The Write Choice

Rafique’s first tryst with the film industry and the Bhatts dates back to the ’90s. She was in her twenties and was one of the 10 assistants on their movies such as Sir,Najaayaz and Naaraaz. “Evan as an assistant,I was interested in writing. So I asked the then in-house writer Jay Dixit to allow me to assist him. He obliged,” recalls Rafique. Dixit introduced her to Hindi and Russian literature. “I remember that back then too,I was drawn to darker and saddening stories because that was who I was,” she says.

Rafique continued to work with Dixit for nearly five years. But soon,tragedy struck. “My sister was killed,my family was going through a financial crisis and all my plans were derailed,” she says. Since assisting a writer did not pay much,she had to look at alternative means to support her family. “A few people suggested that I make use of my musical talent to sing at bars. I had no choice but to take it up,” she says.

For the next few years,Rafique sang in bars in Dubai,Abu Dhabi,Bangalore and Hyderabad even as she pursued her dream to be a writer. “But no one was even ready to give me an appointment,” she says.

Ultimately,she knocked at the door of her mentors,the Bhatts,but they refused,preferring their own set of writers. The struggle continued for another four years,until one day Bhatt invited her for a focus group screening of Kalyug (2005). “After I watched the film,I told him that there were two scenes I thought were missing,” says Rafique. Bhatt asked her to write those scenes,which he incorporated in the film. “Bhatt saab realised I have a sense of screenplay. But he did not hire me until Mohit Suri,who was making Woh Lamhe,based on Bhatt saab and Parveen Babi’s life,requested him to give me a chance. The rest is history,” she says.

The challenge now is to sustain her ability to deliver hits. “I don’t write a film if I feel it has the resonance of something we have done earlier. Also,the situation in each film needs to be different. For instance,Jism is a dark film but it is about man-woman relationship,while Jashn talks about the dilemmas of youth,” she says.

On her also rests the responsibility of creating a franchise from a hit film as she has to heed to both nostalgia and novelty. “It’s tough. For instance,with Raaz 3,I have upped the emotional quotient of the film,which worked brilliantly in the first. Although the sequel made money,the audience wasn’t emotionally satisfied. Similarly,for the next part of Murder,I am working on a more complicated tale,” she says.

Her biggest test,however,will be Aashiqui 2,a sequel to Mahesh Bhatt’s 1990 cult romance. “Here,I need to be far more cautious because I am dealing with a brand created by Mahesh Bhatt,and one which the audience so fondly remembers,” Rafique says. And on no count does she want to displease her mentor.