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Journalism of Courage
With Raat Akeli Hai (2020), casting director Honey Trehan (Maqbool, Delhi Belly) made his directorial debut, while screenwriter Smita Singh debuted as a feature film writer after being a part of the writers’ room for Sacred Games. They unite for the second instalment of this crime thriller franchise — Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders — in which Nawazuddin Siddiqui reprises his role as the sharp, no-nonsense Inspector Jatil Yadav. Set a few years after the events of the first film, the sequel follows Jatil as he is drawn into another complex investigation following a murder committed in cold blood and that leads to the unravelling of long-buried secrets within a powerful family.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders will have its world premiere at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, on November 27 and will release on Netflix in December. Ahead of that Smita and Honey talk about the world this film created while pushing the boundaries of the Indian crime thriller, their collaboration and why mutual respect between writer and director is crucial. Excerpts:
How did you both end up collaborating for the first Raat Akeli Hai?
Smita: When I was doing the screenplay writing course at the Film and Television Institute of India (Pune), I wrote the script of Raat Akeli Hai. Anjum Rajabali and Ashwini Malik, my two professors, are the guiding lights for this. I thought this film is going to be my calling card to show what I can do; how I can construct scenes; and write the Hindi dialogues. After Honey read the first 30 pages, he became interested.
Honey: My proposed directorial debut, Sapna Didi, with Irrfan and Deepika Padukone, was shelved and, at that point of time, it was very important for me to make my first movie. That’s when Tulsea (media and content management company) sent me about 30 pages of Raat Akeli Hai. I was familiar with the world Smita had created and I was excited to direct it.
Smita, your family has roots in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Do you think familiarity with those worlds helped you while writing Raat Akeli Hai?
Smita: Honey grew up in Allahabad and also has roots in Punjab. My father is from Bundelkhand and my mother from Rajasthan. Whenever we look at joint families, or at crime, it’s like the two things don’t come together — it’s either a criminal family or a happy joint family. But there is so much in between that that we haven’t explored. I have always loved the crime genre. While growing up, during summer vacations I would see how large families operate.You get an unsettling feeling that there’s a lot of unresolved stuff. So for me, those big houses with so many family members seemed to have an air of tension, like there was some unfinished business there.
Honey, in an earlier interview, you had mentioned that you were drawn to the characters in the story.
Honey: When I was reading the first script, there were about ten principal characters. Each character had its arc and motive. That’s something we don’t pay attention to as we are more focussed on the lead actors. While writing the script, we always had Nawaz (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in mind because there is a fairness cream reference (Nawaz’s character used the cream to boost his matrimonial prospects).
Smita: I wanted to subvert that swagger that you show in massy cop films, such as Dabangg (2010). That swagger is basically a front to hide one’s insecurities. You want to be dabangg (fearless) but you depend on your mother to find you a spouse. I wanted to bring out that frustration and vulnerability.
Tell us more about this sequel, Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders.
Smita: The original movie was about a family and an inspector at a small police station who is investigating a case. But this time the stakes are much higher. The politics is much deeper and expansive this time. With the first movie I was trying to tell a home-grown police detective story. This time we have everything — forensic and eyewitnesses. But the one thing that stays solid is the stubbornness to go after the truth.
Honey: Treatment-wise this is more contemporary. People said the first one was slow-paced, we have tried to fix that.
This is your second collaboration. How does the familiarity with each other’s process help?
Smita: I argue a lot and I get stuck with what I believe in. Honey allows me to argue. Yet, if he’s not convinced with something, we would not let it go. It is understood that both of us are fighting for the script. The third act in Raat Akeli Hai was a mess. I was aware of that and I would never argue about something like that. While working on the second film, the faith Honey had in me really helped.
Honey: I did the first Raat Akeli Hai because Sapna Didi did not take off. Now, Panjab 95 is not getting released and I am in a fix. Once again, Raat Akeli came into the picture. When its sequel was suggested, I spoke to Smita, who was busy with the web-series Khauf, which she has written and created. What I like in a writer is shiddat (passion). Smita writes with shiddat and she is her biggest critic.
At a time when we are talking about Hindi cinema lacking freshness, how crucial are such partnerships?
Honey: Writing is the motherboard. Hum log usko bahut zyada tawajjoh nahin dete hain (We don’t give writing much importance). I am happy writers are now getting credit. The trust between writer and director should be mutual. This cannot be bound by the money or the film.
