Exclusive: Kathak sequence was Karan's idea: Ishita Moitra on writing Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

From addressing gender roles and patriarchy to body positivity- Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is being lauded for its fresh take on family drama. "It's an upgrade on family dramas," quips writer Ishita Moitra. She has written the dialogues and co-written the screenplay along with Shashank Khaitan and Sudeep Roy for Rocky Aur Rani. For those who have been loving Ranveer's hilarious English in the film, Ishita Moitra is the person they should be lauding.

During a chat with WION, Moitra spoke at length about the film that is currently making waves for its entertainment and relevant messaging. The writer credits the film's director Karan Johar for having a very clear vision of how he wanted each of his characters to be. While writing the character of Rocky Randhawa, Ishita recalls she was told that he is the male version of Poo from Johar’s iconic Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham or Geet from Jab We Met.

“We've seen women do these characters very well. They are iconic characters. Karan wanted that, wanted to turn it on its head. And we knew that Ranveer was going to do this. There’s nobody else who could have pulled it off with this much elan as he did.”

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Ranveer Singh’s performance as Rocky Randhawa has been lauded by one and all. The actor plays the role of a loud Delhi boy from a rich business family who falls in love with a feisty, feminist Bengali girl, Rani Chatterjee played by Alia Bhatt.

‘Ranveer is a chameleon’

Moitra was all praise for the lead cast. When pointed out that Singh caught the Delhi lingo quite accurately, Moitra pointed out that it's not new for the actor to adapt to his characters. “He is a chameleon really. Whether he had to use a Marathi accent in Bajirao Mastani or the Gujju accent in Jayeshbahi Jordaar, he can do anything,” said Moitra.

As a viewer, Moitra admits she found more joy in watching Ranveer emote in between the lines. “If you remember the scene where Alia points out that whatever they had was consensual, the expression Ranveer has on his face before he says ‘Can you repeat?’ Or the laundry scene with Churni Ganguly, who plays Alia’s mother, and he goes ‘Aunty aap Rani ki Mummy hai’- all these expressions, the faces he made were hilarious. I think it's just fabulous what he's managed to do in the film,” said Moitra. "And Alia is Alia Bhatt. She can pull off almost anything,” added the writer.

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‘The Kathak scene was Karan’s idea’

"So the idea of Rani's father being a Kathak dancer was Karan’s. And the two dance sequences also, he knew what he wanted," revealed Moitra. She pointed out how Rani’s father Chandan and Rocky were similar just that they were from different ends of the spectrum.

“They both love to dance. They both have fathers who judge them. And yet they are from two different ends of the spectrum, even in terms of masculinity,” said Moitra.

“The two dance performances were pretty much like, I mean, even at the story level, it was something that we wanted to do. We thought a few times about what song it should be, etc. And then Dola re Dola was just perfect, especially because it was a Durga Puja setting. It all germinated from Karan's heart because this is the family drama that he knew what he wanted to put forth.”

Favourite scene from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Being from an Army background, Ishita Moitra said she had lived in Amritsar and Delhi and was familiar with Punjabi and her mother tongue is Bengali. So bringing the essence of Delhi lingo was not so difficult for her. She admits that Ranveer’s meltdown scene where he talks of the cancel culture and apologises to Tota Roy Choudhury’s character was the toughest to write and added was her favourite scene in the film because of the way it was implemented.

“The cancel culture scene is an absolute favourite because it took me a while to write it.” Since the scene involved Ranveer first apologising and then talking about his personal issues and then cancel culture, Ishita says the conversation had to be free-flowing. “The conversation had to move organically from one topic to the other. At the same time, it had to be emotional. At the same time, it has to be funny. You have to use words like, what a bad, what a worst, what a shame. But it can't make people laugh. It should still make people emotional. Cracking that was hard. And eventually, once that was written out, I think Karan was also pretty happy with it. And then I think Rocky crushed it. He took it to another level with his performance.”

Moitra was also all praisefor the supporting cast. She revealed how Tota Roy Chowdhury took only 35 classes to ace that Kathak performance, Shabana Azmi sang a Tagore song with absolute perfection and how Churni Ganguly brought the essence of a snob English professor correctly. ‘Shabana Ma’am is a masterclass in acting,” said Moitra admiringly.

Moitra was also all praisefor Karan Johar and Dharma Production. Calling Johar a living legend, Moitra said that the creative freedom and respect that writers get working for Dharma is unmatched. “Working with Karan has been incredible. He is so democratic, such an intelligent man and open to feedback.“ Moitra came on boardRocky Aur Rani because of her Delhi background and because she is a Bengali. “I first wrote a script for a film that Anand Tiwari is directing and stars Vicky Kaushal and Tripti Dimri and Amy Wirk. Rocky Aur Rani is my second project with Dharma.”

On being compared to Vicky Donor

Ishita Moitra said while Vicky Donor and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani had a similar backdrop, the films are not similar. “Rocky Aur Rani is not so much about diverse cultures as much as it is about rising above the differences and believing in the goodness of people,” she pointed out.

A certain section on social media also felt that the film’s wedding sequence and proposal sequences were lifted from a popular Indian TV show called Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. Was Moitra aware of it? “I think it’s a happy coincidence. I don’t think Karan would have watched the show. I am aware of the show- I know it’s a successful show but had no idea about the sequences."

The parallel🔥
Shadi so grand that it actually looked like bollywood shadi,
1 yr later cn't believe we'll hv a parallel of #AbhiRa Great Grand Wedding 🫶🏻💕🥺
Indeed abhira wedding is d greatest itv wedding ever🫶🏻❤️‍🔥#HarshadChopda #PranaliRathod #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahaani pic.twitter.com/LSDuLrtn09 — abhirayrkkh🇮🇳( AbhiRa 'THE IDIOTS') (@genextharshali) July 4, 2023

Moitra who worked on TV (Bade Achhe Lagte Hai) and OTT (Four More Shots! Please) says the magic of seeing one’s name appear on the big screen in a dark theatre is unmatched. Moitra has written dialogues for films like Shakuntala Devi. “The thrill of the big screen is unmatched. Nothing can beat the excitement you get at seeing your name appear on the big screen,” says the writer.

On writer's strike in Hollywood

When Moitra was asked to comment on the current writers' strike in Hollywood and if she saw something similar happening in India in the near future, she said that first, the writers association in India was trying to get basic contracts in place. Moitra revealed that in many cases there is no contract for the writers and hence no standard pay structure exist. The association is trying to get that corrected. Minimum wages that every writer should be paid needs to be set first, argued the writer and added, “Sometimes writers don’t even get credits properly. So we need to get the basics right. What Hollywood is protesting and the way actors are picketing is incredible but we first need to get basics rights.”

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