Years ago, when a Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) student hung out with his teacher and famous screenwriter Sanjay Chauhan on campus after a lecture, the veteran said to him, “Just remember. When you come to Bombay, make sure you don’t come alone. Make sure you have a few close friends with you, on whose shoulders you can cry.” “That was the kind of man Sanjay was,” says Jyoti Kapoor, co-writer of Badhaai Ho (2018), Dawat-e-Ishq (2014) and Kaccha Limboo (2011). She first got to know Chauhan, who co-wrote the critically acclaimed Paan Singh Tomar (2012) and Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster (2011) with Tigmanshu Dhulia, when they were colleagues at the Screen Writers’ Association (SWA). Chauhan, 62, died on Thursday in Mumbai due to a liver illness. “He was always looking out for youngsters and giving them tips on how to survive in the industry. When you meet some filmmakers, all you can talk about is each other’s films. Not with him. You’d talk about food and poetry too. He was a rare species in the industry,” Kapoor added. Dhulia agrees, saying that Chauhan, who was always on the lookout for fresh talent, frequently mentored young writers and would send over youngsters with potential. When they were working on Paan Singh Tomar, Chauhan was ready to go to the eponymous athlete’s village and research the film even before it got greenlit, committed to making it work. “He was from Gwalior so was versed with the geography. We were always on the same wavelength and he was available for discussions all the time, even when busy with other writers or directors. His understanding of character and language was phenomenal. Even if there’s a single line from a story that interested him, it could become the germ of a film he would end up making.” “For him, the subject was what mattered. If he was hooked to an idea, he’d make the film regardless of which star was acting in it or not,” he added. He was a “gem of a person”, echo Dhulia and Kapoor, with the former saying that his principles and education from Jawaharlal Nehru University probably played a hand in how he navigated the industry and his storytelling. “He was my senior at the SWA, but, in honesty, he was much more than that,” says Kapoor. “He was a friend who was always there for you. He would often just call me up at 10 pm in the night - not text, call - and ask me, ‘Kaisi hai? (How’re you?)’. During COVID-19, when nobody could meet each other, he’d drop by with some food and sweets to show that he cared. That’s the kind of man he was.”
