Sanjay Chhel – ‘Filmmaking has become like defusing a bomb’

My father was into theatre. He did a lot of plays: Gujarati plays, Marathi plays. He also worked on films – Hindi, Marathi, a few Odia and Haryanvi films as well. So there was always an atmosphere at home which favoured the arts. There were often scripts lying around at home which I would pick up and read as a boy. Besides, my mother was a professor of Gujarati and Sanskrit. So I think my sense of language as well as my fondness for it came from there. Also, I think I was lucky that I studied at a very good school, Lions Juhu High School in Vile Parle. The school encouraged extracurricular activities and many famous people have studied there including Paresh Rawal. The drama competition back in school was a big thing. Around 20 classes used to compete with each other. We used to write our own plays and perform; the teachers helped and guided us too. I was good at writing essays and I became famous in school as a budding writer. So at that time, I developed the illusion that I was the next Tagore!

Then I studied engineering at Bhagubai Polytechnic because my mother wanted me to have a secure job as she had seen the uncertainty of this business through my father’s career. But by the time I was in college, I had started writing all sorts of plays. I had also begun to get some of my short stories published in Gujarati and Hindi literary magazines like Hans.

How did the film industry happen?

After finishing college, I started assisting Ramesh Talwar on some of his projects. Then I was working with Ashutosh Gowarikar, who at the time was struggling as an actor but deep down always wanted to become a director. Eventually, I also happened to write his first film. Luckily, when I got out of college, it was the time when the Indian economy had started opening up in the early 1990s. Star TV and Zee TV had come in with big plans and they all needed writers. So I started assisting Aziz Mirza, Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah and the likes whom I learnt a lot from. Aziz had formed a new team for his show Naya Nukkad Part 2 and I got to be on it as a writer. I wrote several episodes of that show. From there, I got an opportunity to write the TV show Filmy Chakkar. It featured Satish Shah and became a huge hit. It was mad comedy. At the time, the world was not scrutinised by social media so we could do a satire on anything on earth from the government to Amitabh Bachchan and it was all taken exactly as it was written – in good spirit. At the time, I also wanted to be a lyricist. I met everybody from Panchamda (RD Burman) to Anu Malik but, unfortunately, did not find work. But after I wrote Rangeela for Ramu and then Yes Boss with Aziz Mirza, I kept getting screenplay and writing work regularly. Rangeela, as you know, was a big hit, as was Yes Boss. In fact, I wrote Yes Boss before Rangeela but the latter was released first. All through this, I shared a constant relationship with TV. Whenever I needed money, I’d write TV. TV paid handsomely and was much more timely. In those days, cinema used to be a five-year scheme. Films took forever to get made, some never ever got made. Sometimes, I already knew that a film I was writing would never get released. But I still went ahead and wrote those purely because it was fun writing them.

As I said, I was also trying to become a lyricist in those days. So one day, I took some songs I had written and met Ramu (Ram Gopal Verma). His Hindi wasn’t very good at the time and he didn’t like my songs. He had given me a tune from the south to write to. Then after he rejected my work, I told him casually, “Lagta hai aapko Hindi poetry ki itni samajh nahi hai.” (Seems like you don’t quite have an eye for Hindi poetry). Then a few days later, he called me. He said, “You talk interesting stuff. Come and meet me again.” That’s when he asked me to write dialogues for Rangeela. I was fortunate that my friend Neeraj (Vohra) was my co-writer. Ramu’s brief to us was the one-line idea he had. He was very clear in his mind about what he wanted. We had a fabulous time working on the film and it was made in about six to seven months from the time we started writing the script. At the time, Ramu used to come down from Hyderabad to work on the film. He had a flat in Mumbai but he still was living in Hyderabad. Another great part of Rangeela was Aamir (Khan). Aamir gave dignity to the character of Munna. Till then, nobody had seen Aamir in a role like that but the way he played it was amazing. I think instead of him, if any other actor had done it, he may have still managed to play a tapori well but I can’t imagine anybody else making the character as lovable as Amir did. He spoke the Bambaiyya language of Munna beautifully. Ramu, of course, was a great technician and he was at his peak. He gave me a lot freedom. While growing up, I had seen a lot of rangeela people on the streets of Bombay and I am very glad I could write some of my life experience into the character and the film. I remember there was a debate about the climax that we had written: Ramu and I favoured the climax that you see in the film; Aamir and Neeraj favoured another climax. But then we ended up convincing them. AR Rehman’s music was a character in the film. It was his first Hindi feature. I had watched the film without the background music before but once his background score was added, the film went to another level. It looked much faster and much more engaging. I still think Rangeela is one of Rehman’s best works.

Tell me about Yes Boss and working with Aziz Mirza and Shahrukh Khan.

I enjoyed working on Yes Boss. Aziz Mirza told me about the character he had in mind. We then developed it from there. Yes Boss took about two years to finish. Shah Rukh’s stardom had already begun by then but it was still before Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. In fact, DDLJ came out while we were in the process of making Yes Boss. That took Shahrukh to an unattainable level of success. I have great respect for Aziz Mirza. I have worked with him a lot even after Yes Boss. He had an eye for raw talent. He was the one who spotted Shah Rukh Khan as well at the time of Circus. I first met Shah Rukh Khan during Circus. I used to go to the sets because of some of my friends. So Shah Rukh already knew me when we started working on Yes Boss. He was one of the most compassionate and cooperative people to work with. I got to learn a lot from him – his command over the language, his reading, his life experience was sensational. Whatever we wrote, he performed those lines brilliantly. It added another dimension to the writing. Yes Boss is so dear to me because if you hear the dialogues even today, there is a softness about them; also, subtlety, depth and humour.

Daud was all out madness, yes. We were on a crazy trip when we wrote it. Ramu very happy with my work in Rangeela and Daud was to be his next film. He asked me to write it and told me to go madder this time. The Uma Parvati and Daya Shankar bit was my idea. I knew Ramu would allow it because he loved madness too. We could go ahead and make a film like that then because in those days there wasn’t as much scrutiny of films. People knew how to have fun with them. Too much scrutiny or analysis of any film makes it worse. It’s like a bottle of perfume. If you open it too often, it will lose its fragrance. So in the days of Daud, we just did what we felt like. Ramu and I were free and riding high on the success of Rangeela. So even the producers gave us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted. Sanjay Dutt had just come back from jail and even he was raring to get back to films. Urmila, after Rangeela, was a big star and oozing confidence. The energy was right for us, as a group. Daud did well at the box office but not as well as we expected it to. I think it was ahead of its time.

About the “Mere Pitaji Bahut Bade Shikari The” scene, some people love it and some hate it. There is no in between. Neeraj (Vora) was a co-writer on Rangeela and Ramu said let’s call him to play Chako in Daud. Chako was a character we wrote on the spot as is the case with that scene. I still think it should have been shot with multiple cameras instead of as a single take. I think the appeal of that scene would have been even greater. The best part about Daud is that yes, Ramu had given me a vague idea as a brief that a couple is on the run. The rest of it was developed by us through writing and discussions. The screenplay was more or less ready but the film evolved while we wrote the dialogue. There are so many scenes, like the Chako one, that we wrote after the shooting had already begun. We used to shoot some things and then write some more and then shoot more. In a journey like that, there is a sense of discovery. You don’t know where you are going, you may go wrong but when you might even reach a place you never imagined reaching. Daud was an unplanned journey. I am not saying I am against the discipline that hardbound scripts bring. They have their own place as well. But not all hardbound scripts ensure a good film either, right? If you have an insurance policy, it doesn’t mean you will never die.

Honestly, I don’t. I have written around 30 songs so far. I think the dialogues I write very often become the take-off point for the lyrics. Initially, I didn’t get much songwriting work but when I made my own film, Khubsoorat, who could stop me? Then I even wrote Nikkama Kiya Iss Dil Ne, which became a super hit. Then Himesh became a friend and I wrote many songs for him. Mohabbat Hai Mirchi was a big hit. I also wrote the title track for David Dhawan and Salman Khan’s Partner.

Out of screenplay, dialogues and songs, what do you think is the most challenging to write?

Dialogue writing is the toughest skill in Hindi cinema; because dialogue very often fills holes in the script. Also, dialogues get noticed a lot more because they are spoken. A bad line of dialogue will prick everyone in the ear and a good one will make people celebrate you. Screenplay, on the other hand, is a tedious job. It’s also the one that takes the longest of the three.

I have learnt many lessons in writing both these by working with David and Ramu. I also learnt a lot from Aziz Mirza. When I wrote for David, the pace of the film was different as compared to when I wrote for Ramu. David is an excellent editor as well. He edits brilliantly on paper itself. He knows when to end a scene and has a knack for comedy.

If you ask me, lyric writing is a lot of fun because, compared to scripts, it takes much less time and you get paid much quicker. Music meetings are a lot of fun too. You get many ideas in those. I am lucky that I worked with a lot of music directors like Jatin-Lalit, Anu (Malik), Himesh (Reshammiya).

How was a writer’s life different in the 1990s? Tell me a bit about that time.

You are making me feel old now! Well, makers are more disciplined today than before. So there is a sense of structure and I’d say less chaos. But with that, I feel what today’s film writing lacks the most is spontaneity. There are too many people who have a say and even after the film is out, everyone on social media is a critic. This overtly critical world is not necessarily good for writing and writers because you never what could be taken wrongly and held against you. Today, there are very few people writing films but too many people writing about films.

I also think that when we used to work in the 90s, we used to work with big people. And I mean big in stature, work experience as well as age. So there was always a lot to learn from. Today, with the entry of corporates into the film industry, there are several people from their teams who have a say as well. And not all of them may really have the experience of film writing or film making. Some of them are marketing people who are today working for a film production studio and might tomorrow move to a cold drink company. Do you think they would be as passionate and knowledgeable about films? They have brought in so many rule books and structures today that filmmaking has become like defusing a bomb: Should we cut the red wire or the green one?

Do you feel out of place in the era of OTT?

No, I am working on an OTT show which I can’t tell you more about at the moment. But I don’t feel out of place even in the sense of the content being made because I have always been in touch with world cinema since the 1990s. It has become popular only now. Having said that, I don’t think Indian web series have really impressed me so far. There were a few like the Season 1 of Panchayat which are good but overall, if you ask me, I think most Indian shows have the same story. Plus, everyone is writing only crime and mindless crime. Now, what used to be Bombay-based crime stories are now happening in some village in UP. But the stories are the same. I am all for creative liberty but I think some shows are so random that a person travels to Baluchistan or Karachi as if he’s going from Borivali to Kandivali. Another thing I notice is that a lot of actors are trying to do what they call natural acting but let me tell you there is no greater cinematic torture than to watch a bad actor attempting serious acting.

I have always thought that I want to make feel-good films. Of course, over the years, your thinking changes. A man often thinks of different ways of committing suicide throughout his lifetime. So I have thought of different ideas too. Some worked, some didn’t. But I think the process of filmmaking itself is something I enjoy the most. To continue doing that is my ultimate creative purpose. I may be a writer, a director and a lot else but before all that, I am a cinema lover.

Who were you early influences?

Billy Wilder, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen in Hollywood. In India, I love Hrishi Da (Hrishikesh Mukherjee). I think he has a fascinating range. I love Gulzar sahab too. People know him for his songs or as a director but I think Gulzar is the best dialogue writer ever in the Hindi film industry. I think he brought in a new language of dialogue in films. There are many scenes where he subtly writes dialogue that is poetic. There is a dreaminess about his dialogue writing that, to me, remains unmatched. Aandhi, Mausam are all examples of this. Even Namak Haram, which was a commercial film, was elevated by his writing. And one can’t forget Machis either! Then, of course, right from my college days, I have been an admirer of Kundan Shah. His Jane Bhi Do Yaron was the kind of comedy that the country wasn’t ready for at that time. It is now a cult film. Even Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na is charming. I am fortunate that I got to work with Kundan Shah myself.

I like Yes Boss a lot; then Daud and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. I like the dialogues I wrote in Partner a lot as well. A children’s film I had written for Santosh Sivan called Halo is a piece I am proud of. I think I have never not enjoyed writing a film. In 30 years, there are some lessons too. Like, for instance, the last film I wrote and directed, Patel Ki Punjabi Shadi, which starred Paresh Rawal and Rishi Kapoor, took seven years to get released. And by the time it was out I thought it had become a little dated. Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have written and directed it. But there are things that are in your control and things that aren’t. But honestly, there is nothing which I look back on that makes me feel embarrassed.

What advice would you offer to young writers who want to break into films?

I’d say listen to your heart but don’t be too choosy either. Instead of thinking too much about what to do, just do it. At the end of the day, the film industry is a bit of gamble. No one can ever tell you with certainty that a particular film will work or not. So keep doing projects. Another thing is that don’t be stuck to just one group of people. Only if you are working with different people and companies, can you survive for 20-30 years. Also, try and be on the sets. If there are changes on the spot, do them yourself. A writer should take care of his scene like it is his own child. And without becoming too nosy, try to be involved in the editing process as well. A writer needs to understand every aspect of filmmaking in order to hone his skill. The obvious last thing is to read as much as you can. Read books, read about current affairs, watch the latest plays too.

If your life were a film, which one would it be?

I think one of the Woody Allen films in which the protagonist is a bit mad.

My father was into theatre. He did a lot of plays: Gujarati plays, Marathi plays. He also worked on films – Hindi, Marathi, a few Odia and Haryanvi films as well. So there was always an atmosphere at home which favoured the arts. There were often scripts lying around at home which I would pick up and read as a boy. Besides, my mother was a professor of Gujarati and Sanskrit. So I think my sense of language as well as my fondness for it came from there. Also, I think I was lucky that I studied at a very good school, Lions Juhu High School in Vile Parle. The school encouraged extracurricular activities and many famous people have studied there including Paresh Rawal. The drama competition back in school was a big thing. Around 20 classes used to compete with each other. We used to write our own plays and perform; the teachers helped and guided us too. I was good at writing essays and I became famous in school as a budding writer. So at that time, I developed the illusion that I was the next Tagore!

Then I studied engineering at Bhagubai Polytechnic because my mother wanted me to have a secure job as she had seen the uncertainty of this business through my father’s career. But by the time I was in college, I had started writing all sorts of plays. I had also begun to get some of my short stories published in Gujarati and Hindi literary magazines like Hans.

How did the film industry happen?

After finishing college, I started assisting Ramesh Talwar on some of his projects. Then I was working with Ashutosh Gowarikar, who at the time was struggling as an actor but deep down always wanted to become a director. Eventually, I also happened to write his first film. Luckily, when I got out of college, it was the time when the Indian economy had started opening up in the early 1990s. Star TV and Zee TV had come in with big plans and they all needed writers. So I started assisting Aziz Mirza, Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah and the likes whom I learnt a lot from. Aziz had formed a new team for his show Naya Nukkad Part 2 and I got to be on it as a writer. I wrote several episodes of that show. From there, I got an opportunity to write the TV show Filmy Chakkar. It featured Satish Shah and became a huge hit. It was mad comedy. At the time, the world was not scrutinised by social media so we could do a satire on anything on earth from the government to Amitabh Bachchan and it was all taken exactly as it was written – in good spirit. At the time, I also wanted to be a lyricist. I met everybody from Panchamda (RD Burman) to Anu Malik but, unfortunately, did not find work. But after I wrote Rangeela for Ramu and then Yes Boss with Aziz Mirza, I kept getting screenplay and writing work regularly. Rangeela, as you know, was a big hit, as was Yes Boss. In fact, I wrote Yes Boss before Rangeela but the latter was released first. All through this, I shared a constant relationship with TV. Whenever I needed money, I’d write TV. TV paid handsomely and was much more timely. In those days, cinema used to be a five-year scheme. Films took forever to get made, some never ever got made. Sometimes, I already knew that a film I was writing would never get released. But I still went ahead and wrote those purely because it was fun writing them.

As I said, I was also trying to become a lyricist in those days. So one day, I took some songs I had written and met Ramu (Ram Gopal Verma). His Hindi wasn’t very good at the time and he didn’t like my songs. He had given me a tune from the south to write to. Then after he rejected my work, I told him casually, “Lagta hai aapko Hindi poetry ki itni samajh nahi hai.” (Seems like you don’t quite have an eye for Hindi poetry). Then a few days later, he called me. He said, “You talk interesting stuff. Come and meet me again.” That’s when he asked me to write dialogues for Rangeela. I was fortunate that my friend Neeraj (Vohra) was my co-writer. Ramu’s brief to us was the one-line idea he had. He was very clear in his mind about what he wanted. We had a fabulous time working on the film and it was made in about six to seven months from the time we started writing the script. At the time, Ramu used to come down from Hyderabad to work on the film. He had a flat in Mumbai but he still was living in Hyderabad. Another great part of Rangeela was Aamir (Khan). Aamir gave dignity to the character of Munna. Till then, nobody had seen Aamir in a role like that but the way he played it was amazing. I think instead of him, if any other actor had done it, he may have still managed to play a tapori well but I can’t imagine anybody else making the character as lovable as Amir did. He spoke the Bambaiyya language of Munna beautifully. Ramu, of course, was a great technician and he was at his peak. He gave me a lot freedom. While growing up, I had seen a lot of rangeela people on the streets of Bombay and I am very glad I could write some of my life experience into the character and the film. I remember there was a debate about the climax that we had written: Ramu and I favoured the climax that you see in the film; Aamir and Neeraj favoured another climax. But then we ended up convincing them. AR Rehman’s music was a character in the film. It was his first Hindi feature. I had watched the film without the background music before but once his background score was added, the film went to another level. It looked much faster and much more engaging. I still think Rangeela is one of Rehman’s best works.

Tell me about Yes Boss and working with Aziz Mirza and Shahrukh Khan.

I enjoyed working on Yes Boss. Aziz Mirza told me about the character he had in mind. We then developed it from there. Yes Boss took about two years to finish. Shah Rukh’s stardom had already begun by then but it was still before Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. In fact, DDLJ came out while we were in the process of making Yes Boss. That took Shahrukh to an unattainable level of success. I have great respect for Aziz Mirza. I have worked with him a lot even after Yes Boss. He had an eye for raw talent. He was the one who spotted Shah Rukh Khan as well at the time of Circus. I first met Shah Rukh Khan during Circus. I used to go to the sets because of some of my friends. So Shah Rukh already knew me when we started working on Yes Boss. He was one of the most compassionate and cooperative people to work with. I got to learn a lot from him – his command over the language, his reading, his life experience was sensational. Whatever we wrote, he performed those lines brilliantly. It added another dimension to the writing. Yes Boss is so dear to me because if you hear the dialogues even today, there is a softness about them; also, subtlety, depth and humour.

Daud was all out madness, yes. We were on a crazy trip when we wrote it. Ramu very happy with my work in Rangeela and Daud was to be his next film. He asked me to write it and told me to go madder this time. The Uma Parvati and Daya Shankar bit was my idea. I knew Ramu would allow it because he loved madness too. We could go ahead and make a film like that then because in those days there wasn’t as much scrutiny of films. People knew how to have fun with them. Too much scrutiny or analysis of any film makes it worse. It’s like a bottle of perfume. If you open it too often, it will lose its fragrance. So in the days of Daud, we just did what we felt like. Ramu and I were free and riding high on the success of Rangeela. So even the producers gave us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted. Sanjay Dutt had just come back from jail and even he was raring to get back to films. Urmila, after Rangeela, was a big star and oozing confidence. The energy was right for us, as a group. Daud did well at the box office but not as well as we expected it to. I think it was ahead of its time.

About the “Mere Pitaji Bahut Bade Shikari The” scene, some people love it and some hate it. There is no in between. Neeraj (Vora) was a co-writer on Rangeela and Ramu said let’s call him to play Chako in Daud. Chako was a character we wrote on the spot as is the case with that scene. I still think it should have been shot with multiple cameras instead of as a single take. I think the appeal of that scene would have been even greater. The best part about Daud is that yes, Ramu had given me a vague idea as a brief that a couple is on the run. The rest of it was developed by us through writing and discussions. The screenplay was more or less ready but the film evolved while we wrote the dialogue. There are so many scenes, like the Chako one, that we wrote after the shooting had already begun. We used to shoot some things and then write some more and then shoot more. In a journey like that, there is a sense of discovery. You don’t know where you are going, you may go wrong but when you might even reach a place you never imagined reaching. Daud was an unplanned journey. I am not saying I am against the discipline that hardbound scripts bring. They have their own place as well. But not all hardbound scripts ensure a good film either, right? If you have an insurance policy, it doesn’t mean you will never die.

Honestly, I don’t. I have written around 30 songs so far. I think the dialogues I write very often become the take-off point for the lyrics. Initially, I didn’t get much songwriting work but when I made my own film, Khubsoorat, who could stop me? Then I even wrote Nikkama Kiya Iss Dil Ne, which became a super hit. Then Himesh became a friend and I wrote many songs for him. Mohabbat Hai Mirchi was a big hit. I also wrote the title track for David Dhawan and Salman Khan’s Partner.

Out of screenplay, dialogues and songs, what do you think is the most challenging to write?

Dialogue writing is the toughest skill in Hindi cinema; because dialogue very often fills holes in the script. Also, dialogues get noticed a lot more because they are spoken. A bad line of dialogue will prick everyone in the ear and a good one will make people celebrate you. Screenplay, on the other hand, is a tedious job. It’s also the one that takes the longest of the three.

I have learnt many lessons in writing both these by working with David and Ramu. I also learnt a lot from Aziz Mirza. When I wrote for David, the pace of the film was different as compared to when I wrote for Ramu. David is an excellent editor as well. He edits brilliantly on paper itself. He knows when to end a scene and has a knack for comedy.

If you ask me, lyric writing is a lot of fun because, compared to scripts, it takes much less time and you get paid much quicker. Music meetings are a lot of fun too. You get many ideas in those. I am lucky that I worked with a lot of music directors like Jatin-Lalit, Anu (Malik), Himesh (Reshammiya).

How was a writer’s life different in the 1990s? Tell me a bit about that time.

You are making me feel old now! Well, makers are more disciplined today than before. So there is a sense of structure and I’d say less chaos. But with that, I feel what today’s film writing lacks the most is spontaneity. There are too many people who have a say and even after the film is out, everyone on social media is a critic. This overtly critical world is not necessarily good for writing and writers because you never what could be taken wrongly and held against you. Today, there are very few people writing films but too many people writing about films.

I also think that when we used to work in the 90s, we used to work with big people. And I mean big in stature, work experience as well as age. So there was always a lot to learn from. Today, with the entry of corporates into the film industry, there are several people from their teams who have a say as well. And not all of them may really have the experience of film writing or film making. Some of them are marketing people who are today working for a film production studio and might tomorrow move to a cold drink company. Do you think they would be as passionate and knowledgeable about films? They have brought in so many rule books and structures today that filmmaking has become like defusing a bomb: Should we cut the red wire or the green one?

Do you feel out of place in the era of OTT?

No, I am working on an OTT show which I can’t tell you more about at the moment. But I don’t feel out of place even in the sense of the content being made because I have always been in touch with world cinema since the 1990s. It has become popular only now. Having said that, I don’t think Indian web series have really impressed me so far. There were a few like the Season 1 of Panchayat which are good but overall, if you ask me, I think most Indian shows have the same story. Plus, everyone is writing only crime and mindless crime. Now, what used to be Bombay-based crime stories are now happening in some village in UP. But the stories are the same. I am all for creative liberty but I think some shows are so random that a person travels to Baluchistan or Karachi as if he’s going from Borivali to Kandivali. Another thing I notice is that a lot of actors are trying to do what they call natural acting but let me tell you there is no greater cinematic torture than to watch a bad actor attempting serious acting.

I have always thought that I want to make feel-good films. Of course, over the years, your thinking changes. A man often thinks of different ways of committing suicide throughout his lifetime. So I have thought of different ideas too. Some worked, some didn’t. But I think the process of filmmaking itself is something I enjoy the most. To continue doing that is my ultimate creative purpose. I may be a writer, a director and a lot else but before all that, I am a cinema lover.

Who were you early influences?

Billy Wilder, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen in Hollywood. In India, I love Hrishi Da (Hrishikesh Mukherjee). I think he has a fascinating range. I love Gulzar sahab too. People know him for his songs or as a director but I think Gulzar is the best dialogue writer ever in the Hindi film industry. I think he brought in a new language of dialogue in films. There are many scenes where he subtly writes dialogue that is poetic. There is a dreaminess about his dialogue writing that, to me, remains unmatched. Aandhi, Mausam are all examples of this. Even Namak Haram, which was a commercial film, was elevated by his writing. And one can’t forget Machis either! Then, of course, right from my college days, I have been an admirer of Kundan Shah. His Jane Bhi Do Yaron was the kind of comedy that the country wasn’t ready for at that time. It is now a cult film. Even Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na is charming. I am fortunate that I got to work with Kundan Shah myself.

I like Yes Boss a lot; then Daud and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. I like the dialogues I wrote in Partner a lot as well. A children’s film I had written for Santosh Sivan called Halo is a piece I am proud of. I think I have never not enjoyed writing a film. In 30 years, there are some lessons too. Like, for instance, the last film I wrote and directed, Patel Ki Punjabi Shadi, which starred Paresh Rawal and Rishi Kapoor, took seven years to get released. And by the time it was out I thought it had become a little dated. Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have written and directed it. But there are things that are in your control and things that aren’t. But honestly, there is nothing which I look back on that makes me feel embarrassed.

What advice would you offer to young writers who want to break into films?

I’d say listen to your heart but don’t be too choosy either. Instead of thinking too much about what to do, just do it. At the end of the day, the film industry is a bit of gamble. No one can ever tell you with certainty that a particular film will work or not. So keep doing projects. Another thing is that don’t be stuck to just one group of people. Only if you are working with different people and companies, can you survive for 20-30 years. Also, try and be on the sets. If there are changes on the spot, do them yourself. A writer should take care of his scene like it is his own child. And without becoming too nosy, try to be involved in the editing process as well. A writer needs to understand every aspect of filmmaking in order to hone his skill. The obvious last thing is to read as much as you can. Read books, read about current affairs, watch the latest plays too.

If your life were a film, which one would it be?

I think one of the Woody Allen films in which the protagonist is a bit mad.