A still from Made In Heaven 2. (courtesy: taruntahiliani)
Just a few hours after the creators of the web-series Made In Heaven 2 addressed the snowballing controversy around author Yashica Dutt claiming formal credit, they found themselves on the receiving end of flak from veteran fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who accused the show of "violating the understanding behind the provision of clothing." In a series of Instagram stories, Mr Tahiliani claimed that an episode of Made in Heaven 2 used his designs sans credit and that he didn't know his creations would be presented by a "fictitious designer" on the show. Tarun Tahiliani, posting screenshots of the episode featuring Mrunal Thakur, wrote, "It is most unfortunate when a popular OTT series violates the understanding behind the provision of clothing in the first place."
Tarun Tahiliani added in his statement, "Case in point: Significant portions of the second episode of 'Made in Heaven,' were styled using clothes provided by the Tarun Tahiliani studio in good faith to the stylist." Calling it a "shocking breach of faith," Tarun Tahiliani added, "Unfortunately, a fictitious designer (actor) representing a fictitious label presented our garments! This is a shocking breach of faith. If this is what the production house intended, they should have engaged a costume designer, had costumes designed, and proceeded as they saw fit."
The statement was signed off with these words, "Let's hope that this scenario does not repeat itself with other designers who have graciously lent their work for OTT productions. Furthermore, it is our hope that such actions will never be considered acceptable in the future - Tarun Tahiliani."
Read Tarun Tahiliani's statement here:
Screenshot of Tarun Tahiliani's Instagram story
Screenshot of Tarun Tahiliani's Instagram story
Screenshot of Tarun Tahiliani's Instagram story
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the creators and cast of Made In Heaven 2 posted statements on their respective social media accounts, rejecting author Yashica Dutt's credit claim. "We are deeply disturbed with the misleading reports and comments in context of author Yashica Dutt claiming formal credit," the makers wrote. Directors Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Alankrita Srivastava and Neeraj Ghaywan denied that the Dalit bride played by Radhika Apte was drawn from Yashica Dutt and her life. Read the full statement here:
Made In Heaven 2's principle cast includes Arjun Mehra, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Mona Singh, Trinetra Haldar, Ishwar Singh, Vijay Raaz. The first part of the show released on Amazon Prime India in 2019.
Made In Heaven focuses on the lesser-known facets of the wedding planning business, shown through the eyes of two wedding planners who navigate through their personal and professional tribulations. The show released on Prime Video on August 10 and it opened to largely positive reviews.