence of her new family and their friends, but also starts to gather vital information that she passes on to her handlers. Eventually she comes across plans, what appear to be, to sink a key Indian naval target using a submarine. At great risk to herself, she promptly manages to relay this information to her handlers who realize that the target in question is INS Vikrant which at that point is anchored in the Bay of Bengal as a part of India's naval strategy for the looming war. [5]
They are able to provide an early warning to the Indian Navy which proves vital towards India's war effort. [6] Towards the end, Sehmat is discovered but manages to escape with the help of her handlers. She ultimately returns to India, pregnant with her Pakistani husband's child. Her child goes on to grow up and join the Indian Army as an officer himself. [7]
According to Sikka, he stumbled upon the story during the Kargil conflict. He acquired the story from an Indian army officer who told him of how his mother, a Kashmiri Muslim, had married a Pakistani Army officer to provide India with classified information during the 1971 war. Sikka eventually managed meet the officer's mother in Malerkotla, Punjab where she eventually unfolded further elements of her story. As a part of her duties in Pakistan, she used to tutor General Yahya Khan's grandchildren.
It took Sikka approximately 8 years to fictionalize the story and arrange it into a cohesive narrative. He fictionalized the name of the main character in order to keep her anonymous. During a recent interview, he has said that the real woman behind the character has since died. As a tribute to her, Sikka formally launched the book aboard Vikrant, which was docked at Naval dockyard in Mumbai. [8] [9]
The book was re-published by Penguin India in a new format in March 2018. [10]
A Hindi version of the book was published on 23 Aug 2019. [11]
In 2018, the novel was adapted into a Hindi-language spy thriller with change in the ending contrary to the book titled Raazi. It starred Alia Bhatt in the role of Sehmat and Vicky Kaushal in that of her husband. The film was directed by Meghna Gulzar and produced by Vineet Jain, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under the banner of Dharma Productions.
Karan Kumar Johar, often informally referred to as KJo, is an Indian filmmaker and television personality, who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He has launched the careers of several successful actors under his own Dharma Productions. The recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and six Filmfare Awards, he has been honored with Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2020.
Soni Razdan is a British actress and director who works in Hindi films. She is married to film director Mahesh Bhatt and is the mother of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt.
Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Yash Johar in 1979. It was taken over in 2004, after his death, by his son, Karan Johar. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes Hindi films.
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Alia Bhatt is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. Known for her portrayals of women in troubling circumstances, she has received several accolades, including a National Film Award and five Filmfare Awards. One of India's highest-paid actresses, she has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was awarded the Time100 Impact Award in 2022.
Sidharth Malhotra is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He began his career as a fashion model, but left it to pursue acting. He took on roles in television before assisting director Karan Johar on the 2010 film My Name Is Khan. He had his first lead role in Johar's teen film Student of the Year (2012).
Alia Advani, known professionally as Kiara Advani, is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu language films. After making her acting debut in the comedy film Fugly (2014), she played MS Dhoni's wife in the sports biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). She gained appreciation for playing a sexually unsatisfied wife in the Netflix anthology film Lust Stories (2018) and played the leading lady in the political thriller Bharat Ane Nenu (2018).
Vicky Kaushal is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a National Film Award and two Filmfare Awards, and has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list of 2019.
Ghazi is a 2017 Indian war film written and directed by Sankalp Reddy, which was simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi languages, with the latter titled The Ghazi Attack. The film stars Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni and Satya Dev. The film grossed over ₹345 million (US$4.3 million) on a budget of ₹150 million (US$1.9 million).
Raazi (transl. Agreement/Secretive) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language spy thriller film directed by Meghna Gulzar and produced by Vineet Jain, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under the banners of Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions. It stars Alia Bhatt in the lead role and features Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapur, Shishir Sharma, and Jaideep Ahlawat in supporting roles. The film is an adaptation of Harinder Sikka's 2008 novel Calling Sehmat, a true account of an Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent who, upon her father's request, is married into a family of military officers in Pakistan to relay information to India, prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Principal photography of Raazi began in July 2017 in Mumbai and was completed on 27 October 2017. It was shot across several locations including Patiala, Nabha, Malerkotla and Doodhpathri.
Kalank is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film directed by Abhishek Varman and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under Dharma Productions and Sajid Nadiadwala under Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment in association with Fox Star Studios as presenter and distributor. Set in the pre-independence British era, the film stars an ensemble cast of Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Sanjay Dutt.
Junglee Pictures is a film production and distribution company that was established by Vineet Jain of The Times Group in 2014. As of 2022, the company has produced nine Hindi films
AA Films is an Indian motion picture distribution company, owned by Anil Thadani. It mainly distributes Hindi films and Hindi-dubbed films in North India.
Shershaah (transl. Lion-king) is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical war film based on the life of Vikram Batra, killed in action in the Kargil War, directed by Vishnuvardhan in his Hindi film debut and written by Sandeep Shrivastava. The film was produced by Dharma Productions and Kaash Entertainment, with Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Shabbir Boxwala, Ajay Shah and Himanshu Gandhi serving as producers. Sidharth Malhotra stars in dual roles as Vikram Batra and his twin brother Vishal, with Kiara Advani as his girlfriend Dimple Cheema.
Ae Watan is an Indian patriotic Hindi song from the soundtrack of the 2018 Bollywood film Raazi. The song is sung by Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan. Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the music, and Gulzar and Allama Iqbal wrote the lyrics. The music video for the song stars Sehmat Khan.
Alia Bhatt is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi-language films. As a child, she made her debut in a minor role in her father Mahesh Bhatt's production Sangharsh (1999), as the younger version of star Preity Zinta's character. In 2012, Bhatt had her first lead role in Karan Johar's teen film Student of the Year, but her performance in it was not well-received. Two years later, she gained praise for playing a kidnapping victim in the road drama Highway (2014), winning the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. In the same year, her starring roles in the commercially successful romances 2 States and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, both produced under Johar's studio Dharma Productions, established her as a leading actress. She also sang the single "Samjhawan Unplugged" for the latter film's soundtrack.
Ashwath Bhatt is an Indian film actor. He is known for his roles in IB71, Mission Majnu, Sita Ramam, Raaz Reboot, Rakkhosh, Raazi Phantom, Kesari, and Haider.
