EXCLUSIVE: Sumit Arora talks about the process of writing dialogues for Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan: “‘Mere paas maa hai’ was the kind of emotional impact I was hoping to achieve through ‘Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar’” : Bollywood News

The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan is all set to become the highest grosser of Bollywood. The film worked for multiple reasons – SRK’s award-winning performance and his starry presence, Atlee’s expert direction, mass appeal, message and of course loads of entertainment. Another factor that went in its favour was the dialogues by Sumit Arora. Earlier, he had written for films like Stree (2018), ’83 (2021) etc. and shows like The Family Man Season 1 (2019), Dahaad (2023) and the recent Guns & Gulaabs. Jawan was his massiest film till date and the writer hit the ball out of the park.

EXCLUSIVE: Sumit Arora talks about the process of writing dialogues for Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan: “‘Mere paas maa hai’ was the kind of emotional impact I was hoping to achieve through ‘Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar’”

Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to Sumit Arora at his beautiful and pleasing abode (which is replete with retro film posters, an old Bombay map, books of diverse genres and much more) about his experience of working on Jawan and a lot more. He also ended up giving a masterclass of sorts on dialogue writing by citing an apt example of a popular Hindi film dialogue.

To begin with, how was it to be a part of Jawan’s success press meet? Was it an overwhelming feeling for you?
(Smiles) It was, especially the way I was introduced and the way the audience cheered. It was so good to be on the stage with people whom I really enjoyed working with, be it the editor Ruben, DOP G K Vishnu etc. and collectively feeling the love that we got from the viewers in abundance.

Was it the first time that you were introduced in this manner on stage?
Yes. I am still getting used to it (smiles).

Usually, masala films are full of punchy dialogues, at times in almost every sentence. That wasn’t the case in Jawan. Yet, the dialogues were memorable. Was that intentional or was it a brief given to you by director Atlee?
That was something that both director Atlee and I bonded on. He also comes from a school of filmmaking where he does not believe in dialoguebaazi for the sake of dialoguebaazi. The same goes for me. None of my previous works have had that. Yet, I always wanted to write a massy film and massy dialogues without getting into too much of dialoguebaazi. Jawan gave me that opportunity. Director Atlee wanted good dialogues but was clear that every line need not be punchy. That stops the film. The story doesn’t move forward. When you write a line, it’s not like the writers wants to say something punchy. The character wants to say something punchy, and the writer can give it a really good way of expressing it. Then your dialogues not only become punchy but also have much more emotional value for the audience. It’s not just a good dialogue being uttered. It’s also taking the moment to the next level. I have always followed that principle even in my earlier work, be it Stree, ’83 and even The Family Man and Dahaad. The context is important. I don’t feel inspired enough to write good dialogues without context. I’d feel really lost!

In fact, if you see Salim-Javed’s films, they never had too much of dialoguebaazi. Even their routine lines became memorable because they fit the context beautifully. But they never wrote those lines thinking that they would become so iconic.

You mean like ‘Kitne aadmi the’ in Sholay (1975), is it?
Yes. For example, the ‘Mere paas maa hai’ scene itself has such great value. He (Shashi Kapoor in Deewaar; 1975) could have said, ‘Bangle aur paise toh tumhare paas bahut hai. Bas tumhare paas ek maa ki kami reh gayi hai jo mere paas hai’! Instead, they chose to simply put it as ‘Mere paas maa hai’. These 4 words were enough. They pierce through your heart. Hence, the intent should never be to indulge in dialoguebaazi. Instead, the idea should be to see how these lines will land well in the broader perspective of the film. In fact, ‘Mere paas maa hai’ was the kind of emotional impact I was hoping to achieve through ‘Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar’.

You revealed at the Jawan press meet that Shah Rukh Khan tells you that ‘tu bahut lamba lamba likhta hai’! You even mentioned it in your recent social media post…
(Laughs) That was a joke. He likes cracking jokes. It’s not like I was delivering very lengthy lines. But in the discussions, if he would find some words unnecessary, he would joke, ‘Tere 4 words kaat diya maine. Itna lamba lamba mat likh. Picture hai. Khatam bhi karni hai’.

Can you tell us about your first meeting with Shah Rukh Khan?
It was around the second wave. I first met the director. Then I wrote the first draft of dialogues, and we went to meet SRK sir at Mannat. I gave him the narration of just the metro sequence to help him understand the tone of the character. He liked what I had written. The line, ‘Jab main villain banta hoon na, toh koi hero mere saamne tik nahin sakta’, was present in the first draft as well. Everyone liked the line. It was really a fun meeting. After I read, he read the lines too to see how it sounds. The moment he delivered the dialogue, we knew that these lines were working well. He was fully into the process.

Please tell us about the stats and data mentioned in the film, like a number of farmers who committed suicide and the rate of interest for different vehicles…
It was there in the screenplay that he (Shah Rukh Khan’s character Azad) would compare the rate of interest for the loan to buy a Mercedes vis-à-vis that of a loan to buy a tractor. We researched it too.

Were you present on the sets?
Yes, I was present for more than 100 days, almost for most of the shoot. Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed with the scale of the film. I remember going on the sets and wondering, ‘Wow, this is how these big films are made’! The way director Atlee shot his film was very different. Hence, I was just absorbing the different experiences I was having on the sets. It was fascinating to see the grand set pieces and action and to see my lines being spoken by a phenomenal bunch of actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika Padukone, Nayanthara etc.

The scene where Vikram Rathore calls Kaali (Vijay Sethupathi) a Santa Claus was unexpected and very funny. Was the line planned in advance?
Yes, as we knew what look he has in the film. Hence, jab koi chamakti hui daadhi aur baal waala aadmi puchega ki ‘Who am I?’, the obvious answer would be Santa Claus.

This was followed by Vijay Sethupathi singing ‘Santa Has Come For You’…
We had a dummy song which he sang while filming the scene. I had already written the Santa Claus line. He also says, ‘I have a gift for everybody’. Hence, when we were dubbing with Vijay Sethupathi sir, I suggested that he should sing ‘Santa Has Come For You. And He Has A Gift For You’! Vijay Sethupathi sir sang it, and it sounded really good. This is how it got incorporated into the film.

Which was the most difficult dialogue to write in Jawan?
The monologue was the toughest to crack. Not for anything but because we had to figure out a nice way to say things without being preachy. We had to ensure that it had the correct emotions and said in a colloquial way. When I cracked the ‘ungli’ concept, I knew that I could write the lines. I remember I was in Chennai for the film’s shoot. I wrote the dialogues at night and sent it to everybody. Both the director and SRK sir liked it and then it was shot.

What enhanced the impact was that the dialogue was not preachy…
That’s the mantra. There has to be a balance. The thought of the character should be expressed but we need to make it interesting for the audience. Jaise aap ek kadvi davaai bacche ko toffee ke saath khilaate ho, waise hi audience ko bhaari baat bolni ho, toh thode halke andaaz mein bolo.

Did you go to cinema halls to check the audience reaction?
A day before the release, on September 6, we were all together. I came home at 5 am. I couldn’t sleep. I had booked for the early morning show at Gaiety-Galaxy. I went for it. It was a crazy experience. Then, Sanya Malhotra and I also went for another show at the same theatre. To see the reaction was unbelievable, especially when they reacted to the exact dialogue where I wanted them to react. There’s a line of Sunil Grover, ‘Iss jail mein mere aadmi hai’. And SRK sir replies, ‘Iss jail mein aadmi tere hai lekin yeh jail meri auraton ka hai’. While writing, I knew this was a special line. And that’s how it was received by the moviegoers.

What feedback did you get from the industry? They must have seen you in a new light…
Everybody on the whole enjoyed the massy dialogues in the industry. People have known me to write humour and dialogues for films and shows in a certain zone. None of those works were in this zone. Hence, they were surprised to see that I could write for such kinds of movies as well. That has been a difference in the reactions I got from the industry.

You are also writing dialogues for Atlee’s production, starring Varun Dhawan and Keerthy Suresh. I believe it happened as you both had a good association during Jawan…
Yes. Hence, when he turned producer with this film, he got me on board.

Can we expect dialogues in the same zone as Jawan?
Yes. The fabric in this film is similar.

What are your other projects?
My next film would be Chandu Champion. I have written not just the dialogues but also the whole script with Kabir Khan. It’s my second collaboration with him after ’83. I love working with him. He’s a thorough gentleman. I have also written the dialogues for Citadel.

You also impressed viewers with the dialogues in Guns & Gulaabs. The 90s feel was very well captured through your lines…
For this show, I went back into my growing-up years. I was a young kid in the 90s. Tipu (Rajkummar Rao) was a mechanic in Guns & Gulaabs and for me, he was the most fun character to write. I grew up in Meerut. My mama had an electronic shop. My fun activity during the summer vacation used to be to sit in his shop. Main galla sambhalta tha. I don’t know why but it used to be a lot of fun for me. From a young school-boy, I used to turn shopkeeper for that one month. It was situated in Sotiganj and it was full of electronics shops and car garages. And the language of these people was quite colourful! There was a constant smell of grease, fuel and paint in the air. The word ‘kehar’ has been there with me since then. I finally used in Rajkummar Rao’s dialogue ‘Aag nahin, kehar’!

Also Read: Atlee claims he got calls from Hollywood after Jawan, has turned down blank cheques: “You can’t buy me, but you can…”