Varun Grover, Making of a Screenplay Writer

12.05.2018.

Today I attended Screen Writers Association (SWA)'s event 'Vartalap' with Varun Grover songwriter, scriptwriter and standup comedian. Nearly 150 prospective screen writers attended the event.

Varun is in news in recent months for all the right reasons. He has to his credit one national award for his lyrics and for being engaged by Netflix as writer for their first Indian series.

Varun Grover is lyricst, screenplay writer and standup comedian but has ‘no idea’ which of the job descriptions define him the best. But ask his fans and they’ll tell you that each one of them is his forte. His honest, witty, current, and thought-provoking jokes always leave the audience with something to take back home.

Born in Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, Varun spent his adolescent years in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. After graduating in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, BHU, he worked in a software company for some time before moving to Mumbai to become a writer.

He won National Film Award for Best Lyrics for the song 'Moh moh ke dhaagey' from 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha', and is widely acclaimed as the writer of the 2015 movie Masaan. As a part of 'Aisi Taisi Democracy', a satirical music plus comedy trio featuring Rahul Ram and Sanjay Rajoura, he entices his audience with an ease with which he turns everyday social and political issues into rib-tickling jokes and introspective commentary.

Varun also remembers his initial days in Bollywood, he worked for  two years  as lyricist for Gang of Wasseypur , the period which gave him rare hands-on training with the music director of the movie Sneha Khanwalkar, he traveled in the heartland of Bhojpuri language to go deep into local cultural ethos and than to bring the essence in his lyrics. He also spoke about his journey, the Indian film industry, sexism in the standup comedy community and more:

'‘An engineer but not engineering anymore’ is an extremely common story of many people these days. I am one of those people too. But do you think engineering helped you in any way even in your present career?'

I think engineering helped me greatly for two big reasons. One, I didn’t have confidence that I could be a writer someday. I always wanted to be but didn’t know how to go about it. So the theatre experience at my college (IIT-BHU) gave me that confidence. Also gave me four years to find myself, to read and make friends and discover a writing style. Secondly, engineering added discipline and a structured thinking to my life. I feel being a writer is a lot about being disciplined. Writing is mostly rewriting, as many greats have said before.

' Do you remember that moment when you decided that you will quit your software job? And how difficult was that decision because you didn’t have any security before moving to Mumbai?'

I was in this huge office in Pune – a company called Kanbay – and it was a good company; lots of perks and nice colleagues. I remember seeing my seniors in the company – people who had joined it say 10 years ago – and I saw their lives. I figured this is who I will be 10 years on. Because a life in codes can be predicted easily. All of the seniors had a similar car, they dressed the same, their kids went to the same school – it all was somehow depressing for me. So I decided to find a way to get out of this.

The decision was not difficult because I knew that if I fail, I have a BTech degree to fall back on. Or I could write some exam and go do my higher studies. There was never any pressure of time.

'Was your family supportive of this decision?'

Absolutely. That was the greatest blessing. Both my parents were fully supportive, and in fact my father was happy that I left the boring desk job from the software company. He is an engineer too but he has always been on the field so he found the software jobs boring and restrictive.

' You have been known for giving shape to your work based on your roots and surroundings. How was the Masaan seed sown in the first place?'

Masaan started as a short film script written by Neeraj Ghaywan. He showed it to me and we decided to expand it into a full-length film.

'Share what the Indian film industry looks like from the inside, from the view of a software engineer and an outsider?'

The industry, because it’s an unorganised space, full of people who have struggled to reach here – sometimes have fought with their families to convince them to let them do it – is an eclectic place driven by egos. The sense of self is very prominent in everybody you meet because it’s a place run by faces on posters. Sometimes it gets difficult to deal with people because in spite of all the talent, the insecurity is the first emotion they emanate and permanently carry on their shoulders. But as an observer, as long as you are aware that all of it is just to make a film (and not a life-saving drug) – it becomes fun to watch.

'What was the inspiration behind 'Moh moh ke dhage', which is your favourite song written by you till date, other than Moh Moh.'

The inspiration for a film song is always the script. Sharat Kataria’s script had that lovely moment and then Anu Malik gave a fantastic tune so my job became easier. My other favourite songs are – ‘Kaala re‘ from Gangs of Wasseypur, ‘Kaanpoora’ from Katiyabaaz, and ‘Aaj laagi’ from Ankhon Dekhi.

'Your work has taken you to different parts of the country and abroad. Any stories or experiences that stood out for you?'

I loved my time in Spain last year because it’s such a chilled out country – music and great food. And people there are probably the least racist in Europe so I didn’t feel intimidated like I did in France.

'From a small town to national awards and more – what would your message be for those who want to break set career paths the way you did?'

Be honest, be self-aware, and originality will never be a problem.

'How to push your story to the production houses or to the producers, where the watchman do not allow you to inside ?'

These kind of moments come in the life of everybody who want to make it big. There are many ways now to reach production houses. There is a story department. Obtain it's email id, send your synopsis. The fact is everybody reads synopsis because it takes not more than five minutes. Once they are convinced with your idea they definitely connect with you. Keep on doing it. But still you do not get response try to improve upon your craft.