Hitesh Kewalya came to Mumbai from Delhi in 2005 to direct films but soon realised that it could take years to get there. He began working in advertising, writing for television, and assisting his wife on her animation projects. In 2015, he got a break to write the screenplay and dialogue for Shubh Mangal Saavdhan ( SMS ) a remake of director R S Prasanna’s Tamil romcom on erectile dysfunction, Kalyana Samayal Saadham (2013). SMS was a box-office hit that has not only brought him fame and work, it has also renewed Kewalya’s hope that he will be able to write and direct his own feature in the future.
How did you get the writing job for SMS?
I have always wanted to direct films but I also happen to like writing a lot, so when one does not work out, the other helps. A friend who was the associate producer on SMS approached me to write and that’s how I came on board.
Did you see the original before you began writing it?
No, it was a decision we took that I should not see it because the team had already tried three writers and were not satisfied with them. I only saw the film after we began shooting. So director R S Prasanna gave me a 10-minute narration and I just followed that premise to begin writing.
Was there any reference to follow, if not the original?
The idea was not to work with the reference and come up with original scenes. SMS is not a remake as such. Prasanna calls it a spiritual remake of Kalyana Samayal Saadham .
What was the writing process like then?
The writing process was a lonely [one] for me. For a film that Prasanna had already written and made, I have to give him the credit for not interfering with my writing because if you see the original and the remake, both of them are starkly different in terms of milieu, and plot points. Also the ensemble cast took the writing to another level with their performances. As a writer you have to set the mood for the scenario, and once you do that and throw your characters in then all the actors soak up the mood and after a while you realise that it is not just the actors but also the technicians acting according to the scene. Apart from Prasanna’s original story and my screenplay and dialogue, when we were shooting, a lot of small improvisations on set helped to give it a Delhi-U.P. flavour that is common in the films produced by Aanand L Rai and written by Himanshu Sharma.
What were the inputs from Rai and Sharma?
I have always loved Aanand L Rai’s work, and so when this opportunity came to write the script for his production it was a way to integrate myself into the world that he creates. Also Himanshu Sharma has worked with Rai and became my go-to person every time I wanted an opinion on the script I wrote. He was my mentor who always suggested how to improve it.
Like the biscuit scene, whose idea was that?
The biscuit scene took me some months to write and it when it did, it came as a flash. I think I must have been drinking chai and dunking biscuits with my wife and that’s how it just happened while we were discussing something.
Was it Parle-G biscuits?
Yes it was. My wife loves it.
Which is your favourite dialogue in SMS ?
I like the Alibaba dialogue a lot which has become very popular. We have all heard that story about Alibaba and the 40 thieves but to use it as an allegory was something that comes so naturally to us when we are stuck and we are trying to explain without sounding crass. Since it was a family film the challenge was to not resort to cheap comedy.
Which other films did you see and like in terms of dialogue and screenplay this year?
I loved Newton . I thought it was brilliant. I wish I had written it. Bareilly Ki Barfi was another favourite though I did not entirely agree with a lot of things in the screenplay, but since it was set in a similar milieu like SMS it was well put together.
A film in which the director and writer were perfectly in sync?
Tumhari Sulu was very beautifully written. Suresh Triveni the writer and Suresh Triveni the director were both listening to each other and etching out a lovable character.
Any particular favourite dialogue from these films?
My favourite dialogue of the year is from Newton when Sanjay Mishra’s character says, ‘ Tumhari problem pata hai kya hai. Tum imaandaar ho aur tumhe uss imaandaari ka ghamand hai. ’ That describes the idealism that most people in our country suffer from.
Do you see a shift in audience tastes as well in the kinds of films that are being accepted?
Audiences today are exposed to all kinds of content, and are more embracing of what we are willing to push. They want to see better stories and they are changing the films we are making by rejecting all that is hollow.
What are the stories you are developing and want to tell?
I take as little work as I can so that I can develop one project at a time. Right now am writing a film for the same team of Aanand L Rai and Himanshu Sharma but I cannot reveal much except that it is about human relationships.
Is the story unfolding in the middle of a wedding ceremony?
We are in the middle of a wedding as a society! Everything revolves around that.
