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E18: Hum Tum Breakdown · Breakdown Besties | Bollywood Screenwriting Podcast

• Breakdown Besties Podcast: Hi again, bestie. The film that we are breaking down next week is OMG! Oh My God. Go watch it, it's a good ⁓ And yeah, we had a great time breaking it down. So watch us next Thursday breaking down that film. Bye. Ananya: All their Paris parts also they've shot in Amsterdam only. Akshay: Is this a shot in Amsterdam? I know! Yeah! All their houses, Bombay houses are in Renaissance of Powai, you know? production design. Yeah. ⁓ It's too funny. Ananya: Yeah, I'm like, no production design was done. Yeah. Akshay: Because They're like, where have you Indians seen France? Where've you seen Amsterdam? Just see what we're showing you. Ananya: Yeah, So hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Breakdown Besties podcast. I'm Ananya. Akshay: I'm Akshay. Ananya: And we are your breakdown besties. Together we have 14 years of combined experience writing for platforms like Amazon, Disney +, Netflix, shows like Inside Edge, Mismatched, Wedding.con, Rana Naidu, Grahan, Ishq in the Air, and a host of others that have gotten stuck in development hell, but will hopefully see the light of day one day. With the Breakdown Besties podcast, our goal is to give you a film school experience. where essentially what is done is you study the great, the famous scripts and films and you see what they get right, you break it down to understand the techniques and then you use those in your own writing to write iconic scripts that people will watch over and over and maybe break down like we are. And today the movie that we will be doing is something that is... Would you call it like our version of Harry Met Sally? Akshay: Yeah, it is an unofficial remake. Yeah. Ananya: make, right? Yeah. Okay, yeah, so the movie we're doing today is Hum Tum written by Kunal Kohli and Siddharth Raj Anand and I want to give a ⁓ shout out to Zingur. I hope I'm saying your name correctly. He's the one who recommended that we break this film down and see what works. So we are doing that. We are your humble ⁓ Okay, so shall we just dive right into the log line? Akshay: Hahaha Let's go for it. Ananya: what is your log line? Your log line is your film's guiding light. When you're writing a film and if you're especially getting lost in the weeds of the film and you can't see the forest through the trees, trees, yeah, forest through the trees, that's when your log line helps you out. It reminds you what your film is really about because it is the essence of your film in one line, ideally less than 40 words. Now, why does this work as the essence of your film? What's so great about it? Well, your logline contains four really important elements. The first is your flaw limitation block, whatever you want to call it. It is within your character that is holding them back that they're having trouble with, which is not allowing them to, element number two, achieve their goal. The goal is your main... it's the point of your film. It's why we're watching the whole film. It is the journey your character is going to be going on. Then you have the conflict. The conflict is an external circumstance or challenge, a series of challenges that essentially are built to give a kind of challenge your characters need or your flaw. When they're forced to confront it, they have to overcome it and when they overcome it, they're able to move forward and achieve their goal. And the final one your stakes. Stakes are what the characters lose should they not achieve their goal. It's not simply not achieving their goal, it is going one lower. ⁓ Cool. the logline of Hum Tum. Akshay: ⁓ Ananya: A polar opposite guy and girl navigate the ups and downs of their friendship trying to understand how they fit into each other's lives. Akshay: Yeah, that's exactly like a very similar thing I've written. Yeah. I have written two polar opposite individuals keep bumping into each other over the years and develop an unconventional relationship. Ananya: What have you got? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Unconventional, trying to figure it out. Same thing. So over... Akshay: Yeah, yeah. I just felt like bumping into each other might become like, might be slightly important because their personality traits like, like they're not the same, they're opposites, but still that the conflict becomes made to keep bumping into each other via different reasons. So that's what I put that in. Ananya: Hmm. Yep, yep. The first half of the film, they're bumping into each other. The second half, it turns into more of an intentional relationship. So the flaw would be that the need or whatever the wound is that they are polar opposites or it's their block in this case. I think block is the correct word. It's blocking them from coming together. Then the conflict is that ⁓ Akshay: Huh. Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, correct word. Ananya: They are navigating the ups and downs of their relationships. So like you said, they are bumping into each other because they're polar opposites and they have to build a relationship. How do they do it? They keep bumping heads. The goal is to understand how they fit into each other's lives. Or as you said, build an unconventional relationship. Both of them are the same thing, right? Because that is what they're heading towards. And while there are no stakes in either of our log lines, it's fairly implied, right, in this relationship that if they don't figure out how to be in each other's lives, they will lose each other. So the states are losing each other. It is very implied within the goal and the rest of the logline. Akshay: Yeah, you said that huh? Yeah, Yeah. Ananya: Then we'll get into our hero's journey. What is your hero's journey? Your hero's journey is the structural spine of your film. It is the journey that every hero heroine hero ex embarks on when they decide to take on something new, a challenge which they haven't before and step into a new world to achieve a goal. This storytelling structure has been used since time immemorial, it is one that we have experienced in our own lives over and over again when we set out to do something that is out of our comfort zone. This works so well because it gives your audiences emotional hits every so often at turning points which your characters are eventually going to have to meet because this journey makes it inevitable for them to meet these various points as they grow into who they're supposed to become. So yeah, let's get into our hero's journey. Akshay: Let's get into it. Ananya: So the first beat of your hero's journey is your ordinary world. Your ordinary world is where the world in which your characters exist before they have decided to go on this journey ahead of them. We see who they are, what their flaw, block or wound is. We see the when, where, what, who, why* of their situation and we understand where they are coming from. So over here, the ordinary world is very limited. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: It We both ⁓ Saif Rani's character, Karan and Riya, at the airport. They are both going to the US. Rani to study, Saif, I don't exactly know why. He's studying too? Okay. Not really studying types, so. Akshay: Both studying. Yeah. No, I think he is studying... He told his mom that he's going to America to study. Something like that. But yes, I like creative writing at ⁓ don't know. Yeah. ⁓ She is going to study fashion designing. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah. of designing. Passion, yeah. And yeah, so we see the both of them in their ordinary lives with their family and we see their flaws that Rani Mukherjee's character is slightly uptight and that Saif is a non-committal dude who has no f**ks to give. Then we have and even the flight sequence, I would put it as ordinary world, right? Yeah, so. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, same, yeah. Ananya: are both in the flight, they have obviously gotten seated next to each other and they have a conversation. Rani is herself, she is uptight, Saif is himself, he is flirting and making fun of her at the same time. And then they both land at KLM at ⁓ Amsterdam Airport which is the stopover before their flight to New York. Now over here we have the call to action. Now what is your call to action? It is when your hero is beckoned to pursue their goal, to go after their new, to enter the new world and go after their goal. Over here, the call to action comes from Saif's character, where he says, hey, we're in Amsterdam for six hours. You surprisingly have a visa. I surprisingly have a visa. So chalo, ghumne jate hai Amsterdam. Then you have the refusal of the call. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: Because usually when your character is being asked to go on this new journey there is hesitation, is reluctance, you're like am I even equipped to do this? And over here Rani Mukherjee's character initially is like what you, what I'm saying with you, like around, not happening. She kind of refuses the call. Then you have the next beat of meeting the mentor. The mentor is your character who has walked the path on which your character is now going to go. They are the guide. And if your goal is to slay the dragon, they're the one who finally hands you the sword to do it. But I don't think we have a mentor in this, right? Akshay: I actually, and what I've noted is that that was the first refusal of call where she hesitates before going for the journey with him. In my analysis, the moment when he kisses her and she has a big fight after with him that, you and I are never going to get together. This is the end of our story. Like to me, that also felt the bigger refusal. Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: of call for their relationship. Ananya: Yeah. Fair enough. Yeah. Akshay: And then structurally, I felt meeting the mentor in our case became Saif Ali Khan's mother, Karan's mother, played by Rati Agnihotri, she invites him for a wedding that you have to help me now. She runs if she's an event manager essentially, and he lands at this wedding and unknowingly realizes that the wedding is of Rhea, Rani Mukherjee's character. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Rani, yeah that his mum is organising Rani's wedding. Yeah that is correct, yeah that is fair. yeah, Rati Agnihotri's character ends up being the mentor and they are... So before that, but before the wedding they meet once in New York. In New York again they get off on the wrong foot with each other. She sees him flirting with someone who happens to be her schoolmate and she... I don't know what she does, like she tells her the truth about him that he is a flirt. Akshay: Yeah But yeah. Yeah, she tells him that he kissed me, he kissed me. yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah kissed me while y'all were dating. What a tattletale. Akshay: I mean I get like listen he was also like like his character has been like a cheater whatever like a flirt so Ananya: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's not like they were besties like she and I don't know girl code maybe I'm violating that girl code here, but Akshay: Yeah. Or They could be besties, she says that we were so tight in school but stopped Whatever, you know. And I feel she would have not tattled if like Karan was nicer to her. But like, ⁓ like he forcefully kissed her ⁓ like, like was so nonchalant about it. I think that would have pissed her off. Ananya: Yeah, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Exactly. He's like, I kissed you, you slapped me, we're even. Okay, cool. And then we have our crossing the threshold. Crossing the threshold is where your character finally says that, okay, I'm going to step into this new world. I'm going to go on this journey and we are going to go after our goal. So crossing the threshold would then what would it be according to you? Akshay: In my case, it's just been that he sees ⁓ Karan sees Rhea getting married and realizing that there is no journey ahead. It's an anti crossing the threshold of sorts. ups the ante for their ⁓ but not the end. What do you ⁓ think? Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. I feel like then they've not really crossed the threshold, right? Because then that's refusal of the call. It's still refusal and meeting the mentor in that territory because there is no relationship there. Right? I would say crossing the threshold would then be that okay, Rani Mukherjee is married to Abhishek Bachchan now. She has left and then he runs, they run into each other, the train in Paris, which is again a Dutch train. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah, could be that, huh? Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Ananya: ⁓ the NS sprinter. ⁓ ⁓ she says that my, ⁓ this one Sameer is not in my life. ⁓ my life. And then he gets curious and he's like, what's up? So he calls Kirron Kher's character ⁓ he says, okay, what's going on here? And he meets her in Paris ⁓ in Paris, Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. is no longer... yeah. Huh. ⁓ Ananya: He after that is leaving the house or something and he meets Rani Mukherjee and they have a walk in the snow. And in that snow he tries to say, I'm sorry for you, all of that but he's not able to find the words. And at that point she's like, thank you. He's like, for what? For what you were trying to say. And at that point they have crossed the threshold and built some sort of relationship. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, yeah HMMMM Huh. Yeah her something yeah huh fair enough yeah yeah yeah because i have written the moment that she clocks him because after the end of that walk he leaves and she looks back and like there's this smile on her face that ⁓ now she for the first time clocked him as a genuine guy because during this walk there was no facade like he wasn't trying to like Ananya: No? Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmmmm Akshay: joke around, he wasn't trying to flirt with her, he wasn't being crass or rude or anything, the things which she finds repulsive. Like was genuinely a genuine guy. And I think, yes. Yeah, definitely. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. then you have test allies and enemies. Test allies and enemies is when they're exploring their new world together, their understanding of challenges they'll face, how their relationship will bloom, who their people are going to be, ⁓ etc. You're understanding what this world is like. And over here, we see them navigating their friendship. ⁓ Their parents get involved in each other's lives, they have dinner together. Then even as he leaves, ⁓ ⁓ moves back to Bombay. Over there, he ⁓ to set her up with his brother. He's like, okay now, ⁓ then the brother... Isn't Jimmy Shergill his brother? Friend? ⁓ Okay. I thought in the start because he gave the passport and... ⁓ Akshay: friend me no no friend friend yeah yeah Yeah, but that was a friend. He... Yeah. Ananya: friend okay my bad He tries to set her up with Jimmy Shergill, but Jimmy Shergill falls in love with someone else. They banter about arranged marriage, they have a fake date situation, all of that. So they're essentially navigating the landscape of their relationship. It's like test allies and enemies. And then this ends the test allies and enemies. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: phase comes to an end where Rani finds out that Saif was trying to set her up with Jimmy Shergil and she gets angry and she's like, why can't you just let women be alone? And she's like, I don't want to get married. That's why I moved to Paris because no one there knows me. No one's going to force me to like get married. And they have a fight. And as they have this fight, Rani finds Saif drinking and very drunk. So she starts walking him home. And in the rain, they end up hooking up and that hooking up is your approach to the innermost cave. And what is your approach to the innermost cave? It is if your goal is to slay the dragon, it is where you go and try to slay the dragon and get the bag of gold from underneath them. So over here, this being a romcom, it is usually like a kiss or hooking up or something like that. And that's what they have done. They've hooked up. And then begins your ordeal. Akshay: day. ⁓ Ananya: You have taken your bag of gold from the dragon, but ⁓ maybe you haven't slain them successfully and now they are coming after you. They're flying after you and you have to deal with the consequences of that. Over here it is that now Rani Mukherjee thinks that, ⁓ this is perfect. We're going to be in a relationship. And Saif is like, fuck, this should never should have happened. Have I ruined our relationship? I can't lose her. And Saif tells her that essentially I'm really sorry this happened between us. And Rani feels terrible about it and she decides to go back to Paris forever. She's done. And then you have your reward. Your reward is when you finally get something in exchange for having done all the work, for having approached the innermost cave and gone through your ordeal. Because for all the suffering there is some reward at the end of it. Over here it is the fact that Rishi Kapoor's character who is Saif's dad comes back. Now, Saif's dad and his mum have been separated because Saif's dad, much like him, is also a bit of a vagabond, non-committal, wants freedom in his life. And he tells Saif that, Rani called me and she said she's moving back to Paris once and for all. Hmm. I don't know. It made no sense. It made no sense. It would have worked perfectly well even if he hadn't made that call. Akshay: Good. Also, but like why would she do that? Like it's so weird like yeah, yeah Huh. Ananya: And he had just, Rishi Kapoor had just come back to win over the mother, to win over Rati Agnihotri after all these years. And say that, you know, look, I love you, I just realised it and one should not let love, true love like run away. Saif's character, yeah. But it didn't. Instead, it very categorically tells him, look, Rani Mukhaji loves you. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. And that would have an impact on Sev's Yeah, and also like, I can't imagine why would she call him? Like, she would call the guy's father saying, ⁓ I'm leaving Paris. Like, how would the conversation be? I'm leaving. No, she said I'm leaving Paris. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving Bombay. No, she said she's going to Paris, right? Forever. Akshay: No, she She tells her mother I'm gonna go somewhere. I don't know where I'm going, what I'm doing. I'm gonna go. And this guy says, oh, I'm leaving Paris. Like she's leaving Paris forever. So yeah. Ananya: ⁓ somewhere. Go. Yeah. Okay, yeah. But essentially, Saif's reward is finding out that Rani actually does love him, that she doesn't disrespect him or whatever after sleeping with him. So now we have the way back. The way back is you essentially making your way back to the old world now that you've gotten your reward. But there are still obstacles in your way back. There are still some leftover monsters that you have to slay. Over here, Saif goes to Paris, or some non-descript Akshay: Yeah. ⁓ Ananya: European city which is shot in Amsterdam and ⁓ starts knocking on doors and he's like have you seen this woman? Have you seen this woman? No one has found Rani. So he gives up, right? At this point. He gives up, he writes a book about their whole relationship about the cartoon characters that he's been doodling and he ⁓ then is at a press release for his book. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, he gives up, Ananya: And he says that I don't know what's ever going to happen between us. And as he's leaving the press ⁓ Rani Mukherjee is waiting for him. And over there, that is your resurrection. Your resurrection is on your way back, you hit the lowest point. You're like, I'm never going to make it back home. This is just not meant for me. I'm losing. I'm not going to win this goal after all. But then you do, you rise like a phoenix from the ⁓ and you are willing to make your way back. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: And here Rani says that look, we are meant to be and they get together finally. And then you have the return with the elixir, which is where you go into the old world, back into the old world, but you are now a new person. They go back into their old world, their in a relationship now, but Saif is still himself. He's playful. Rani is still herself and they've now had a kid ⁓ Cool. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So that is your hero's journey. we go into theme next? ⁓ so what is your theme? Yeah Akshay: Yeah, let's do it. Let's go on the theme. Before we get into the theme, before we get into the theme, ⁓ I think when we're talking about the structure and hero's journey, I think because we said it's an unofficial adaptation of When Harry Met Sally, I think our viewers should also watch that because ⁓ it's a very unconventional structure that this movie has adopted, right? Generally what happens in romantic comedy is that two characters are put on a journey together and now they navigate their entire life, entire movie is about them being together. This was one Nora Ephron's like genius work where like they came together, got separated, came together, got separated. So there was no defined structure in the movie as such where it didn't, the movie had structure but it didn't adhere to the structure of other romantic comedies in that time. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: So I think a great way to break the conventional structure is by knowing the structure very well. So the more we do this exercise of getting down the hero's journey absolutely correct, you can play with not just the structure, but also plotting of the structure. So I think that was really nice. I think because her structuring was so unique, she got nominated for an Oscar for this movie. Ananya: show. Yeah. Yeah Akshay: And it's rare to get Oscar nominations for like romance movies, you know. So I think like that's pretty cool. Ananya: Yeah. for sure. Yeah. And I was watching this reel that came up the other day where this guy was like, okay, if you're a filmmaker under 26, like go away, go away, like don't watch this. And then he speaks to everyone above 26 and he's like, stop following the three act structure, blah, blah, blah. And then he's like, oh, if you're 26 and you're still watching this, like study the three act structure, you need to know like what makes a, it's important. And it's essential, right? The reason we are giving you this hero's journey breakdown is so that you can understand the Akshay: Ha. Huh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: point of each of these beats. Why do they exist? What emotions do they bring out within you? And once you understand that you can play around with the structure, but you will know that know what you're removing. What is the, what are the ramifications of removing that? Where can you place it alternatively so that you can bring up the same emotions? So, but without understanding that you're just taking away a piece of it, like a building and hoping like the building will still stand. Akshay: Beats. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, correct. Ananya: Cool, let's go into theme next. Okay, so what is your theme? Your theme is your belief or view of the world that you want to convey as an artist through the medium of your film. It is the most personal reason for writing a film or for making any art form. Because as an artist, you have opinions and you want your film or whatever art piece you make to be a vehicle for those opinions and to justify and ground through art. The reason why your worldview is valid. Now, themes in films are usually posed as a question. And by answering that question, you establish your worldview. Over here, I started with one theme and then I ended up on another. So I started with, ⁓ can two polar opposites build a lasting romantic relationship? Akshay: Okay. Ananya: Because while they keep saying, can a man and woman be friends, can a man and woman be friends, they actually mean can two very different people be in a relationship, right? Like in this day and age, it's archaic to say like man and woman. And then I was like, okay, but how have they answered that question? The answer* is, yes, they can build a lasting romantic relationship if one them changes. Because Saif does change at the end of this, right? He becomes committed. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And took me to Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani, where it's a very similar thing where ⁓ character is like a travel journalist or whatever, seeking freedom and Deepika is like, no, I'm who I am, I'm here, I'm stable. ⁓ And the end of it, he also chooses to stay with Deepika over a traveling, like an assignment. And even here, Sef chooses to like stop being someone who's... Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: non-committal and chooses commitment. So, your theme is essentially portrayed also through a character arc, So, your character, if you want to prove that commitment is the way to, way of life, is the superior choice, then you show a character who's non-committal and then learns that commitment is the way, which is what has been done here. Because if you notice, Rani doesn't have a character arc. Akshay: ⁓ Who? Who? Yeah. Yeah, she doesn't. Yeah. The only change she has is like she becomes she starts to like this guy like, you know, yeah, like she she see, huh, she sees layers of him. And like she starts to realize that, ⁓ he's a nice guy, you know. Ananya: doesn't. Yeah, but that's not a personality change. Yeah. Nice guy, yeah, for sure. So I then rewrote it and said that what is more fulfilling, freedom or commitment or stability? That is the theme of your film. Akshay: ⁓ Ananya: Because the theme comes only from Saif's point of view. Like Rani is so there only, is like always looking for commitment, all of that. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: drive that home further we always talk about your B plot. Your B plot is essentially shows another facade of the theme or it reinforces the theme. Akshay: ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And Over here with the B plot is the story of Saif Ali Khan's parents, Rishi Kapoor and Rati Agnihotri. Rishi Kapoor, as the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so they're both really similar. He was actually a photographer, went around the world traveling, and he had married Rati Agnihotri but they had separated because he couldn't let go of his freedom. But by the end of this film, he has decided that... ⁓ Akshay: minutes. Yeah. Ananya: my love is more important. I'm a fool to have given up my ⁓ love, my commitment for freedom, right? And to drive home the theme, what I really like is this one sequence of scenes, okay? Where once Rani Mukherjee is married, you have two scenes. One with Saif at the airport with Abhishek Bachchan, Rani's husband. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So Ananya: And Abhishek Bachchan says, you know what, you think I've not been where you are, like constantly wanting freedom, wanting different women, all of that. But once you're with someone, you realize what the perks of commitment actually are. And the next scene is him meeting his dad. And his dad is the flirt, he's the vagabond, you know, he can't stop hitting on women, living his life of freedom. And there you see that Saif has a, like Saif is in the middle right now. Akshay: ⁓ Ugh. Ananya: Which direction is he going to go? Is he going to go the Abhishek Bachchan route or is he going to go the Rishi Kapoor route? And I thought that was a very good visual way of posing the thematic question that which way is he going to go? So you can really do this like in small like, you know, if you have two characters who are of someone's battling between two characters, you simply visually put them between those two characters and you establish the theme. Akshay: ⁓ Yeah, Hmm Ananya: if each character on their side represents different things. So this was a very similar way of doing that. Like, who is he going to become? Akshay: Hmm. Yeah, very cool. Very cool observation. Hmm. I didn't think of this way. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah, so that's what I have on theme. And since we're here, we can just dive into plotting a little bit, which is just the Rishi Kapoor track. How it doesn't exactly tie into the A plot, but because Rani Mukherjee has called the father and said that I'm leaving Paris and all of that. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Because of that Rishi Kapoor comes to India and tells them... He could have made a phone call. I don't know why he came on the phone. Yeah. Akshay: So also she said I'm leaving Paris, why did Saif again go to Paris? They've treated this world as if it's Borivili, Andheri, Churchgate. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: Yeah, exactly. I'll tell you the problem why these things happen. It's because you have to structure somehow your Hindi film like this. Like you need to have the big chase in the end, the big realization in the end. He has to go run after the girl. And so you want to hit these beats which didn't exist in the Nora Ephron film by the way. So... ⁓ Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah... No... Akshay: That's why because ⁓ ends up happening is that you're using too many conveniences for the sake of your plot. Right? Like the fact that she said I'm leaving from Paris. ⁓ but this guy has come from Paris to Mumbai to tell him this. Then Saif goes back from Mumbai to Paris to find her even though she's said she's leaving Paris. Ananya: Yeah. You No. Akshay: And then again, but it gave you those sequences, right? Like him having that realization that, ⁓ maybe I was wrong. Him chasing, running, driving that car, going to the airport, all of that, you know? You get these big moments because ⁓ this plot convenience they have taken you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Exactly, because you need emotion. It's emotional over logic here all the way. Because yeah, because they couldn't have done that over a phone call. Like the impact wouldn't have come of Rishi Kapoor saying that Rani is leaving. Had to happen in person. yeah, so. Akshay: don't yeah yeah yeah and What it also does is a little bit damage for the b-plot right like this moment that where his father realized this that you know ⁓ I made a mistake we didn't see that it ends up becoming a sermon you know and it just it it falls a little flat for me because Ananya: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: these can be just empty words. Like, especially for a character like that who you see that he's been so smooth with words with like other women and all of that. This can mean just any other random thing. We've never seen him actually understand this, you know. So, yeah. Ananya: Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, yeah, yeah, but yeah, kind of there the B plot does affect the A plot in some way because Rani calls Rishi, Rishi tells Saif and then he tells and Saif goes chasing after her. So that is your important bit of plotting where your B plot always needs to affect the A plot, it can't exist in a vacuum. Akshay: Of course, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Cool. Let's go into scenes and sequences. Akshay: Okay, I want to talk about the opening scene of the film where Saif Ali Khan's character is having a press release which is sort of the non-linear format this movie is trying to follow a little bit not a non-linear format but just like an opening image ⁓ and journalists and it's the launch of his book he's a cartoonist and so far but this is first book he's made based on those characters that he's created. Now all these journalists are asking him questions and he says something in the end, ki pyaar to ek hi baar mila lekin, pyaar to ek hi baar hua lekin kahin baar baar aaya meri zindagi mein. And this leads us to the flashback of him from nine years ago where he met Rani Mukherjee's character for the first time. Now Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: Excuse me. There's nothing too great about the scene, but I've always struggled with writing scenes like this because you know, your journalists can bombard 100,000 questions, right? And they all have to like, but the good scene would be like, they say something like the exchange between the journalists have to like be telling of the character because it's the first scene and the first exchange your main character does. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: And ultimately but it also has to structurally hit you so that the flashback feels earned at that point. So the trick, there's not a technique but the trick I use to write a scene like I do reverse, I write it in reverse that first I figure out that how this what line will prompt me into going into flashback and then try and work up the conversation with different journalists. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: And I felt that somewhere a little bit this was done here also. The drawback of this technique is that you have to take again leaps. And which is what these reporters have also done, you know, because a lot of the one reporter says, again, what? Who will ask this, But because you have to get into the next line, Ananya: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, they're very... Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: And there was another dialogue. And so he says something about, I don't want to talk about love stories which have materialized because what's the point? And the love stories which did not materialize, what's the point of talking? Again, could have ended there, but the reporter added the line, and I was like, what is going on? Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Now like this is turning into like a... Yeah Akshay: one exposition like mess and like one sermon like you know lecture Ananya: Yeah, yeah. These aren't journalists. This is like, group therapy. Akshay: Yeah, exactly. Somebody facilitating. So there was pros and cons of the scene, hence I wanted to talk about that. The pro is that you need to be very, like very mindful of each line you put here because ⁓ it's of his character. And the con is that it's a very hard scene to write essentially because you're trying to achieve too much from it. So Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, yeah. characters who you don't care about essentially. Journalists. Akshay: care about. exactly. And had the scene extended for one more minute, I would have been angry. You know? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, this was one thing I want to talk about. Ananya: Yeah, they had to take leaps. Yeah. And speaking of that scene, I want to talk about the scene before that, which is the opening credits. And the opening credits, like usually the visuals of opening credits are quite like they're thematically on point, but they're quite removed from the film. They have nothing to really connect to the story. So over here, they have the opening credits over just a hand and a pencil doodling like sketching a character. But as the credits get over, Akshay: Huh. Ha. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Saif's voiceover comes and it comes over him as his hand doodles the rest of the character or sketches the rest of it. So what they've done very intelligently is used the opening credits to get audience buy-in because audience is like, they weren't wasting our time by showing us opening credits. They used it. It is part of the story. All of this. So I think that's a very smart way and not Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: something that we often think of or write into our scripts because no one writes credits in. But if I could, this is an intelligent way of doing it that how can I not waste anyone's time? How can you be as economic in your storytelling as you can and even have the visuals of your opening image tie into the story? Because this, and especially in our decreasing attention spans kind of age, you have to do things like this. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I also think that the opening credits again made a very clear tonal choice, right? Like it's lively, fun music, so you know it's going to be a fun rom-com movie. And again, like you said, it's economical, but also true to the character of the film because these are his characters that you're going to see in the film. And also the opening voiceover, which he says becomes so demonstrative of his character, which is Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Akshay: the voiceover he says is that God made man and he was very happy with his creation and then he made a woman and he was like, my God, what have I done? So you immediately know what Karan's character is. Yeah. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Akshay: Then I want to talk about the element of surprise in a scene. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: Now Karan is in New York, he's on a date with somebody, with this girl and he ends up spotting Rani Mukherjee's character. Now you think, he's gonna abandon this girl and he's gonna like chit chat with this girl, chit chat with Rani Mukherjee, they're gonna have some takraar, some banter here and there and the story will move on from there, right? Now this scene brings two elements of surprises. That number one is that Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: the girl he was with and the girl he spots now, they actually turned out to be friends from school. They knew each other. So what he thought he like left one situation behind and he was trying to get into another one. Now those situations have to merge. So I thought that was a great sequence, great moment of surprise, which happened in that scene. And again, what ended up happening is that Yus went with the expectation that, ⁓ now he spotted Rani again. Ananya: ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: there's going to be some ⁓ ignition of this relationship again, but they separate immediately. So I thought this even though it such a small scene and it the key scene in the movie because they use the element of surprise very tactfully in this sequence. Ananya: Progression. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And coincidence as a technique, right? Because coincidence is essentially frowned upon because ⁓ it makes your character's lives easier. But the one time you're allowed to use a coincidence is when it makes your character's lives harder. And over here, Rani and Shalini knowing each other made Saif's life harder. So that's why you're allowed, you get away with these coincidences. Akshay: ⁓ hot dog. Hmm. Yeah, I'm going to talk about the technique of comedic riff of repetition. So sometimes what writers will do is that they'll set up ⁓ one joke or like one character who like is like a comic relief character and they sort of keep bringing the same joke up in this almost the same or the subsequent scenes to like keep having the same punch going on. And I thought this was done very nicely in the wedding moments. In the first time, the first wedding essentially, which was of Rani and Abhishek Bachchan where two things happened. One is his interaction with the helper Jhalo Ram. So it happens like the first time Jhalo Ram comes like, what, what flowers should I put up? Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: And Saif was like just put whatever you want. Then again, Jhalo comes, like, and ⁓ again, the third time Jhalo comes, it ⁓ like, so ⁓ this character has no like presence up and down in the film, right? But he's just been used for comedic relief. And I think just the sheer repetition of the number of times comes, ⁓ Ananya: Hmm, yeah. ⁓ huh. Akshay: induces the laughter for our audience. So I thought that was a great technique. And again, they use it in terms of dialogue also, where when we see Saif in this new haircut in Bombay, his mom is like, cut your hair. And he's like, hey, it's my Tom Cruise look, yeah. And again, in this next scene, same Rani asks, what have you done to your hair? She's like, hey, it's my Tom Cruise look, yeah. So again, using the same joke again and again to create laughter. So I thought that was a Ananya: Yeah... Yeah... Hmmmm Yeah, yeah. Enough though. Yeah. Akshay: good technique they used. Ananya: Another technique I want to talk about is creating curiosity when you're jumping time. So jumping time flashbacks are usually frowned upon because no one's interested in flashbacks, right? But one thing you can do with the flashback really well is to create curiosity and how have they done this? So at first you see Saif with the press release as we talked about, he's a serious guy. He's talking about love. He's saying love has met me a million times, but you know, I've, but It's adhura raha gaya, it's unrequited love. And then you cut to a flashback, essentially, which is the whole story, and you see Saif in a completely different light. He is non-committed, like love isn't part of the picture. So what does this do? This creates curiosity as to how are these two... how is he going to become this person? What's going to transpire? So I think if you are doing a flashback, you need to have such a range between the two. Akshay: Huh. Boom. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Ananya: That you're interested in how they go from point A to point Z. And similarly, they also do it with Rani and Saif's relationship because the moment they introduce Rani, you know that she's the love interest, right? But you start them off on like the wrong foot. They are absolutely, she's absolutely uninterested in him. You see the big difference between them. And again, you're like, how is it going to go from this relationship to a man who is pining over her and writing a book about her? Akshay: Ugh. Ananya: So when you're creating flashbacks, have range of who the people are also. Of course, it's a function of the amount of time that has also passed because, you know, nine years have passed so they have grown as people. But in general, I think your flashback needs to warrant, even if it's a small sequence, so much emotion and so much drama, even if you're jumping a very small amount of time, that you warrant going back into it and visually spending time there, especially in a film, not so much in a series, but... Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: especially. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: And I think the next thing we should talk about is animation because Zingur specifically asked us about using animation as a technique here. And I have looked, I tried to study it from that point of view and see what came up and there are three things it's doing. One is most honestly, it's novelty. I think visual texture novelty, that's what this animation does. because it doesn't really give us new information. Akshay: Huh. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: it's just fun to watch and audiences are like ⁓ cool you know like I'm watching something interesting. Two, what it does is it jumps time so every time we are between cities and it helps us jump time between creates a transition. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. transition essentially here. Ananya: And the third thing it does is it summarizes the essence of their last interaction. So in like the first meeting they have after that you see our first animation where they both are constantly bantering, hum and tum, and they're like they're on completely different pages. In the second one after Rani has put him in his place after telling Shalini that he was with me in Amsterdam, you ⁓ the animation Saif is on the... ⁓ Hum is on the back foot, like he's like, okay, he gets us. Then when there's a false sense of bravado that he has shown in one thing, then the next one you have him with the false shark fin. So it summarizes the essence of what the interaction has gone on and it shows us what the status quo is. So that is the function it serves here. It is not essential. It is purely decorative and for texture, but it works. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, It's style and treatment, you know, I think like you need these elements sometimes in movies to like, just because again, like rom-coms are such a like, this bad reputation of like, ⁓ they're just like, again, it's like run of the mill. It's like two people falling in love, like, but these are like small elements which you can use to sort of like, give a visual break to the audience. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Absolutely, yes. Akshay: Yeah. I want to talk about callbacks. Callbacks are either pieces of dialogue or moment or scenes between characters that take ⁓ either to establish two things, that the nature of the relationship has either changed or the nature of the relationship has not changed at all. ⁓ I want talk about ⁓ two callback moments that I have. One is that when he pays for her bus ticket in Amsterdam, she pays him back and she says 50-50. Like I always believe in 50-50. ⁓ this moment comes again when I it's in Paris where he's gotten meal for her and she tells him that, you know what, like I don't want your pity. Like that's, I don't want that. And then immediately says, you know what? This much was for the food. Give me 50-50. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: It establishes that the relationship hasn't changed. So i thought this was a good callback moment and the second Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: moment which comes again and again in the movie is her coffee order which the first time he meets her in the plane and she orders coffee and she has a very specific coffee order which is that she takes coffee without no like one spoon of sugar but with brown sugar and two spoons of milk and it comes again so the first time he hears it there that she has this very peculiar coffee order The second time he hears it is when they're on a train in Amsterdam, train in Paris, sorry, train in Paris. And same only. And he overhears her coffee order. So here the callback is just actually a moment to remind him that, ⁓ it's actually an identity placing more than any of these things that whether the relationship has changed or not. But the third time they use it in the movie is when he is chasing her Ananya: Same only. Hmm. Akshay: from Mumbai and he's going after her and he orders this in the flight. Because now the relationship nature for him has changed. He's fallen in love with her. So I thought that was a good callback they used in the movie. Ananya: Hmm. nice. And one more callback they have is that scene when they're on a fake date where they're like, let's play date like an arranged marriage situation. And they say that and she's like, okay, like he's like, I'll be sitting at the table with Tommy and the kids and she's like, you'll put the Tommy and like the kids before me and then, you know, I will cut you into pieces and feed you to Tommy. And it's playful. It's like, okay. And then at the end, when they finally get together, Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: He says that we'll have the Tommy and the kids like, yeah, but I come first or else. And this shows like there it was in jest and here it is serious that now we're actually doing this, which is essentially a good point, like segue to genre tropes, I think, because this fake date sequence is a genre trope. see them in, none of them come to mind right now, but fake dates are a very common genre trope in rom-com. And why do these, why does this trope work so well? Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: because for a brief moment it allows the audience as well as the character to experience the end result. And especially in a film like this where you're waiting for the end result for a very long time, this gives the audience what they're waiting for a little earlier so that they're baiting you a little bit. And what it does is it creates more longing within the characters that, ⁓ this is what we're actually missing out on. Akshay: Yeah. Huh. Yeah. Ananya: So I think this is a very cool genre trope. Akshay: Fake date pretending to be on a date or pretending to have a life together. moment, one reference that comes to mind is the show Girls where ⁓ the final season, like Hannah has finally met Adam again ⁓ for one day they decide they go on this thinking like what if we were still together? Like how does it work out? So it's a very cool genre trope actually. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm? Hmm. for sure. Another one in the similar lines is accidentally holding hands or like ⁓ each other early on in the film because that is again the visual grammar of your film. That's the point of the film. Your characters need to touch but it hasn't earned its spot early on in the film. So you always have something accidental or something planned like in Lootera when she holds his hand to like show him how to paint like Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: showing him how to paint a secondary, it's holding his hand, but it's okay, like under these circumstances. So, and one thing they do, they always do it in plane based rom-coms. Like I remember this in the Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight also, there's turbulence and you hold the other person's hand. It always works because you want to like get there faster, you want to tease it. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, yeah. Yeah, In this case, it's reversed. When they hold hands, the turbulence happens. So this sub-genre of the trope which is that when the first time the protagonists touch each other, something electric happens. Something goes wrong. So sometimes when they touch, a bomb will go off in the background. ⁓ Or will happen is some Ananya: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hmmmm Akshay: somebody, something will happen, know, they, ⁓ like, either they'll have a slow motion or something of that sort. That first, how can you make that first touch special? And they've actually, in this movie, kept using this motif again and again, which is that whenever the two of them do meet, something will go wrong, you know? So whether like the waitress falling when they meet ⁓ or Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: January rain or whatever happens so... Ananya: Hmm... Yeah... Definitely. And then there's your classic fantasy versus reality which is where in the song where saa soo, voo saa soo that's the one, right? After they've had their big falling out and Rani is walking Saif home because he's drunk and they spot a lot of couples on their way and Rani imagines her and Saif to be in as each of the couples. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm, yeah, yeah. ⁓ Ananya: but in reality she's just taking this drunk guy back home. So that is the one genre and this again works because you want to create longing in both the character and the audience that yeah, make this happen now. And then of course there's our classic meet cute. And over here I thought the meet cute was actually worth breaking down. So what is a meet cute? Your meet cute is... ⁓ Akshay: Yeah Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: two characters who are going to fall in love, meeting and getting off on the wrong foot with each other. Now, why are these genre tropes important? It's because it creates range. Because when they start off on the wrong foot, then you're curious as to what is going to happen across the length of this film for them to finally get back together. But a genre trope needs to have some essential elements to it. So first you have the wrong foot here of First, Rani Mukherjee asking for coffee and he's just like, ⁓ good, don't like women. You know what kind of women drink She's like, my mom drinks tea. She's ⁓ okay. He's like, yeah, that's conservative women. So they've gotten off on the wrong foot. It creates conflict. Again, while the plane is taking off, she's praying, it's like, Vah Vah Guruji and he's like, Jo bone sonayal. it's like, ⁓ great. But he's like, he's also Punjabi, no? Akshay: Maastricht tea, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, cultural misappropriation there. Yeah, whatever. He is Punjabi. Ananya: But yeah, there again, she is insulting the religion. So wrong foot. So that's one technique. Then you have having different expectations. Where over here, he's like, she'll definitely be checking me out. And he turns slyly and she's looking outside the window. Again, creates conflict that, okay, when is it going to come to the point that she checks him out? Then they've established that they're opposites. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: She is OCD, she cleaning like her kata, chammach and all in the plane and he is over there sneezing into her food like shamelessly. Right? So these are essential elements but your genre trope also needs to have, your meet cute also needs to have a moment of them being on the same page to give the audience something or even to give the characters a sense that even though we might be so different there is some spark here. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Ananya: And over here when Saif is thinking, maybe I should like ask her to borrow the magazine, she only asks, can I borrow the magazine? So like, ⁓ there is some spark of maybe Did she think about it with the same intention? We don't know, ⁓ it creates that they are kind of on the same page thing. So the meet cute needs to balance conflict with also some amount of chemistry. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, like it's all in character work, essentially. One more genre trope I have is that, ⁓ couple actually, one is the big chase in the end where one of the characters, either the guy or the girl realizes that they love the other character and they will go running after them by the ⁓ end of movie. We saw it happening in Man Baja Bharat with Bittu running after Anushka's character and in this one Saif Karan goes after Rhea. Ananya: Mmm, grand cheese. Hmm. Akshay: So we have him shots of driving and they use the technique of like flashes where He relives every moment of like what was special between the two of them and it also reminds the audience like ⁓ like they are supposed to be together, right so ⁓ It creates that moment or it creates it gives the big high of big chase in the end, you know so ⁓ Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Yeah. Now, I also, ⁓ what I liked is in this grand gesture, they also used a grand gesture one more time when they were friends, which is when he's trying to console her after her husband has died. And, you know, it starts with him bringing her, going to her house, walking her, then getting her Chinese food. And he's like, nothing is working. So then he breaks into a song and dance sequence where they go into like chakde chakde chakde. And that finally makes her laugh. So they have used... Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: the grand gesture to bring up change in the plot in the middle of the film even as friends. So how can and they've combined essentially Indian storytelling of using songs with the genre tropes of using like a grand gesture and made the story move forward. And I forgot to bring this up the Indianization the fake date that they have the pretend date. It's not a normal pretend date. It's an arranged marriage pretend date. So again, Akshay: down. Yeah. Huh. ⁓ Yeah. Powered. Yeah. Huh. Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: They've used the tropes but they have culturally made them relevant which is what's really important. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And with the big chase, I forgot to mention one more technique they've used in this film is subverting the expectation that because it's a trope, you, the audience, will think that, ⁓ up to hero heroine ke paas jaane wala hai, it'll be a great happy ending of sorts, you know. ⁓ but because the writers have plotted that, he's not going to find her. Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: How can we subvert this expectation more and more? So hence they also use the flashbacks of them falling in love, them spending time together. So the audience think, these guys are so perfect for each other, right? So like they're meant to be, but only when ⁓ doesn't find her and he realizes he's lost her probably forever, ⁓ hits you more. So I thought that technique of subverting the expectation was also greatly done here. Ananya: Yeah Yeah Yeah Akshay: Another genre trope I want to talk about is rain, Rain, being a pivotal moment in these romance films. ⁓ Rain comes at, Rain is used when it's a moment of, it's an extremely important moment in the character's journey. Either it could be the first time they meet or the first time they realize that, we are falling in love with each other, or in this case, when they actually come together. And Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: So in this case, what happens is that Karan is walking home after his press release and he's in like January me barish. So ⁓ and then it starts raining and he turns around and Rani Mukherjee's character is waiting for him. So another time, a reference which comes to my mind is Wake Up Sid, where Ranbir Kapoor's character follows Konkana and it's raining in the end and they have like the big culmination in Ananya: Hmm. Hmmmm Akshay: the Bombay rains. So I thought like is like and it's also sometimes badly used but I thought this was like nicely used here. Yeah. Ananya: Hmm, yeah. Yeah, even Saif and Rani, when they hook up here, it's raining. And when they meet post her husband dying, it's snowing. And what it also creates is intimacy, right? Because you're in under an umbrella. it creates physical intimacy. So Akshay: The training, yeah, huh, yeah. Huh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And one moment we want to talk about is clocking, where ⁓ especially in a film like this, where it's early on established that one of the characters has absolutely no interest in the other person as a potentially significant other, you have to have a moment where the character realizes and the audience realizes, ⁓ maybe now they see them in a different light. And in this case happens with actually both of their characters a little bit. It's very evident with Rani Mukherjee's character where ⁓ he's come to drop her home, ⁓ walks along with her. He wants to offer essentially his condolence ⁓ to like, ⁓ because he comes to know that her husband has passed away. but he can't you know he's just that kind of guy but she ends up telling thank you to him anyway and after he leaves with her umbrella she just gives like one double take at him like it's that moment of it's a very small moment in a romance movie but it's extremely important because you don't so that the audience don't feel the sudden jump that they don't feel like ⁓ right now she didn't care about him and now she's directly in love with him like Ananya: Hmm. you Akshay: how do you bridge that gap is when they clock each other. And ⁓ think the clocking from his side happened a little bit when he sees her get married. ⁓ there's a long stay on his face. He's not ⁓ to decipher what this means, but he obviously doesn't feel happiest about it. So I thought that was a great moment. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Such a dude moment, na. Acha I'm feeling some feelings, but I don't know what to do with these feelings. Yeah, exactly. Akshay: Yeah, I don't know how to spell the word feelings also. It's that moment. And ⁓ I think when we're talking about romantic comedies, especially today, one, there's not a genre trope, but a test, which now a lot of films, especially the romance genre are talking about is the Bechdel test, where I'll define what the test is that this test needs Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: is this test was introduced in modern literature to see if your movie has female characters which are sort of also empowering. They also have arcs of their own, they're just not about the man altogether because conventionally we have known that female characters are essentially for the male arc. Even though we have said that this movie also does in some way, you know? But Rani Mukherjee's characters is very complex characters and a lot of... Ananya: Yeah Hmm. Akshay: different things happen to her. So I think it's sort of forgiven that, at least even if she doesn't have a major arc, her character has been put through a lot. So I think which discovers her complexity as a character. The test has three criteria is that the first criteria is that there needs to be a scene where there are two women in the movie. That's the first basic criteria. The second criteria is that Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: these women should not just be lamps of furniture, they should be talking to each other. That's the second criteria. And the third criteria is that they should be talking, about anything but a man. And I thought this scene, this movie had one scene like that, which was Rani Mukherjee's breakdown scene with her mom, where she goes and hugs her mom and says that, you know what, I just wanna leave. Like, ⁓ been too much and I just wanna live Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: somewhere where nobody knows me, nobody needs me and I want to go and the mother says I'm gonna come with you and I thought that was a great moment of bonding between the two characters and again not about a man although repercussions from a man's doing but it's still about healing in that moment and it's about personal development rather than anything else. So I thought that was a good Bechdel test crossing in 2004, who knew? Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: So yeah, I think that's all I have on genre tropes. Ananya: we go into characters next? Akshay: Yeah, let's do characters. Ananya: Okay, so just beginning with Saif's character. I think the opening itself tells us a lot, like it establishes admiration from the get-go because you open with a press release, you open with success, people are curious about his book and you open with news channels reporting that this book is selling out. I'm like, when has that happened? Yeah. Akshay: ever happen. Yeah. Unless it's a book which gets banned. ⁓ Ananya: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But he's not Salman Rushdie, but still. Over here we have... So that does the first thing, which is establishes admiration. Other characters speaking well of this character and we see him as successful. So, and we like characters who are successful because we want aspire to be successful unless you're European, I guess. Then... Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Sorry, I'm in one of those moods today. So, yeah, that we immediately want to watch this character. And the second is the airport sequence, the airport scene where his parents are there. I mean, his mom is there and it immediately establishes, okay, one, he's got a good relationship with his mom. He talks to her casually. Akshay: Wow, amazing, I love it. Ananya: B, the mom also sees that he's flirting with a girl and she's like, arey matlab? So you realize that A, their relationship is that of like their friends with each other and B, that it's such a common occurrence in his life that she's also like, arey I don't even want to know who this girl is. You establish that he's irresponsible because he doesn't have his passport, car keys, nothing and Jimmy Shergill gives him his passport and you establish the dynamics, the family dynamics he comes from because the mom is there but the dad is not there. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: the dad calls and you realise there's some strife there. So I think that's a very economic way in one scene of giving you all the relevant information you need to know about characters. And as I say that, what comes to mind is, you know, these scenes which are pivotal in a person's life, like moving countries, all of that, that's when A, because I'm someone who's moved countries a lot, like you are kind of vulnerable. Akshay: ⁓ Yeah. Ananya: and all because you're managing so many things all your weaknesses, all your impulses kind of come out a lot and that's why people around you are also emotional. So you get a sense of the most core characters, characteristics of a person, it comes out in these moments. So I think crafting a departure scene or a farewell scene like this really helps show people for who they are. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And essentially, what ends up realistically is like, your whole life suddenly you take a checklist in that departure moment, right? Suddenly everything has to make sense right now. Yeah. But there will be posed a question that this is an item. You decide now, do you care about this or not? So I think what you're saying that the daddy issues come here, the relationship with Ananya: Yeah. Yeah, your priorities are there in front of you. Either you care about this or you don't. It doesn't come with you. Thank you. Hmmmm Akshay: mom, the friend, that he's forgetful and like he's a flirt and all of that culminates into this one moment because it's a departure scene you know like yeah I also think Saif's characters a full Manic Pixie dream boy you know like like passport dhool jaana this bumping falling joking yapper you know like he can't sit silent next to her so I Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Ha Yeah. Akshay: I think like ⁓ I'll just tell our audience there's been like a reputation of like a female characters in all our movies being Manic Pixie Dream Girl where essentially to boil it down I can say hundred things about it but what it means is it's a quirky female character like know she's the girl next door, she can eat cake but still be very thin you know like ⁓ she that character like very happy-go-lucky jovial forgetful Ananya: You Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: all of these things come into and I think he is that male version in this movie yeah yeah because she is not you know and I feel like a romantic comedy one of them have to be yeah how much I was this controversial opinion this is but like it has to be that you know yeah Ananya: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, well noted. Hmm. I have to be. Yeah, yeah. And then Rani Mukherjee's character. We are immediately introduced from Saif's eyes. Because Saif says that, you know, I fell in love with this woman or whatever. And then we cut to nine years ago. And you see Rani Mukherjee and it's she's not seen in the most flattering of lights. She is quite grumpy, quite dismissive, like, yeh kya chal raha hai, you know, she's got a snarky look on her face. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: But that creates curiosity because Saif has said that I fell in love with her, you are willing to give this character a chance. So the technique over here for an introduction of the character is seeing them through another person's eyes. And this is not like, you know, talking good, but this is about more about creating intrigue. And another technique I want to talk about here is peeling the onion, which they have done with Rani's character. Akshay: Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Ananya: So peeling the onion is essentially revealing that the character has more and more layers to them. So when you first see Rani, she's super uptight, she's know like cleaning her cutlery, she's like don't mess with me, blah blah blah. But then as you get to know her just through the initial sequences, you see that she's not as uptight as you'd believe. Like when he smokes, she says that smoking is bad but he's like you should try it and she tries it. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Try it, yeah! Ananya: is not as uptight, like she gives things back to them, like she'll say one thing but she's like, chalo I thought we're going to go to like Amsterdam, what are you doing here? So she's, they've revealed another layer of hers, that's a character deepening technique that she's not as uptight as it seems. But ⁓ is this really important? Because then in the Amsterdam sequence when Saif says that all men essentially want to sleep with women, she goes and says that you're sick. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Seems, yeah. Ananya: and she walks away. And if I had not seen the more playful sides of Rani, I would have been like, this woman is just uptight in every regard. know, like, obviously she's uptight about this. But now you're like, no, she's actually reasonable. She's fun. There's nothing wrong with her. She's relatable like you and me. So if she's decided to draw a boundary there, it's okay. So if you want to show a character take an extreme stance, Akshay: Yeah Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: you have to show us that that is not the only stance they capable of. They are capable of holding two truths at a time, of being complex, so that when they do take an extreme stance, you think that they not a fundamentalist, they are just someone who has a set of values and principles. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's a great observation. I never thought about that. Ananya: So Zingur, who recommended, I hope I'm saying your name right, who recommended we break down this movie, has asked that how does the banter in the first half of the film influence the tension in the second half? ⁓ And when you think about all relationships, how they begin, you begin with things starting off light, starting off easy. But as you get to know a person, you become more real, you start talking about real things, you care about them, you want to take care of them and all your, that superficial nature of banter behind which you're hiding starts to fade away. So what I think they have done in this film is basically just done a study of how human emotions relationships function. And that is what they've employed that Saif and Rani don't need to keep up this facade of Aha! We're so happy because we don't know each other enough to trauma dump right now. Instead, they do that. So those emotions arise very organically. Akshay: ⁓ Ananya: And what was the other question? Akshay: other question answer the question is how do they ensure the later half where Rani Mukherjee's passed doesn't make you too emotional while getting the point across Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: I think that they don't manage very successfully, honestly. I do think the tone of the movie changes. your first half is very light, it's very simple, it's very on the surface. But the second half does take a dip. So the tone changes where it's no more a very funny film which started in the first half of the movie. Ananya: It does. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: now it's become a little more restrained comedy like the comedies comes only from the like Rani Mukherjee's mother essentially and a little bit from Saif also you know but so I do think the tone has taken a hit here but I think what he's trying to ask is like how how do you feel still feel invested in this character to think that this is not going to be a serious heavy movie is that Ananya: Yeah... yeah... Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: Even though Rani Mukherjee's character has faced such a catastrophic event in her life, right? Like losing somebody who you love. She doesn't become a hateful person. Like, so she doesn't feel herself as to be an outcast. She doesn't question the bigger things, like bigger beliefs of life that why did this happen with me? Like she's not, she's none of that. She just now is closed with the idea of love that, ⁓ I thought I will get... Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: married to the love of my life, it's happened, the love will stay with me forever. But she's happy about life. She talks to people in the park very casually, she loves that child. And I think these, and she has such a good equation with her mother. ⁓ And the fact that her coffee order hasn't changed, that's a very small bit of it actually. But the fact that she hasn't lost her Ananya: Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Akshay: zeal for life that makes you it makes it still palatable to watch in the same genre of the Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And the tone I think largely takes a hit from when the husband has died to chakde chakde chakde. After that, like she comes back to feeling kind of normal and stuff like that. And even then like Saif's humour is there to keep things light. They use the song to alleviate the tension. So they have tried to pad it up in some ways, compensate for it. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah Yeah. ways. Yeah. And I think you bang on actually now that I think about it is because once she comes back to her old self, the movie stone again becomes slightly like comical also with the entry of Isha Kopikar's character. I thought like character of this stoner drunk girl character, know, extremely volatile, you know. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Akshay: ⁓ So again, they go back on some external comedic elements which they did in the first half. ⁓ They did that. Yeah. So I think a fine balance of tone has been achieved maybe. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yes, we hope that answers your questions Zingur and if not, DM us, know, the drill. And that is all we have on Hum Tum. And we hope you enjoyed the breakdown and like, share, subscribe, leave any questions, any suggestions down in the comments or DM us on Instagram. And we will see you next Thursday on another episode of Breakdown Destinies podcast. Bye.