Suresh Nair's interest in screenplay
Want to know how to cook the perfect recipe for a screenplay? Well we have the man to tell it all. Suresh Nair the man who penned the screenplays for films like Jhankar Beats, Salaam-e-ishq, Zinda and many more is all set to reveal another of his recipes Namastey London, which is all set to release this Friday.
From
writing
for
newspapers
to
scripting
movies,
how
did
your
transition
from
a
journalist
to
a
screenwriter
happen?
It
was
not
by
design
actually.
It
was
mainly
because
my
friend
Sujoy
Ghosh
was
to
make
Jhankar
Beats,
so
I
out
of
friendship,
started
writing
the
dialogues
for
the
film.
Around
the
same
time
Ramu
used
to
read
my
column
in
Bombay
Times
and
used
to
keep
coaxing
me
to
write
a
script
for
him.
One
thing
led
to
the
other
and
I
also
did
a
draft
for
Gayab
So
scripting
was
purely
by
accident
and
not
by
design.
Your
articles
as
a
journalist
always
gave
an
impression
that
you
are
a
hardcore
filmy.
I
don't
think
I
ever
thought
in
those
terms.
I
was
writing
about
films
and
various
other
things.
Yes
I
am
a
big
movie
buff
but
I
don't
think
I
ever
planned
to
start
meeting
people
in
the
film
industry
through
journalism
to
get
into
films
as
such.
It
just
happened;
it
was
never
planned
as
such.
And
then
I
started
to
enjoy
writing,
it
was
more
fun
writing
for
a
film
than
writing
about
the
film.
From
Jhankar
Beats
to
Namastey
London,
how
has
been
your
journey
as
a
writer
been?
I
am
actually
enjoying
the
journey.
It's
only
in
the
last
two
years
that
I've
considered
screenwriting
as
a
serious
career
option
and
plunged
into
it
whole-heartedly.
Until
then
I
was
balancing
it
with
a
career
in
journalism.
But
right
now
I
am
having
a
ball
because
I
am
able
to
explore
myself
as
a
writer
through
so
many
avenues.
I
mean,
I
am
still
a
newspaper
columnist
who
still
writes
articles
when
asked
by
my
friends
in
the
media.
I
am
also
a
comic's
writer
and
an
aspiring
graphic
novelist
along
with
being
a
screenwriter
in
Bollywood!
And
I've
been
lucky
to
get
to
work
with
some
of
the
finest
talents
in
Bollywood.
And
even
the
projects
I
am
being
offered
currently
are
fantastic.
I
just
hope
they
don't
discover
anytime
soon
that
I
am
actually
a
talent
less
sham!
Namastey
London
releases
this
week.
There
were
reports
that
the
film
is
a
remake
of
Purab
aur
Pachim.
You
being
the
writer
are
the
best
person
to
speak
on
this
I
really
don't
know
where
these
rumors
came
from.
There
is
nothing
to
do
with
Purab
Pachim.
Infact
we
even
have
a
dialogue
in
the
film
which
says
that
if
you
want
to
know
more
about
the
cross
cultural
issues
of
how
India
has
westernized
please
watch
Purab
Aur
Pahchim.
I
think
the
moment
we
hear
something
we
start
saying
aree
ye
uska
copy
hog
ya
ye
isska
copy
hoga,
nobody
is
sure.
Our
industry
DOES
copy
but
its
not
that
everything
we
do
is
a
copy.
Namastey
London
is
actually
based
on
something
that
happened
to
one
of
Akshay's
friends.
Vipul
Shah
gave
me
a
one
line
story
and
then
we
developed
it.
Shootout
at
Lokhandwala
is
based
on
a
real
life
incident.
Did
you
do
any
research
to
keep
the
feel
gritty
and
realistic?
What
was
the
source
for
the
research?
Initially
yes.
Sanjay
Gupta
and
I
met
A.A
Khan
the
then
ATS
head
(anti-
terrorist
squad).
He
spoke
at
length
about
the
encounter.
We
also
went
to
the
Bandra
police
station
and
checked
out
the
records
of
the
people
killed.
A.A
Khan
has
been
of
immense
help.
After
which
we
got
all
our
research
together
and
started
the
process
of
stringing
the
entire
research
in
a
screenplay.
We
couldn't
just
have
a
movie
entirely
about
the
shootout;
we
also
had
to
show
why
the
shootout
happened
and
what
happened
after
the
shootout.
The
film
is
part
fiction,
part
fact
because
most
of
us
don't
know
about
the
track
of
six
gangsters
hold
up.
A
lot
of
it
has
also
been
created
out
of
our
own
imagination
Are
you
also
writing
for
Dus
Kahaniyaan?
Not
really.
We
had
one
story
which
we
discussed
but
I
don't
think
that
it
is
included
in
the
ten
stories
now.
The
story
was
written
by
someone,
Meghna
Gulzar
was
going
to
direct
the
film
and
I
had
done
the
screenplay
but
I
don't
know
if
the
story
is
still
there.
I
have
no
idea.
What
are
the
other
projects
that
you
are
working
on?
There
is
Sujoy
Ghosh's
Aladdin.
Also
there
are
a
couple
of
projects
which
are
yet
to
be
announced.
Wouldn't
you
want
to
direct
your
own
script?
I
don't
know.
A
lot
of
people
have
asked
me
this
question.
Like
I
said
I
had
no
clue
that
I
would
start
writing
for
films.
Then
people
asked
me
if
I
will
be
directing
a
film.
When
I
watch
all
these
directors
I
feel
direction
is
a
lot
tougher
than
writing.
And
when
you
are
directing
you
end
up
spending
an
entire
year
focusing
on
one
film,
and
for
me
at
this
time
it
doesn't
seem
very
interesting
to
spend
an
entire
year
focusing
on
one
project.
I
also
do
a
lot
of
other
stuff
like
writing
a
column
for
DNA
and
writing
a
comic
strip.
I
enjoy
doing
all
these
variety
of
things.
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