Om Shanti Om is like Moulin Rouge - colourful and vibrant

Courtesy: IndiaFM
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Mayur Puri the young and talented writer is all over the place, with his lyrics vigorously poised with "yuppie" flair sounding easy to ears. From composing for super hits tracks like 'Bheegi Bheegi Si' to assisting for films like Dhoom and Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai this guy has done it all. And now he will be seen in an all new avatar of a screenplay writer. With upcoming films like Om Shanti Om and My Name Is Anthony Gonslves this new kid on the block is surely going places. The writer speaks about his passion for writing and lyricism.

On Om Shanti Om - "It's like Moulin Rouge - colourful and vibrant"
"Farah was writing the screenplay for Om Shanti Om. Then one day I got a call from Red Chilies and they asked me to come over and have a look at the screenplay, I was basically roped in for the dialogues. I also did a little bit of the screenplay along with Farah. I guess one of the reasons why they chose me to write the dialogues was that I had written the script for My Name Is Anthony Gonslves which is been line produced by Red Chilies, so I guess they liked the work I was doing for that film and thus decided to rope me in for Om Shanti Om".

"I don't know how much I can reveal about the film. But it is a typical Farah Khan story which celebrates love and romance. It's like Moulin rouge - colourful and vibrant. Farah being a total entertainer, the way she looks at common things which we might overlook, she will make those things seem funny and entertaining".

"The film isn't a remake of any Hindi film. According to me all Hindi films are remakes of same ideas. We have a set of imagery that we have in our mind. We have all grown up on a fodder of set things in Hindi films. There are similar things like boy falling in love with a girl it happens all the time. The film is not similar to Karz but yes there is a very interesting musical love story which was also the heart of Karz"

On being a lyricist..."I am not a poet. For me to write shayaries and all is difficult"
"Pritam is a good friend of mine. When I came to Mumbai to work as a director- writer I started working for Sanjay Gadhvi's Tere Liye. Pritam was the music director for the film and we used to meet often. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for them I have a good music sense so I have spoiled a lot of their evenings. I used to write a lot of dummy lyrics for them. So gradually Pritam and I became friends. Once he said to me why don't you write lyrics for films you are good at it. At that time my attitude towards writing for Hindi songs was that Ye sab shayar log karte hain and I am not a poet. So for me to write shayaries and all is difficult. But I am glad that Pritam encouraged me and embraced my work. I am happy being a lyricist now but it's not how I started."

On scoring a Hattrick - "Through the song I have celebrated Indian ness, typical middle class thinking, Indian cricket and the lifestyle"
"I am writing for Hattrick and I have written a world cup anthem called 'Wicket Bachao'. Milan wanted to do a song for cricket. But my idea was that if you want to have a song it should be universal and should go parallel with life. Everyone loved the lyrics. Through the song I have celebrated Indian ness, typical middle class thinking, Indian cricket and the lifestyle. The film draws parallels to life and cricket".

My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves - The reel story
"The film's tagline is about ordinary boy with ordinary dreams. It's a story about an ordinary boy next door played by debutante Nikhil Dwivedi. If you hear his dreams they are laughable because he wants to have stars in his hands. He is just a young boy who works in a pub and wants to become a film star. It's a coming of age story and how he fulfills his dreams. It's a fun film".

From writing to direction
"I am just enjoying writing at the moment. After Om Shanti Om and My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, I also have Harry Baweja's film Love Story 2050. I don't even want to write my film right now because I have so much on my hands at the moment. Once I am done with all these commitments I will start writing. I do have a couple of ideas which I am still working on but nothing is final as yet".

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