Smriti Irani upsets Tushar

The Mahatma’s great-grandson wants the producer to seek his approval on her show on the great leader


g_prithwish@dnaindia.net

Smriti Irani is making a television serial on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. But Smriti has still not approached Tushar Gandhi (the great grandson of the Mahatma) to give a nod to the project.

“I’m always anxious when anyone makes a project on Bapu. Projects in the past have not done justice to the man by distorting facts. Smriti’s project, I hear, is about the life of Bapu and what his family went through. This is a very sensitive subject,” says Tushar, who runs the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation. He adds, “Smriti has not approached me regarding the project. We hope she takes care of everything before going ahead. If it goes on air and we find distortions, we will have to take necessary action.”

The film Gandhi, My Father directed by Feroz Abbas Khan narrated the tale from the perspective of Gandhi’s son Harilal. Tushar had approved the film’s content. “Smriti does not need to take our permission for making the project. But it’s always good to sound out as certain things  may not be factually correct,” he adds.

Smriti’s serial, a bilingual, has UTV teaming up with her. While Smriti is now in the US and could not be contacted, a UTV spokesperson said that they were researching for the serial and couldn’t reveal much.