Aaliya Siddiqui’s production venture Holy Cow released last month on Prime Video. The film, which stars Sanjay Mishra and is helmed by Sai Kabir, had to go through a rigorous scrutiny from the Censor Board before it finally saw the light of the day in cinemas last year. In an interaction with The Free Press Journal, Aaliya spills the beans on the film.
Sharing about how the idea of Holy Cow came to her, she shares, “I wanted to touch upon an unusual story irrespective of what people think of me. It’s a story of one night where a cow goes missing owned by a Muslim owner and how politicians mislead the whole situation and how Hindu neighbours look at the situation, is what the film is all about.”
In the current times, where there’s so much toxicity on social media in regards with religious beliefs, Aaliya agrees that it is true. “It is a toxic time but there are many good stories to tell. I also faced issues in releasing my film and several OTT platforms came to me to discuss it but they couldn’t dare to back it because of the subject,” she tells.
“The Censor Board suggested so many cuts after the committee watched it. I finally got U/A certificate. We all have to make films according to them. But, as filmmakers, we don’t think and make films that the Censor Board won’t like certain things. They also had pressure from the government to regulate the society,” she adds.
The personal turmoil
Aaliya, who also was in the news for her ugly spat with ex-husband Nawazuddin Siddiqui opens up on the case. She reveals, “Our marriage was on the rocks since the beginning because of the over interference of his family. I couldn’t make any decision without the approval of his family. His family is a typical Muslim conservative family and I came from a modern family. His family forced women to wear a burqa. I used to complain about all of this to him and problems kept on doubling. I just went to speak to him for our kids and not to stay in his bungalow but my mother-in-law launched a FIR against me. In Dubai too, his brothers also had involvement in my personal life.”
She adds, “He never produced my films, in fact, I made the film with my own savings. I never got any support from him. He even came to me to play a role in Holy Cow on his own. He never came to see his kids for 12 years. The kids have been living with me. All the big superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, they all give time to their kids.”
