Dhaval Roy (DNA; September 7, 2019)

At the moment, Raaj Shaandilyaa is living the dream. The screenplay and dialogue writer’s maiden directorial venture, Dream Girl, is up for release. It stars the current hot property Ayushmann Khurrana and its trailer has won big-time praises. “I’ve written a few films for other directors and now I’m on the other side, so, I’m excited,” says Raaj, whose repertoire includes writing scripts for Comedy Circus and The Kapil Sharma Show on the tube, dialogue of Welcome Back (2015) and Jabariya Jodi this year among others. For the nouveau director, Ayushmann was the only choice for the role. “Had he turned down the offer, I’d have cast a new guy in the role. But when I gave him the narration, he said yes immediately,” says Raaj. Over to him for more…

How long have you toyed with the idea of Dream Girl?
I was writing the dialogue of Welcome Back when my co-writer Nirmaan D Singh and I came up with the concept. When I used to browse Facebook, I got to know about Angel Priya — guys who create fake IDs and flirt with other men. We discussed the concept, but I didn’t get the time to work on it. Finally, when I was freer in 2017, we started writing it.

Have you ever chatted with Angel Priya?
(Laughs) Yes, I have, once. I’ve always been interested in talking to people, knowing and making observations about them for character sketches. So, we chatted for about 25 minutes. Then he told me, ‘main toh sirf timepass kar raha tha. Lekin aap itni achhi baatein sikhaa rahe hain mujhe.’ Also, I have friends who become Angel Priya just to have fun.

Why were you so resolute about casting Ayushmann?
I wanted a guy who could pull off a woman’s body language and would sound convincing with a girl’s voice. When I watched Vicky Donor (2012) and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017), I realised Ayushmann’s body language is better than most actors’ today. His understanding of comedy is also impeccable.

He’s also one of the most sought after actors today. That should benefit your debut…
Success for me would be if people like the film. There are many projects that are not commercially successful but are made well. I think this is a completely different character for Ayushmann and people are going to love it. It’s a simple film and it will do good business.

Ayushmann is also teaming up with Annu Kapoor after Vicky Donor… 
Annu ji is such a great actor and it was amazing to see them working together again. I wanted someone who would understand and master the dialect of Mathura and I could only see Annu ji doing this role. When I narrated the script to him, he agreed to do it because it’s a different and good role. Then when he got to know that it’s with Ayushmann, he got more excited.

You have established yourself as a comic screenplay and dialogue writer. What took direction so long?
In fact, I have turned director sooner than I intended. I was planning to debut only in 2020. I’ve wanted to direct for a while and it just happened that while writing the script, my co-writers suggested I helm it. Everything happens when it has to — there is no such thing as too early or too late. This just worked out on its own.

Do you plan to stick to comedies on the big screen?
No, my next few projects are romantic, drama and even thriller. My upcoming film won’t be a hardcore comedy. I want to do something unique but not completely unusual.

Who are the other Bollywood actors you’d like to cast?
I wrote Dream Girl with Ayushmann in mind but my future scripts are such that I will cast whoever suits the character. It has nothing to do with a star or a newcomer.