Finding humour

Raaj Shandilya

Writer and director Raaj Shandilya is the new name in humour business. He has written dialogues for “Jabariya Jodi”, and is directing Ayushmann Khurrana's upcoming film “Dream Girl”. “The film's idea came from my co-writer Nirman in 2013 and he wanted me to write it. In 2015, we completed the story of a man who speaks in the voice of different women. Ayushmann loved the story and agreed in ten minutes. We shot the film in Mathura as my maternal family is from there,” informs Raaj, who made a name for himself by writing for comedy shows on television.

Excerpts-

What went into writing dialogues of “Jabariya Jodi”?

There is sudden attention towards the small city and its people. After experiencing the world, today's generation is more passionate about small city’s distinct flavour. We shot ‘Jabariya Jodi’ in Lucknow and we wanted to have the flavour of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar region. We worked a lot on the diction. I am not from Bihar but I have a lot of friends who come from that region and I have done many comic acts on Bihar. At the same time, I wanted to write in such a way that was understood across the country, so we did not stress too much on typical Bihar tone and kept it simple.

It was tough to make Siddharth (Malhotra) shed his urban image. We showed him many Bhojpuri films and asked him to react normally. It is his most realistic work.

How did your journey start?

I was doing engineering in Bhopal when “Laughter Challenge” started. As I used to write in my school days and loved humour, it inspired me a lot. I kept looking for some opportunities until I met a singer from Jhansi, my home town, who was living in Mumbai. I accompanied him to Mumbai and met several “Laughter Challenge” contestants. I started writing for them which they loved.

I wrote without credit for two-three years until “Comedy Circus” started. I have written almost for all the stand-up artistes working in the industry.

Where do you get your ideas from?

Life inspires me. I love meeting people, particularly Punjabi people! I think you become a writer by being around with people.

Even now when my passion has changed into my profession, nothing has changed. I think what I do is something special as not everyone can make people laugh. I take this as a responsibility. Plus, I read a lot.

Tell us about the stand-up comedy scene

We started late. It was only Jaspal Bhatti ji who was doing something on the lines of stand-up comedy. There was no settled genre and comedians were hardly seen beyond cinema. When these shows arrived, Indian audience liked the unique style of presentation.

Earlier people only used to tell jokes or mimic actors, but we came up with sketches and different varieties of stand-up. We borrow a lot from the tradition of Tamasha, Nautanki, and Ragini. There are problems everywhere and humour can be created out of these problems.

How did screenwriting happen?

Till 2013, I wrote around 2000 scripts and I was thinking of doing something new. I got a call from Anees Bazmee and he wanted me to write dialogues for the sequel of “Welcome. It was a big opportunity because Anees ji is himself a writer. I realised film writing gives a different kind of satisfaction.

You have to understand what the story wants to convey and how crisply you can say that. I was very much inspired by Kader Khan and love the writing of Salim-Javed. No writer has given industry more than Kader sahab in terms of humour and comedy.