Script writer Raaj Shaandilayaa shares with Aakriti Narang his beginnings in writing comedy scripts, being the middle man in the silent cold war between Kapil and Krushna Abhishek during Comedy Circus and how his first script earned his actors a standing ovation
How difficult is it to make people laughIJ
I will give you an example. There was a time when we all thought that Comedy Circus wouldn’t go on any further. We had even written a script depicting what everyone would be doing after the show ended. At such a time, I received an email from a woman who worked as a maid in the US. The owner for whom she worked was five months pregnant at the time but the child was not making any movement. She happened to watch one of Krushna-Sudesh’s episodes and laughed thoroughly. And her unborn child started moving. That’s when I realised what a great responsibility I had for making people laugh. So it’s not difficult, it is elevating.
What are you playing in BhoomiIJ
Bhoomi is an emotional drama. It is the comeback film of Sanjay Dutt. After coming out from jail, he needed a script that would allow his character to connect with the audience. It had to have an emotional bent. I guess he found what he was looking for in Bhoomi’s script.This is the first time that the audience will see Sanju baba playing such a role. The story is very closely related to a common man’s life. It covers the essence and importance of a father-daughter relationship.
What inspired you to take up this projectIJ
Before this project, I had only been a part of comedy films. Our producers Omung Kumar, Bhushan Kumar and even Sandeep ji had informed me that they were thinking of making a film with Sanju baba and I quickly realised that it was the right time for me to change my genre. So the decision to write a script for this film was based partly on the desire to experiment with my own writing style as well as wanting to break the stereotype that a comedy writer can’t write emotion-laden scripts. Not many people know that only emotional people can write comedy scripts. Comedy as a genre does not have its own foundation; it arises out of emotions; it is an offshoot of emotions. Wherever there are emotions involved, there will be comedy and where there is comedy, there are bound to be emotions.
Based on my experience of working in Bhoomi, I’d suggest every writer to write at least one emotional script during their career. They’ll learn a lot from the process. It’s not that I received more or less respect for Bhoomi than I did for my previous two comedy films. It’s just that people already knew what to expect from me when I was working in Welcome Back or Freaky Ali. However, what I’ve done for this film will be unexpected for the audience. In this sense, this was also a challenge for me. They say that you shouldn’t remove the cells from a functioning radio. That’s exactly what I’ve done. Comedy is my forte and I’ve gone on to do something completely different. But when you see the film, I think you’ll agree with me that I’ve done a decent job.
What is the significance of Bhoomi to youIJ
Bhoomi is the name of the protagonist, played by Aditi Rao Hydari. In this sense, we have tried to connect the idea of woman with that of earth. There is no earth without women and vice versa. Earth belongs to women and will continue to belong to them.
How was the experience of working with Sanjay DuttIJ
The fact that Sanju baba, out of all the options available to him, chose Bhoomi as his comeback film is an honour for us. One thing about Sanju baba is that he knows how to handle people very nicely. He is also very punctual. If one would tell him to arrive on set at 7, he would be there by 6:30.
You started your career with Comedy Circus. How did you land up there in the first placeIJ
When I started working in 2006, I was doing my Bachelors in Engineering from Bhopal. At that time, the show The Great Indian laughter Challenge had begun. Seeing its traction, I knew this genre would be a crowd puller on Indian television. Then I came to Mumbai from Bhopal for some reason and tried my luck and got my break. When Comedy Circus started, I had never thought that I would work in this show for seven years. When we started, the first season was meant to last just 13 episodes. I still remember that my first script, which was enacted during the sixth episode, received full marks from the judges and a standing ovation. After that, I just didn’t stop. I wrote for 18 seasons one after the other. That experience of writing for weekly episodes is really helping me in films now. That is because I had acquired the skill of time-bound writing. What film writers are able to do in seven months, I can finish within two.
You will find an element of Comedy Circus being reflected in all the major comedy shows that are airing on television today.
How did you evolve on the show with Kapil SharmaIJ
Having written scripts for Comedy Circus for seven years, both Kapil and I felt there needed to be some change. We had to introduce some novelty. Apart from that, some creative differences had also emerged between us and the show’s team. But the main reason for starting a new show was that we felt the audience deserved something different. People really loved Kapil’s work at the time. So if you take a close look, it is the Comedy Circus team that has split up and is managing all the current comedy shows. I’m very happy for everyone’s success.
I used to write scripts for both Kapil and the duo Krushna Abhishek-Sudesh lehri. These two would also reach the finale. There would always be a sort of cold war going on between their two teams; they’d wonder if I had added more “punches” or gags in one’s script as compared to the others’. I used to balance my gags.
You will remember that Krushna and Sudesh’s acts would sometimes not have an end. They were notorious for this, and each time they’d come up with ingenuous ways of ending their act on stage. Once I remember that I wasn’t able to come up with an end for their script and so I had told them to go on stage and perform their best. Meanwhile, I would try to think of something. That day, while on stage they literally called me and asked, “Raaj bhai, end banaIJ” When I told them I hadn’t thought of anything, they told this to Archana Puran Singh and ended their act there and then. We’ve had a lot of fun with improvisations and learnt a lot.
Future plansIJ
My next film is with Sohail Khan. He is directing the film. It is a romantic comedy. Apart from this, I’m also working on films that revolve around satire. All in all, I’m experimenting and trying to do things that I’ve never done before.