Writing for me has been an excursion for which I do not have a compass. I did not know the starting point and I am too far away from the end line. Life is like driving a car in the dark. We can only see as far as our dim headlights allow us to see. But we know we have to make the whole trip that way. The only thing I knew and told myself about writing was that if you have something to say,then say it as clearly as you can. There cannot be a secret other than this for a writer. And that is all I did. And made stories. I created characters and their personalities. Their actions determined their happiness or the lack thereof. Once a friend told me human lives are path dependent,the path you choose to walk down will determine your experiences. So for me all human happiness and misery are formed out of human action. There are writers who make you think and writers who make you wonder. But I just write the lines I feel. I also discovered that at times having something to say can be a question of sleepless nights and an endless battle with ones subject. Both my films,Tanu Weds Manu and Raanjhanaa had characters with conflicts. They needed dialogues to resolve. Dialogues are after all merely one of the many sounds one hears in a film,along with songs,and music and background scores. Dialogues soothe,express,signify,concretise and resurrect the characters. Characters tell you what they want to say and how they want to speak. A writer needs to follow them. No high morals or no great messages need to be carved out. Do not be moralistic as you may cheat yourself out of many experiences and emotions that living life brings out. Do not aim to be simply good,but be good for something in a character,something for a character. Why preach when you can talk? Why sermonise when you can have a conversation? I can bring the weight of morals and values upon myself,but why should I burden my viewers. At one time,I thought the most important quality for a writer was talent. I now think that a writer must train himself in ruthless intolerance,that is,to throw away anything that is false,no matter how much he or she might love that page or that paragraph. The most important quality for a writer is insight,to be curious,to wonder,to mull and to muse why is it that human beings do what they do. And if you have an inkling of that,then I think talent becomes secondary. I really do not know at this point in my career what works in a script and what doesnt. But looking back,there are some stupid writing choices,some poor writing decisions Ive made that I will not repeat. Its important to analyse ones writing and identify these problems in ones script. And do it before the praise and adulation that follow a films success at the box office drown ones critical faculties towards our own work. And I need to express myself time and again. Not to pour out thoughtlessly the chaos in my emotional world or vomit on paper my inner angst for that would be (for the audience) more like choking rather than reading or watching a masterpiece. While writing,your soul should rule your hand,your pen should conform to your heart,but your craft should structure and order the emotions and chaos of your inner world. Writing ought to be oblivious to formulae such as Entertainment,Entertainment,Entertainment! And there is no key to successful writing. You only have the formula after you have achieved it.
