‘Raazi’ | Alia Bhatt | Real Story behind This RAAZI : All you NEED to Know "SEHMAT"- RAAZI

RAAZI : SEHMAT - In case you didn't know, Alia Bhatt's latest movie, Raazi is based on the novel Calling Sehmat by ex-naval officer, Harinder Sikka.

The novel is a fictionalized account of a reportedly true story about an Indian Kashmiri undercover agent, set during the time of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. According to an interview with The Hindu, author Harinder Sikka was covering the 1999 Kargil war, and angry at the Indian Army's alleged failure, he, "questioned the patriotism of certain people in the Intelligence Department."

During one such discussion, he came across an Army officer who shared the story about his mother, Sehmat (name changed) - the protagonist of the novel and the character that Alia Bhatt is essaying. Sehmat, the daughter of a Kashmiri businessman, trained as a spy and married a Pakistani officer for the sole purpose of providing "India with classified information during the 1971 war."

According to Harinder Sikka, he was so intrigued by the story, that he tracked down the woman, who at the time resided in Malerkotla, in Punjab. She reluctantly shared her story and he realized that, All the information she passed on from there matched with the Indian intelligence report here. Sehmat was trained to be a facilitator only, but she went above and beyond her duty. After her operation ended, she returned to India with her son, who went on to become an officer with the Indian Army.

The biggest information she shared was Pakistan’s plan to sink INS Viraat (now decommissioned), and her timely information helped save 'India's pride on sea'. Her son is now out of service, and Sehmat is no more, but her patriotism, courage and determination in the face of such trying circumstances, truly mark her as a hero.

THE BOOK?

The book tells the tale of Sehmat, an Indian Kashmiri woman, who married a Pakistani

officer, as instructed by her father, during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.

It opens with her death and is set long after she has carried out her mission (no spoilers

here). Her son Samar enters the room where her body is laid. Her body is covered by the

Indian flag, which is meant to be "protecting her against the rays of the sun."

This sets the tone of the novel. After touching upon her college days, the story focuses on her training as an Indian spy, and then zeroes in on the naval warfare during the 1971 war.

On her own, Sehmat carefully devised methods to get closer to the military in Pakistan, and saved millions of lives of Indian soldiers, by informing them about enemy positions, troop movements and strike blueprints across the border.

Going by the book, Sehmat seems to be an emblem of secularism, who prays to Jesus, Allah, Krishna and Wahe Guru. The point the author wishes to drive across? Religion does not matter; only faith and service count.

WHO WAS THE REAL SEHMAT?

In a 2008 interview to The Hindu, Sikka elaborated on how he unearthed the story of Sehmat. 
During the 1999 Kargil War, he was disillusioned with the idea of patriotism.

And then, he stumbled across the existence of a woman whose name he refused to share, since it

could be dangerous for her.

For his readers, she became Sehmat Khan.

After much effort, Sikka met Sehmat at her house in Maler Kotla, Punjab.

"But she would not speak much. Slowly, she opened up but I still don't know how she managed to 

take out such secret information from Pakistani intelligence. All the information she passed on

from there matched with the Indian intelligence report here," he said, adding, "Though I found out

that she used to tutor General Yahya Khan's grandchildren."

The most vital piece of information that Sehmat provided to India was Pakistan's plan of sinking

INS Viraat. That saved millions of lives.

Sikka took eight years to fictionalise her story, as it could pose a serious threat to her family. Her

son is no longer in  the Army, and Sehmat is long gone.

Meghna Gulzar had once said in an interview that Raazi means 'sehmat', which means, to agree.

And that seems to fit perfectly with the plot of the story.