The Return of the Writer

Writing previews is tricky business. And it is risky business too, especially if the upcoming film is from a production house that has made innumerable high-profile bad films in the past five years. But I was compelled to write this post for one reason alone – and that is the writer of the film. For me, “Shuddh Desi Romance” is the next film by Jaideep Sahni, whom I consider to be the best writer in Hindi cinema (writer, excluding writer-directors) today.

Sahni started his career at the age of 32 with the name that has the credit of introducing the maximum number of fresh talents into the industry – Ram Gopal Verma, when he wrote ‘Jungle’ (2000). Two years later he was to win two Filmfare awards for the screenplay and the dialogue of his second film, ‘Company’ (2002). In the next ten years, he has had only five releases – ‘Bunty aur Babli’ (2005), ‘Khosla ka Ghosla’ (2006, that won him his third Filmfare), ‘Chak De India’ (2007), ‘Aaja Nachle’ (2007), and ‘Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year’ (2009). According to me, he is yet to write a bad film. And according to me, he has already written 3-4 very good films – I would be really proud of them if they were mine. With the looks of a CEO of a corporate firm, Sahni has definitely built a filmography that gives the impression of being an original, intelligent, and passionate writer apart from being extremely talented. All his movies are different from each other; he is constantly seeking different milieu and different genres, and operates in a very mainstream space without selling his soul. To be honest, I have been missing his work for the past four years and am super-excited as his latest film is ready for release this Friday. He is one writer I have followed and admired ever since his arrival, and he is one writer yet to break my heart. This Friday, all I expect of him is this – he may not be able to repeat the success of his best, but this latest film of his must be better than his worst (choose your pick from the films mentioned above). I like to believe that this storyteller has a lot many stories to tell and hope I won’t be disappointed this Friday.

Over to you, Sahni sa’ab! Sunaaiye apni nayi kahaani…