Anu Singh Choudhary worked as a journalist and also wrote books before switching to the cinematic world of movies and web series. Having made her debut with Grahan, she has co-written all the three seasons of Aarya, and also written the recent films Sajni Shinde Ka Viral Video and Shashtry Viruddh Shashtry. Her upcoming films include the Hindi adaptation of the hit movie The Great Indian Kitchen. In an exclusive chat, the writer talks about her experience and journey in the industry. (Also read: Aarya director Vinod Rawat on Sushmita Sen, Hrithik Roshan, Rajkummar Rao)
On writing for Aarya
Anu reveals that it was for the first season of Aarya that she entered a writers’ room. Though Grahan released earlier, Anu had begun work on Aarya first.
Asked about the time she got onboard Aarya – a project with big names attached, she said, “It was very intimidating. The first day I walked into the writers’ room, I was like ‘These are three national film award winners, what am I even doing here, with these three men?’ And, they were very strong and articulate voices. It was intimidating and it took a while. They were very encouraging. I remember after three sessions, Ram Madhavani pulled me aside and said ‘nobody is a senior or junior here in the room. You have to respect that. There is reason you are here, honour that and do what you do’. That gave me perspective.”
She added, “I volunteered to attempt a pilot, even if they wish to trash it later, I just wanted to try. And, I did. The encouragement that came my way was huge, not that it was not trashed but the proccess only raised my confidence.”
Meeting Sushmita Sen
Anu said that she avoids going on sets of her projects as she believes that her job ends when a film or show goes on the floor. “I went on Aarya 1 sets only twice. Except for the muhurat, I do not think I have been on sets of any of my films.”
Anu also wrote the dialogues for Aarya 3. Recalling the time she was introduced to Sushmita Sen, she said, “The first thing that strikes you is her warmth and the respect she has for everybody around her. That gives lot of confidence. She laughed and told me ‘mujhe is baaar aise wale dialogues diye hain, aise bhari bharkam dialogues diye hain mujhe (You gave me such heavy dialogues this time)’. It was great, to hear her say that and honour my words.” The writer added that Sushmita also exudes inquisitiveness and resillience.
Asked why the third season of the show became over-the-top in overall feel, as well as dialogues, Anu said, “There are two things – the characters have evolved over seasons. Aarya is much more in control in the third season, and she does not have that conflict or dilemma. She is the don that she is. That dialoguebaazji or sense of clarity is something that comes very naturally.”
“Another thing is, the way one-liners from the first seasons became popular…There was an expectation from Aarya. We had to continue that quintessentially Aarya quality. The Aaryaism,” she added.
Solitary writing versus writers’ room
Talking about the experience of working in writers’ rooms, Anu said that collaboration is not something new that she learned in writers’ room, and it was quite easy. She then went on to explain, “Personally, I enjoyed being inside a writer’s room. After the director, producer and showrunner zero in on an idea or source and decide a rough sketch of the narrative they wish to build, writers, showrunners, directors and writers begin writers’ room sessions to decide the tracks, characters, potential conflicts, and just discover how more meat can be added to it all. Everyone gets to understand characters and tracks through a lot of talking. It can take 3-6 months, depending how fast you arrive at basic narrative.”
She added, “You have to fix in a writer’s room like a jigsaw puzzle…like the engine of a car. If one part does not work well, it will fall apart. So, Grahan was inspired by a novel which was 160 pages which may have given us five or six scenes. The original only had two characters – we added an entire world around them, and also added a timeline (of 2016-17).”
On working with Hansal Mehta on Scoop
Anu said Hansal Mehta is a perfectionist. Unlike Ram Madhavani, Hansal’s scene construction is very intense so every dialogue, and visual metaphor that you see onscreen happenes with a purpose. All of that will be on the paper before going to screen.” She then went on to appreciate the team of Scoop and how everyone stood with her in times of need while writing the show.
Anu recalls being molested on a Noida street
Having moved to Delhi in 1996, after establishing that she was always a rebel, Anu witnessed some things that compelled her to writer her book Bhali Ladkiyan Buri Ladkiyan and also make her first project ever – The Good Girl Show.
Asked if she can see any change in how safe women feel in public spaces, Anu said, “I’d want to believe that a lot has changed, but it has not.” She then went on to narrate an incident which she faced recently. “I was in Noida walking around 8pm to a nearby ATM when a man came on a bike and molested me just like that. He then flew away! And, mind you, I was 35 and I do look like someone who can give a good slap, I do not look like someone who is vulnerable. If he thought he could do it, how are my kids safe and where are they safe? I came to Delhi in in 1996, my daughter will soon go to college and nothing changed in 20 years, things have only worsened. I was also full of rage and this was right after the whole outrage we saw on the heels of the Nirbhaya incident.”
Anu also recalled her school, days and revealed, “I was 17 when I came to Delhi in 1996. It was rare for girls from my region to go out and study. It was quite a shock for people, but I was good academically and I was always more of a rebel.”
She added, “When I was young, I went to a Hindi medium school while my younger brothers went to an English medium school. I stopped going to school for 15 days till they got me into the English medium school. So my family knew i always had a mind of my own.”
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