Writer Juhi Chaturvedi tells Deebashree Mohanty that the success of her latest film Piku has only reconfirmed her belief that the Indian audience is ready for hatke cinema. The maverick writer is now gearing up for Humara Bajaj
She is funny, intelligent and focussed about her work and passionate about the subject on mind — meet Juhi Chaturvedi, one of the most innovative and successful writers of our times. Did she ever dream to get here so fast and so soonIJ
“No way. I was too busy writing content and one liners for the advertising firm I was associated with. Although I had penchant for writing and would pen down my thoughts often, it was just general ramblings. I had not taken writing for Bollywood seriously till Vicky Donor hit me,” she tells you. “I prefer to pen down my thoughts first. Writing is my forte, after all,” she adds.
Chaturvedi has traveled places and explored regions which has helped her in her writing skills in a major way. “It is not absolutely necessary for you to be born into a specific culture or family to know all about it. I have learnt a lot about Bengalis by just observing them and noticing their reactions.
“In lucknow, our tenants were Bengalis and I spent a lot of time with them. That is how Bhaskor’s character took root in my brain. Similarly, I have lived very briefly in lajpat Nagar in New Delhi. From there, I picked up a lot about Punjabi culture. It is good to observe your surroundings and learn about people,” she tells you. Chaturvedi is basking in the success of her latest film Piku which has been received very well worldwide, but the girl doesn’t want to get complacent.
“I’m still a fresher in the industry. A couple of successful scripts don’t make me the queen of story writing in Bollywood. I am working on my next film Humara Bajaj which stars Ayushman Khurana in a lead role. That is another simple, real story in a simple, real narrative,” she states. Chaturvedi says she is enjoying life at the moment because everything is progressing just the way she would have liked.
“As a parent, my first priority will always be my daughter. I work only after she has been properly looked after. When she takes a peaceful nap is when I power on my laptop. Given these conditions, I think I have fared decently. I have an excellent rapport with Shoojit and the other people whom I have worked with. It is a wonderful world for me at this moment," the writer says, adding that she is open and will be “honoured” to work with other directors who feel “she is worth the effort”.
There are many actors and directors whom she is wanting to work with. “At this moment, I am greedy. Greedy for more work, more projects and many more films. But I will never write about clichéd topics. They bore me to death,” the 43-year-old says.
The biggest challenge for her was to get a break. She had sperm donation in her mind for a few months before she put it down on paper. No one imagined that she could transform it to a full fledged feature film! “That’s when Shoojit happened. He liked the idea but he too was sceptical at the onset. He was wondering how do we deal with this subject and not sound preachy about it. Shoojit took his time to sleep over the idea but when he called me again, the maverick director had a concrete plan. He said let’s make it light hearted with a social message,” she recalls what she fondly calls her chai par charcha over Vicky Donor.As for motion se hi emotion, the concept for their next film, Chaturvedi says it was a brainwave and the both of them latched on to it.
Amitabh Bachchan was their first and only name for Bhaskar. “We wanted a thorough actor who could carry off this role without seeming to put on. Shoojit always had Amitji in mind. He even fixed up a meeting with him before I began writing the final draft of the script. Amitji is as Bengali and as well read as we wanted him to be for this role,” she tells you.
Did Piku change something or JuhiIJ “It gave me a lot of confidence. It also told me that people are ready to watch this kind of cinema,” she says. About women writers in Bollywood and their fate, Chaturvedi says, so far all is good. “Although I have heard from my friends that the industry is biased towards the male gender, it is unfair and makes me feel sick. A concept can be treated as per gender. As for the salary difference, that is true for women employees across every sector and every continent. I have no complaints at the moment,” she says.