I didn't buckle like Shayan: Bina

Bina Ramani speaks for the first time about what she thought of her characters in Raj Kumar Gupta’s ‘No One Killed Jessica’
Your take on the character that is supposed to be you...
We are all extremely unhappy with how my character has been shown in the movie. In fact, this is the only fictional character that is there in the movie - everything about it is incorrect! The team of the movie never got in touch with us for anything.My family and I were the ones who know all the twists and turns of the case like no one else because we were involved primarily, yet we were not consulted at all by anyone. If the filmmaker wants a wishy washy character, far from the truth, it’s his choice. We are not going to speak to anyone of them or give them our perspective because we do not want to dignify their take. We kept reading about the movie everywhere, and now I feel that there should have been some iota of truth in it.
Have you spoken to them?
Everyone asked me whether I had been consulted, even my lawyer, but the truth is that no one from the movie’s team thought it was perhaps worth it to consult the most important witness in the case! But you see, we’ve moved on. This is India and no one really wants the truth.
My husband, my daughter and I were called separately to identify Manu Sharma on different days by the court. Each one of us was asked to identify him and touch him on the shoulder, but none of that is in the movie. That sequence is just not there - isn’t it important to have this truth portrayed? Those who know the whole truth know that important things have been fictionalized.
You feel victimised?
It’s not about me or my daughter, it’s about justice. My heart goes out to the family whose son is in jail, but I stood up for truth. You have to do that - you must say the truth even if it costs you much. Why don’t you try and guess who Manu Sharma’s father hates the most? He spent crores on keeping his son out of jail but Manu got life sentence because of my testimony. It’s because of that that he’s not roaming freely amongst us, and what do I get in return for telling the truth?
The high court and Supreme Court declared me the prime victim in the whole thing, and I need to say that we need better witness protection programmes in the country. I have been the victim for telling the truth, I got thrown in jail for telling the truth. Had I not told the truth like Shayan or my electrician Shiv (who buckled under pressure), perhaps I wouldn’t have been victimized! Those who tell the truth in this country are persona non gratas.
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