Shifting gears

Did you need any guidance to write your first script?
Siddharth asked me to think of him as an editor,so that’s how I worked. He has a great sense of narrative balance — an understanding of how a story needs to be crafted for film. Hindi cinema has its own language,and Siddharth is fluent in it.

How is writing a script different from writing a book?
It’s collaborative,so it’s very different. They both gratify you in different ways. In films,the joys come earlier — completing the script,attracting the right cast to the project,seeing them take on the parts and making them their own,the movie actually being made. Writing novels is more solitary—no one is cheering you along,your insecurities,your self-motivation—these are things you constantly tackle as you write. Both are lonely jobs though—I suppose novel writing is lonelier.

Did living in Delhi allow you objective distance from the industry or was it tough since the team is in Mumbai?
Delhi is home and where I am most comfortable. My life is pretty regular,people in my personal life are not from the world of films or books,so there is already a distance. Each of these three worlds provide me with escapes from one to the other and also consume me,when I inhabit them. And who knows about the future? There is a part of me that wants to go back to working in hotels,I miss it tremendously. Two years from now,I might be back to hotels,living on some island in the Indian Ocean or elsewhere — meeting new people,having different experiences,saving up for my own organic farm one day.

Have any amends been made to the script you submitted last?

Siddharth has been working on the script with me,so we are on the same page and I have complete faith in him as a director. I am still working with him on other things,so we are in sync,but we don’t talk about Anjaana Anjaani,we are talking about the next one. Frankly,I am quite obsessed with the next one,I am a serial monogamist.

What are the other film projects you’re working on?
I’ve also written the story of Sujoy Ghosh’s next,Kahaani. I had a prior commitment for a script which I had to work on and I only work on one thing at a time. The story for Kahaani ran into some two hundred-odd pages; maybe it will be a book one day. I enjoyed writing it tremendously and Sujoy has written an awesome script. Kahaani is a departure from Anjaana Anjaani and Almost Single. I can’t wait for it to start shooting in October. It has Vidya Balan in it,who is such a fine actress.

You were working on the sequel to Almost Single. What happened?
I had written about 60,000 words of the sequel,and shared some of it with my editor at Harper Collins and we read it over Bulls Eyes,this sinful dessert. So it was all very optimistic. And then 26/11 happened and so much of the book was based in the world of hotels. For a couple of months after,I was quite disturbed. I couldn’t really write about hotels in that irreverent way that was required. So I gave it up. I may go back to it at some point.

Are you working on another book?
Yes,now if only I could get down to it. Right now,I am working on a new film,and there is a museum project that I want to support. I am also contributing to a charity book which will require some travel. By September end,I shall be mostly done with films,and then take time out and get down to my writing and the project.