What are the natural instincts required of an effective writer?
A writer should be a well-read person. I've always been a voracious reader and this reading habit that I've had since childhood comes in very handy when I'm writing. My ideas and thoughts flow rather naturally and there's never a dearth of them. Besides you need a good sense of drama, which again has to be primarily inherent; only then can it be developed significantly.
Why do you avoid writing dialogues?
Primarily because I feel my Hindi does not conform to the standards required in writing dialogues for serials. Or let me just put it this way - I'm more comfortable with English in which I do all my writing. Besides, my strength as a writer is visualisation of dramatic situations, which has got more to do with screenplay.
Do you plan out the ad-breaks when you write an episode?
I do it only for DMNHC, where I mark the freeze points before each commercial break.
What are the points you keep in mind while fleshing out the last scene before a commercial break or before an episode ends?
See, the whole idea is to keep the audience hooked and to ensure that it comes back after the break, or for the next episode. With that objective, I provide an unexpected twist to the story or create some suspense or curiosity. This twist could be anything - a sudden illness, revelation of a bizarre truth or something else. My last scenes in MTNK have been particularly absorbing, which leaves the audience asking for more.
Do you also like to set the time duration for each scene?
I ensure that none of the scenes exceed three minutes because then the scene tends to be less gripping and the involvement of the audience diminishes somewhat. It's very important that the screenplay moves at a fast pace. For MTNK, the actual content of which spans 18 minutes, I pack in eight scenes on an average. For DMNHC, which has 45 minutes of content, I write 18 scenes on an average.
How did you learn screenplay writing?
I haven't learnt it. I would say that it's in my genes. I'm not even sure if I follow any format. Basically, my thrust is on detail - the minutest detail of all that is going to happen in a given scene, because this is what ensures strong content. And frankly, it's content that matters, not the style of writing.
Does writing require long hours of isolation in order to concentrate?
I won't say so. Writing is all about thoughts and ideas and these can strike you anytime. I've conceived some of my best ideas while working out on the treadmill.
As a writer, which are the subjects closest to you?
Well, I would like to be versatile in my craft and would love to work on as many genres as I can. In fact, I would love to write a thriller, but I must confess I am not sure whether I can write a successful sitcom at the moment.
How many projects can you work on simultaneously without compromising on quality?
Three, which I'm doing now. I don't think I'm in a position to take up anything new.
Aakash Khurana has been quoted as saying that there are hardly any absorbing screenplays these days. Do you agree?
By and large, yes. But that's because almost all serials are prolonged beyond a level that can be justified. See, a story holds out only for a certain period of time, if it is extended beyond that, it loses its sheen and that is where the screenplay also sags. Even where MTNK is concerned, I feel it will be very difficult for me to do justice to the story beyond 130 episodes.
I found the red bit very interesting because one major turnoff of Indian serials is that they never end. Hence the story is never tight, the characterization is all over the place etc etc.
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