“Aligarh isn’t manipulative, it has honesty with integrity” – Hansal Mehta

Aligarh has released and expectedly, it has seen good reviews and word of mouth coming its way. However, director Hansal Mehta isn’t surprised since he has seen such reactions coming his way in many international film festivals where the film has already been screened during last many months.

"That said, while making the film, I did not think of how people will respond to it," says Hansal, "Ultimately, one has to be honest to the subject. Somewhere we are dealing with issues like marginalization and one has to be responsible in the manner this is brought on screen for the larger audience."

This thought process was followed right from the inception to the conceptualization to the execution and then the promotion.

"We decided that right through the journey of Aligarh, we would be honest and responsible," says Mehta, "We maintained honesty and integrity right through; never once was there an element of manipulation. It is work of art."

He is glad that his entire team came together to make it happen, and it was actually a free flowing experience filming Aligarh.

"I don’t work under any pressure and neither allow my team to get into that zone either," says Mehta, "As a director and an artist, I thrive on being able to enjoy my work instead of putting any undue pressure either on people around me. So whether it is my actors, writers, DOP or editor, they all came together as they believed in the subject and knew that they would enjoy making Aligarh. The results are there to be seen."

Written by Apurva Asrani and produced by Karma Pictures & Eros International, Aligarh is based on the real life tale of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras from Aligarh Muslim University who was sacked from his position on charges of homosexuality in 2010.