Ever since I was born on Planet Earth, I have always loved stories. One of my favorite storytellers, Neil Gaiman was a journalist in his initial years as he wanted to talk to the people who made his favourite art. And I chose the path of journalism and writing for the same reason.
Recently, I had an absolute blast watching Stree 2 in theaters, so when I got the opportunity to interview Niren Bhat, the writer of the movie and fellow Neil Gaiman fan, it seemed like life had come full circle. Niren is a man who has written Tarak Mehta, the show I grew up with, Inside Edge, my favourite show in my teen years, and the Stree-verse, probably my favourite Indian movie franchise.
We congratulated him first for having been part of, not just a blockbuster movie, but also a great one.
Niren- Thank you so much, finally, someone is saying that, everyone is saying it’s a blockbuster, but nobody is saying that it’s a good film.
At the start of Munjya, a quote by Neil Gaiman appears, “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” We wanted to know if Niren was a Neil Gaiman fan.
Niren- Yes, I am a big fan of the likes of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, and George RR Martin. They have a great influence on my writing, especially in the horror, and fantasy genres.
Niren had posted a lot of comic strips on his Instagram, even some old Gujarati ones. We asked about his relationship with comic books and how it shaped his writing for the visual medium.
Niren- You can clearly see the influence of comics in the title of the film, ‘Sarkate Ka Aatank‘ which is a tribute to pulpy comics that I grew up with, Manoj Comics, and Diamond Comics. The name is derived from the comic Chacha Chaudhary Aur Raka Ka Aatank. My favourite graphic novel artist is Alan Moore. They help me to visualise a scene, the screenwriter’s job is not just to write dialogue it’s also to create visuals.
From his one comics, we moved to his other love, cricket. We wanted to know about his experience writing Inside Edge.
Niren- Priceless. When I met the makers, I wanted to be part of the show. Main saamne se paise deke bhi likh leta.
The theme explored in Stree 2 regarding the safety of ‘modern’ women when a figure like Sarkatta brainwashes the male population is quite relevant to the horrible incidents happening in the country. Changes only come in societies not through law but through changing mindsets. We asked him if he was hopeful for it with their attempt in Stree.
Niren- We are always hopeful, an artist’s job is to reflect the times we live in. If anything can create awareness about it, be it a movie, be it a movement like the one going on in the Malayalam industry, which takes things in the right direction and helps society, is most welcome in today’s time.
Horror and comedy are very tricky genres to write and there’s a very fine line between these two. Thoda sa bhi idhar udhar ho jaaye toh horror, comedy lagni lagti hai. But in Stree, every joke landed, every horror scene guaranteed scream in the theater. We wanted to know how he created such a perfect balance between horror and comedy.
Niren- All our movies, Bhediya, Stree 2, and Munjya are not designed like horror films. Horror movies are meant to disturb people psychologically. Conventionally, horror has been tabooed as a B or C-grade genre, associated with sleaze, and adult content. In our films, all the monsters are social fallacies, Stree is a feminine force demanding love and respect, Bhediya is the protector of the jungle, and Sarkata is a metaphor for rotten patriarchy. We are more interested in making it palatable to the family audience which often scares them, but with a lot of laughs.
Niren has an incredible list of writing credits, from Taarak Mehta to Asur to Bala. As writers ourselves, we were curious about how he had such a wide range of writing genres.
Niren- It comes from the hunger. I try to write things that challenge me and enrich me as a human being. For Bhediya, I traveled to Arunachal, in Bala we explored the whole self-image issue, in Asur we explored scriptures and forensics. I wrote the Ray story for my love of Urdu literature. I became a writer because I got Diwan-e-Ghalib in my hand one day. Each story takes you on a different journey, why limit yourself when someone else is paying for it?
We recently watched the Salim-Javed documentary and loved it. So Niren being a successful screenwriter we asked him if he felt that writers could ever be superstars again like that duo.
Niren- I am a big fan of them. Writers worldwide are superstars, they are credited as creators of shows, like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. In India, this culture is coming for shows.
But in films, I don’t see it happening anytime soon because we don’t have writers that are that powerful like Salim-Javed. 23 hits out of 25 films is almost impossible to imagine even in today’s times. If someone can make a name for themselves like that, it might happen.
It was such an insightful conversation full of recommendations, the nuances of the craft, and the love for the art, especially for aspiring writers like me, who want to make a living telling made up stories.
