'I am a Delhi Bengali and I speak Punjabi.'
'Karan was looking at these two communities for Rocky and Rani, as well as the city of Delhi, as a setting.'
'So I guess it all fell in place.'
"If one can talk about some pertinent issues via comedy or drama, why not?" Ishita Moitra, who co-wrote Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, tells Subhash K Jha.
From Kambhakht Ishq to Rocky Aur Rani Kii Kahaani has been quite a journey from you...
It's been a long, eventful and fun journey.
During Kambakht Ishq, I was freshly out of college and the junior most writer on set. I had neither any say nor sway on how things would get shaped up.
Slowly, and steadily, through projects like Mere Dad Ki Maruti, Noor, Half Girlfriend and then Four More Shots Please!, The Test Case, Shakuntala Devi and Maska, I finally found my path and my voice.
All these eventually paved the way for Rocky Aur Rani, which is a personal milestone for me, since I am such a huge KJo fan.
Being a woman and a writer in Bollywood seems like a double disadvantage. Do you agree?
Haha. Love the turn of phrase.
Fortunately, things are very different now for women writers.
Many, many of us are working actively in the film industry now and it isn't an anomaly any more. But when I started out, things weren't as easy.
There were much less women in not just screenwriting, but every department in a film. Now, however, there is a fairly decent gender representation, but that too can get better going forward.
And I hope in the future, we'll have a lot more women telling women's stories.
Being an outsider, how difficult was it to find a foothold in Bollywood?
It was difficult in the beginning to not just get a foothold in the film industry, but also to navigate life in a new city. But fortunately for me, soon enough I found my way to YRF.
At that time, YRF was making some TV shows for Sony and I was one of the writers working on these shows.
Working in such a respectable organisation gave me confidence and also connections in the rest of the industry and that held me in very good stead.
One thing led to another and there was no looking back.
How did you get to meet Karan Johar and how was Rocky Aur Rani born?
I was already doing two other projects for Dharma Productions and Karan had read my writing.
Somen, the head of development at Dharma and also a co-producer on Rocky Aur Rani, introduced me to Karan.
I am a Delhi Bengali and I speak Punjabi.
Karan was looking at these two communities for Rocky and Rani, as well as the city of Delhi, as a setting. So I guess it all fell in place.
Rocky aur Rani was born in Karan's heart and the rest of us just carried the torch on with our words and our intent.
Now that audiences are going crazy over the characters and their conversations, how much pride of ownership do you feel?
To be honest, it's a collective ownership of each and every one in the team and more than anyone else, Karan.
The fact that it has turned into what it has, is because of him and only him.
Having said that I definitely feel happy when people say some lines moved them.
Like 'Sanskaar diye hi kahaan Ma, sirf mard hone ka ahankaar diya' or even 'Main chahti hoon aap apni beti ke liye majboori ki nahin mazbooti ki misaal banein'.
What was it like working with Karan Johar? Did he give you the freedom to improvise?
It was the most incredible writing experience of my life.
Karan is a very generous and democratic person. He welcomes ideas, thoughts and feedback from everyone. He appreciates different points of view.
Apart from that, he is also a very chilled out person and creates a very easy, stress free, environment around him. Working with him is pure joy.
The second half of Rocky Aur Rani makes scathing comments on patriarchy, privilege, racism and body shaming. Did you at any time feel the product would be overloaded with social statement?
We were always conscious of the fact that people are coming into the theatres to be entertained. So, we always made sure that all the points made were within the realm of that.
And these were also organic to the individual character journeys. Even drama is entertainment, right?
Seeing great actors portray big emotions on screen and at the same time make some relevant points is fun for all to see.
Also, if one can talk about some pertinent issues via comedy or drama, why not?
Your forthcoming projects?
There are a few, but I can talk about the ones that have already been announced.
There is Call Me Bae, for Amazon Prime, produced by Dharmatic Entertainment. It's a series I have created and it stars Ananya Panday.
And there's a film I have co-written, that is directed by Anand Tiwari, starring Vicky Kaushal, Tripti Dimri and Ammy Virk. That is produced by Leo Media and Dharma.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
