Latest / Breakdown Besties | Bollywood Screenwriting Podcast / E31: Wake Up Sid FOOLED YOU
Transcript
- Ananya: Ranbir Kapoor, hasn't been Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: independent for a day in his life, has no problem walking the sweaty streets, being a photographer. that is not how it works. Akshay: There's a trope which this film did not do, which I was really mad about. the big kiss in the end. I really wanted them to kiss. Ananya: I was too bored. I'm like Ranbir Kapoor has gone home now, like end the film. we want to make a coming-of-age film, but audience is Indian Akshay: Huh. Ananya: audience is not ready. we have written for shows like Mismatched, Rana Naidu, Inside Edge. Akshay: you will never enter a coming of age film and know where the film is heading. Ananya: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. I'm Ananya. Akshay: I'm Akshay. Ananya: And we are your breakdown besties. Combined we have more than 14 years of experience writing for shows like Mismatched, Wedding.con, Ishq in the Air, Rana Naidu, Inside Edge, Grahan and a host of others that have gotten stuck in development hell but will hopefully see the light today, one day. With the Breakdown Besties podcast, our goal is to give you a film school experience where we look at the screenplays of some of the most iconic Bollywood films and we see the scenes, the dialogue, the hero's journey, the logline, what makes them work and what makes them fall apart. We take them apart, understand the gears underneath them and then use those techniques to create our own phenomenal iconic Bollywood screenplays. And today the film that we are going to be doing for episode number... Actually, I'm not going to number episodes anymore because we don't publish them in that order anyway. But this is episode number 30, even if it's not relevant. It's Wake Up Sid written by Ayan Mukherjee and dialogues by Niranjan Iyengar. Is this our first coming of age film? Akshay: Does English Vinglish count as coming of age? Ananya: Kind of, yeah, at an older age. Yeah. Akshay: Kind of, no? Yeah, yeah. But but I think a very specific coming of age is this, which is that the young transforming into the old person now. Like I think that's which is what Hollywood does a lot. Like and I think yeah, then it's one of a kind. The first of our kind. Ananya: Definitely. Yeah, the first of our kind for sure. Cool, so let's dive right in by getting into the log line. What is your log line? Your logline is your film's guiding light or your film's helicopter, as we've discussed. It is essentially what allows you to see the forest for the trees. So sometimes you're so deep into writing, you know, like on page 56 of your screenplay and you're writing a scene and you're looking at it and going like, why am I even writing this? Like, what is the point of this? It helps you get out of the weeds of the screenplay and get almost a bird's eye view of what your film is really about. And why does this do this job? Because a good logline contains four essential elements. The first is your flaw, block, limitation or wound. This is something deep within the character, something that's holding them back, something that has been limiting them their whole life from achieving element number two, which is your goal. The goal is the whole reason your audience is in their seats. They want to see whether your character can achieve this or not. This is what they're making a journey towards. And that journey is element number three, which is conflict. Conflict is basically an external manifestation of your internal limitation. It is what makes the journey interesting. It creates the ups and the downs. Because let's say your limitation is that you're a coward, you will constantly have to face a lion and fight them in order to overcome your flaw. That creates suspense, drama, what's going to happen? Will they do that? That is conflict. And finally, you have element number four, which is your stakes. Your stakes are what your character will lose should they not achieve their goal. It is not simply not achieving their goal, it is taking it one level lower. Cool, do you want to go into the logline of the film, Akshay? Akshay: Okay, this is what I have as a log line of Wake Up Sid. A spoilt young boy meets an aspiring writer new in the city who teaches him how to become independent. This is what I have for the log line of the film. It's like fairly simple for me. Ananya: Mm-hmm. Akshay: Because the first element, which is his block wound or limitation, which is that he's a spoilt young boy. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: That's what she keeps telling him throughout the movie. Also, he is immature. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: She teaches him to become independent. That becomes the conflict of the movie. because Ananya: Hmm Akshay: that's something he'll be constantly pushed against, and he's challenged in that space the most, right? Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: Now, the goal is essentially not there in his character's head from the get-go, right? Like he doesn't know that this is what I have to do in life. But the goal Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: comes when he meets her, and eventually when he fails his exam, he realizes that I need to become independent. And that too also happens once he moves in with her. So the goal comes Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: to him very late. So I didn't feel the need to put it in the log line very explicitly Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: which is that this is his goal because the conflict is the goal essentially of the movie from a the character's point of view. Ananya: Yeah, he's not pursuing any goal himself. Akshay: Yeah, Until very late in the movie, almost until the second half of the movie. And Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: the stake, as we've discussed in all the other movies, is an internal stake, which is that he'll never be able to become what his full potential is. And what he'll Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: never be able to become an independent person, which is not Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: a an ideal situation in life, right? Like we all should become independent. So this is what I have for Ananya: Hmm. Yep. Akshay: the log line of the film. Ananya: Yeah, fair enough, not including the goal that would make sense. Akshay: Mm. Ananya: Cool. Yeah. Akshay: Say what's not working you? Ananya: It just doesn't have a sense of momentum in it. Akshay: Huh. I think but that's also like the tonal and the the tonal choice of the genre. Like very rarely does the genre will feel the pace. Like it's such the genre commands that things happen in the moment and you see where the film takes you. Like there is no Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: like you will never enter a coming of age film and know where the film is heading. That's one of the beauty of Ananya: Hmmmm Akshay: the genre that it surprises you constantly. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: And I feel like while as a writer you must know the log line, which is very a broad log line. Like that's what should be. And then you should allow yourself to have smaller moments and arcs in the movie which like propel your main character's growth. Ananya: Hmm, for sure. Yeah, definitely. Cool. Do you want to get into the hero's journey? Akshay: Let's do it. Ananya: What is your hero's journey? Your hero's journey is the structural spine of your film. It is a journey which anyone who is embarking on anything new, let it be the characters in your film or someone like you and I, when we decide to do something new and step out of our comfort zone, we also face this journey in our life. It's the journey we go on to achieve this goal. But more than it being a journey to achieve this goal, it is a journey of becoming the person who can achieve this goal. It is going on the journey to overcome your flaw that has been holding you back so that you can be someone who is able to achieve this goal. And when you do this, when you go on this journey, there are many things that happen. You meet mentors who will help you out. You'll face tests which you'll not know what to do with. You'll have allies and enemies in your wake. You'll decide that, no, maybe I can't do this anymore. But... In a film, you have 90 minutes. So all these steps have a very structured way of coming one after the other. And they also end up providing your audience with emotional turning points such that they're able to follow this journey and stay in their seats, getting an emotional hit every so often and having a sense of journey and pace. So the first stage of your hero's journey is your ordinary world. It is when you see the character as they are in the world in which they exist. You see the who, who they are, where they exist, when they're existing in what time period, what their central flaw or conflict is, and everything else that defines their circumstance. Akshay: We start with Sid's journey, where we come to know what his ordinary world is like. So he we we come to know he's a spoilt boy who loves to play PlayStation in his room. He clicks photographs on his camera, but nothing much out of it. And he's about to g take his final exams of his TY BCOM exams. And I saw like the book was Aina Pure Aina Pure, which really like Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: took me back to our TY BCOM exams. And Ananya: I know. Akshay: it's his final exam and he doesn't care to study for it at all. He even has these like weird dreams while he's writing his paper. And it's his last day and he just wants to have fun with his friends. That's what his life is like. That's his ordinary worrld. Ananya: Perfect. Then you have the call to action. Your call to action is when someone or the character from within themselves finally is told that okay, here come! They're called to pursue their goal, to take action and pursue their goal. Akshay: Now, here Ranbir Kapoor's character's father, Anupam Kher, tells him that, okay, your exams are over. Now you need to do something more with your life. So what you're doing is tomorrow onwards, you're gonna come to my office and start working there. Because I don't see you doing anything else. Clearly, you have no goals. And at first he's a little skeptic, but his dad gives him a bait that, you know what, Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: this car you want. I will give it to you if you even if you come to office for one week, one month, the car Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: is yours. Ananya: Yes. Yep. Yep. So you have a refusal of the call built in also. Refusal of the call is when the character is like, No, no, I can't pursue this goal. It's too much. Or someone outside the character is just like, no, no, you can't do this. So this is Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: Ranbir himself saying, No, no, I can't do this. But then he says, Okay, once his dad was like, Okay, I will give you a new car. Akshay: And the the mini refusal of the call becomes actual refusal when he actually does not continue in the office for more than a month. More than a week actually. He is like, this Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: can't happen with me. I am absconding, literally, and that's it what happens. So he leaves his dad's Ananya: Hmm. Happens. Akshay: office Also, like in this movie, the lot of heroes' journey moments are scattered up and down. Like they come slightly here and there, but they essentially hit more or less the beats. Ananya: The next step is meeting your mentor. Mentor is essentially someone who has walked the path that you're going to walk. So if your goal is to slay the dragon. they will hand you the sword and say, This is how I did it and here's how you're going to do it, right? Akshay: Now here, Ranbir Kapoor's character, Sid, he ends up meeting Konkana's character, who essentially will become his mentor throughout the film. Where in the sense that when he leaves his house, eventually he goes to stay with her. She's the one who gives him the ropes to understand that this is what it becomes to be independent. But even structurally, she here plants the seed for the first time, what the concept of independence means. Where she says that I am here to make my own money and to live life on my own terms. And that is where he first time sort of realizes that, this is also a thing. You know, like he was so delusional as a person. He had no idea. And so Ananya: Hmm, yeah, hmm. Akshay: this is what one mentor character comes here. But I also think the scene where he fails his exam becomes the final call to action which the character will not refuse and which will help you go into the crossing the which will help him cross the threshold essentially. Ananya: So your next beat is crossing the threshold. Crossing the threshold is when your character takes one final move into the new world and they say that, okay, now I'm doing this, I'm gonna pursue this goal. And the door behind them shuts. They can't go back into the old world, they've crossed a point of no return. Akshay: So here, once he's failed, he has a big showdown with almost all his friends. and then his father says that, Listen, you are irresponsible. You have no way to talk to your parents, you are ungrateful. And he says that, What do I do? And he and he's just about to go back to his room mid-argument and he says, You can't do this. If you're living under my roof, you have to live on with my rules. And he's like, You know what? I don't need your rules and I don't need your roof also. I'm gonna leave. And that's the moment Siddhart decides that I'm gonna leave my father's house and he comes and stays to at Aisha's place. That is a very clear crossing the threshold moment for this character because now the luxury and the cushioning his life had won't be there with him anymore. And this is Ananya: Hm. Akshay: gonna be a clearly a different journey and a task for him going forward in his life. Ananya: Next you have tests, allies and enemies. This is the phase in your hero's journey where your hero gets a lay of the land. They see what tests and obstacles they're gonna face, who's gonna support them and be their ally, and who their enemies are going to be in this world who are going to challenge them. Akshay: Yeah. So in Sid's case it's now having to stay independently almost without any comfort or cushion. So he comes and stays at Aisha's house and the first day he wakes up he realized there's no way to cook for him. So which is something that's never happened in his life. So now he has to like figure out what to do. He keeps the house messy, he doesn't know anything how to do life on his own. Like he has no ambition. He has no way to like do anything. But slowly, slowly he starts learning a little bit the lay of the land, which is that he starts talking to his neighbor and she starts helping him cook. and like you know, he gets friendly with the neighbors, he goes and clicks photographs of the neighborhood. That's essentially where he's sort of learning how to live alone, essentially. Ananya: Then you have the approach to the innermost cave. This is your phase in the hero's journey, where if your goal is to slay the dragon, your hero approaches the cave where the dragon is and gets ready to make their move and steal the bag of gold from under them. Akshay: Now here they're on the terrace, Siddhart and Aisha, and here for the first time he gets cognizant of the fact that he needs to have a goal in life, that he wants to do something more. And she proposes to him that you know what, maybe I can like talk in my office about your job situation. And that's what happens. Ananya: Hm. Akshay: That she takes him to her office and proposes that, you know, you can keep him as a photography intern. And that's what happens. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: He joins the office and he excels at everything that like he's Ananya: Hm. Akshay: a great assistant, everybody likes him, and he's just thriving now in this new life. Ananya: Next you have the ordeal. The ordeal is now that you've stolen the bag of gold from the dragon, the dragon is coming after you. They're chasing you. All the king's horses, all the king's men are coming after you, and you need to find respite and fight them off. Akshay: Now I think that there doesn't exist an ordeal in Siddharth's character's Ananya: Hm. Akshay: journey. Because one, I think his goal came so late into his life that now you don't want him to see him failing because the point of the movie Ananya: Hm. Akshay: would have like just not been made. That, I want to do something, but I'm not good at it or whatever. And then it just becomes into a Ananya: Hm. Akshay: cycle of loop anyway. So his character doesn't have an ordeal. Ananya: Yeah, yeah. Akshay: But now a very interesting structural thing this movie starts to do is that we started the film with Siddharth's hero's journey and his character journey we were following. But now Konkana's character's journey starts taking over more strongly. After Siddharth's journey is done, I'm gonna come to what is Konkana's journey in the film. But this is where Ananya: Hm. Akshay: her status in the film starts off starts increasing. And you start following her journey more than his journey. Although his journey also more or less starts hitting the beats also. And further than that, the next phase which comes, which is the or reward, is sort of reversed in both Sids and Aisha's journey. I'll talk about that. Ananya: Yeah, I think the fact that there was a lack of ordeal made me Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: examine whether the he crossing the threshold happened when he went into the office or not. Akshay: Mm. Ananya: Because I was like, there is no ordeal. Like if he's gotten the reward of, you know, getting the job, if that is your reward, then Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: you have to work backwards, and the ordeal would be him having to learn to live a life of his own. The approach Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: to the innermost cave would be leaving the house and becoming independent. Tests, allies Akshay: Mm. Ananya: and enemies would have been the phase where he's gone to the office but he's in and out, in and out, and people are telling him, like, be more independent, but he's not being more independent. And Akshay: Hm. Ananya: crossing the threshold would have been when he went to the office on the first day. So this is Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: why I examined it. That's why I was lost confused between the two. Akshay: That also can make sense. Then you essentially like divide the movie into like the first half is his journey, where like when the moment he reaches the office, it's sort of his journey sort of gets over. And then Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: Konkana's journey sort sort of starts taking over more. yeah, Ananya: Yeah, yeah. Akshay: that is another way to examine it. Ananya: So anyway, let's go back to your hero's journey and let's look at the reward. The reward is what you're left with once you've overcome your ordeal, once you've left the dragon behind, once everyone who's chasing you has been left behind and you are now having a moment of respite and you have got what you wanted. Akshay: So here, Sid's character is given his first check. He is told that your photographs will be published in the next edition of Mumbai Beats, the magazine you're working at. And he feels excited like never before. Because for the first time Ananya: Mm. Akshay: somebody has validated his skill, his existence as a person, as an adult man, that Ananya: Hm. Akshay: you're not completely a wasteful guy. You do have Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: something to add to the universe and yeah, your photographs make sense. So that's essentially becomes his reward that, this is what you do get once you start coming onto your journey. Ananya: Yep, perfect. Then you have the way back. The Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: way back is now that you've gotten your reward, you still have to go back to your home, you have to go back to the old world. And there are thieves, there are robbers, there are people all over on your path who are trying to take your reward and much more away from you. Akshay: Now, here, this is the moment where he reconciles with his dad. The reason he left his home, which is that his father told him, Get out of my house if you can't live by my rules. And he comes and tells him, Listen, I got my first check for the first job I had. And then they have a very Ananya: Mm. Akshay: beautiful reconciliation scene, which I think becomes his road back because that also allows him to go back to his house now. Ananya: And as you're on your way back, you reach your lowest point. It is where you feel like you will never come back from. But then you resurrect, like a phoenix from Akshay: Mm. Mm. Ananya: the ashes. You say that, no, I will fight, I will come out of this one more time and I will be the person I have become, not the person who I was, or I will not let this version of me die. Akshay: Hmm. Again, here I don't think he was at his lowest. I think because he wanted to like his goal was to become independent. He became that. He's come back Ananya: Hm. Akshay: home. He's almost in this trance state of mind right now. Where like he's just accepting life the way it comes to him. But he Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: somewhere feels not good about the fact that his relationship with Konkana has been fucked. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: And this is when he comes he he's handed over this magazine where she has this article published called New Girl in the City, and this article is fully about him. And now it starts to make sense to him that she loves me. And Ananya: Mm. Akshay: perhaps I do too. So then he Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: goes and chases her. He tries to call her He's not able to get to her and he gets in his car and drives all the way to go and see her. So this has become his big resurrection moment that, he didn't see it coming, but now this is what it is. Ananya: Hmm, yep, yep. And then you have return with the elixir. This is when you finally go back to your old world, but now you are a new person. Akshay: And once here Siddharth goes and sees Konkana, they profess their love for each other. That becomes the essential elixir to his life. and it's sweet that he started off not knowing what his goal was. And here he gets his goal, which is like he becomes independent, and he also gets the love of his life. But I also want to do was that take this hero's journey from Konkana's character's point of view. So ordinary world in her case is that she's this new girl in the city. She's come from Kolkata and she's just excited to take on this new life where like she wants to become a writer. She doesn't know how she'll do it, but she's excited. Her call to action has two beats, which is that first she meets Siddharth's character at this party where she knew nobody, and without realizing he sort of immediately becomes her friend. And at the same time, she tells him, and also we see it later, that she has a big job interview at this magazine called Mumbai Beats. Now, the refusal of the call of both these beats come eventually also, which is that even though she meets Sid, like the first thing she says that, hey, are you going okay, should we go for a walk? And he says, sure. But she immediately says that, hey, listen, I don't want to give you a wrong impression. I'm not gonna sleep with you right now. And he says, I also didn't think of that. So that's her refusing to call that, whatever this is, this is not a love relationship situation. And at the same time, when she goes to give her job interview. Even though she wants the interview, the person in front of her interviewing her, Rahul Kand's character, he says that, I don't think you are ready for this. So he refuses her call to enter this new life. That I don't think you have a place here. I don't think what you have it to take. I don't think you have what it takes, and you have no prior experience. Now, in her case, I don't think a mentor exists. She just continues to persist that. Listen, give me a chance. I am ready, no matter what. Now, in her case, crossing the threshold, because I'm looking at her life more about her love and relationship, not more about her career as much though, although it's like very subliminally related. Her crossing the threshold is her job also has started. Now, tests allies and enemies is that her biggest test is that she tries to write an article about her life, but she's not able to. Even though she writes, it's not it doesn't go forward. Nobody reads it, nobody gives her any feedback, and it doesn't go anywhere. And now this new man has sort of come and is staying in her house. The fact that she wanted to be independent, live life on her own terms, she's not able to do that. Because every day when she comes home, the house is completely spoiled. And she just increasingly gets more and more frustrated, but doesn't really Ananya: Mm. Akshay: bring it up as much as yet. Now when it comes to approach to the innermost cave, which is that she's had this realization that he also can improve because he does show her the traits that you know he like cooks for her, he starts making like he keeps the house clean, he's also joined their office. Now she starts seeing him in a different light. In the sense that she had never done that because throughout the film she's said that he's not her type because he's immature. Whereas at the same time, her boss is somebody her type because he's mature and he's artsy and he talks about culture and jazz and stuff like that. And she also starts getting disillusioned by him because she realizes that we have nothing in common here. So like the idea that I had for my life is no more this. Now the ordeal which follows is that Siddharth tells her that I'm gonna leave. I'm gonna go back to my house, they have a proper fight. Because I think in her character's mind, like the separation was too uncalled for, so she ends up picking a fight with him. And she's just blindsided, essentially, that she didn't expect it coming. And she sort of bursts out that because and but she still doesn't realize why she was feeling bad because essentially it comes out she's fallen for him, which she doesn't realize yet. This is where your ordeal and the reward is sort of flipped in her case as well. Because the reward for her is that she gets to be told that your article is getting published. but it happens slightly before the big fight. Like first she comes to know that her article will get published eventually. And then she has a big fight. Now the way back for her is also that you know now she's alone. She's living in this house alone and she sort of like calls her family again. That because she's now missing them. Which is similar to his journey moment also that he rec reconciles with his family. So I like Ananya: Mm. Akshay: the moment that like it sort of like came together. Now the moment following, which is the resurrection, comes is that so far she was not able to write the article which she wanted. Just the night before her submission, she decides that, I have a completely new spin on this. And she writes a completely new article. Now the because she was at her lowest right now, like she had lost this like person who was staying with her, whom she's fallen for. her article is completely in shambles. So she literally rises up from the ashes, which is where she publishes, she writes a completely brand new article, and it's about the idea of falling in love with this guy who she met on the first night in Bombay. And and this article gets published. Sid reads it, and that's when you have her Elixir also, that's where she also confesses to him. Face to face that yes, she loves him too. So that becomes like her sweet thread that which which gets finished, which gets tied, which is that, he also loves her back. Ananya: I was too bored. I'm like Ranbir Kapoor has gone home now, like end the film. Like, why Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Ananya: are we following her still and like yeah. Akshay: I do think I do think it's a little bit of a attempt to mishmash the Hollywood coming of age and Bollywood romance, which is that which is why Ananya: Ha ha ha. Akshay: it doesn't fit the most perfectly. And I understand the frustration Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: also, which is that they've tried to marry his coming of age, but at the same time, like they've given her a love track, which is not related to his coming of age, majorly like they've tried to like subliminally Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: like sort of relate to it but it doesn't come in in a massive way whereas in English Vinglish Ananya: Hm, mm. Akshay: they did it much beautifully which is that she was having self-esteem issues and when she Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: sort of quote unquote has a moment with the French guy she sort of takes a step back but Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: That is extremely intricate to her plot of coming of age. Like her Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: needing to learn English gives her the increase in self-esteem, which is Ananya: Exactly. Akshay: validated by somebody else, which allows her to arc. Ananya: Hm, hm Akshay: So I get your frustration, and I think the whole car chase and drive is again such a Bollywood romance thing to do. So I think Ananya: Mm. Akshay: they've tried to like make two things together work and I feel like hence like the film got a little muddled for you. So Ananya: Hm. Akshay: it's completely valid, yeah. Ananya: Yeah, this again stems from that fear, right, of not committing to a genre. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: That achaa, we want to make a coming-of-age film, but audience is The Indian audience is not ready. And there's a way Akshay: Huh. Yeah. Ananya: of doing it if you want to, you know, do that, like heightening the beats and stuff. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: But adding a whole separate, like, you know, end tail of the film is Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: really not the way to go about it. Akshay: And essentially I felt like if he even the way Ranbir Kapoor comes back home, he feels so fulfilled that he doesn't really need her at all. You know? Like, so if Ananya: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Akshay: it was like even the playout of that was different, where he's coming home but not happy about coming home, that would have Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: slightly changed situations for us. Like you wouldn't Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: feel the Calmness and the release there. Like you would have the tension keep going. But the fact that you also Ananya: Hmm, hmm, yeah. Akshay: have Iktara Iktara playing. Like it just feels like Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: like the film is ending here now. Like you know oh by the way, but her track is also left. Like, you know, it all goes. Ananya: Indeed, exactly. Yeah. Lots of hefty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's exactly what it felt like. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Ananya: And one more thing that bothered me was that, you know, you've said this before. It's what did you call it? propaganda jobs. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: Romcom propaganda. Yeah, I know. Ananya: I'm like, okay, at least in Konkana's point of view, they have showed some conflict. That was an Akshay: Huh. Ananya: article, she's, but you know, she's not read, it's trashed away, all of that. A struggle. I can get that. But Ranbir Kapoor, who hasn't been Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: independent for a day in his life, comes Akshay: Bye. Yeah. Ananya: into the office and has no problem walking the sweaty streets, being a photographer. It's like, yeah, yeah, if you love your job, you'll be able to do it. I'm like, that is not how it works. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. It's not possible. Like Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: that's the leap the film has taken. You know, okay again. Ananya: Exactly, exactly. Akshay: The reality Yeah Ananya: That's why that ordeal is not there where you want an ordeal to be there. Akshay: Yeah, exactly. Ananya: And that's why that reward is also not earned. Because she got him the job. And Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: those photographs of bloody terrible. So that and then he does nothing to earn his you know, like check, his check. Like he just Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: he doesn't struggle at all. So that ordeal Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: really needed to be there. Akshay: Yeah, I agree that the fact that the moment he decides to be independent and life gives him his independence. Like there Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: is nothing which stops him. There is no hurdle. There is no like nothing. Ananya: Mm. Cool. Let's go into theme next. What is your theme? Your theme is essentially the whole reason you became an artist, you became a filmmaker. It is your point of view in the world which you want to express through the vehicle of your art, through the vehicle of your film and writing. Now, in films, this is posed as a dramatic question because you can't just state your theme and say, This is what I believe in the world. Your film is essentially a court case for the theme of your film. And you have to show characters on either side of it, battling it out, until one finally wins. And that is your point of view. Your point of view wins, right? Now, as I was thinking about this, on the surface it's very theme is independence. You know, everyone needs to be independent. But that's not a dramatic question, right? So I was looking at it and what I did through observation is come up with, do you have to be lonely to be independent? As the theme. Akshay: Ooh. Ananya: Because if you think about it, Ranbir's character to become independent has to leave his parents' house, right? Konkana also, she's so hell bent on being independent that she's constantly rejecting Ranbir's moves. You know, and when she's at her lowest, you know, when he leaves her and stuff, she calls her parents. So it's just like Do you constantly have to be lonely in order to prove your independence? Are we conflating independence with loneliness? And the answer at the end, of course, is no. Right? That once you become independent, like Ranbir goes back to his family, you know, they just want you to be independent. They want you to be standing on your own two feet. That doesn't mean on their terms or your terms, like whatever, whoever's terms. Just show us that you have what it takes to stand on your own two feet. And Konkana also was just like, I want to prove that I can stand on my own two feet. I wanna prove, I wanna prove. And anyone who detracts from that goal, I will stay away from them. You Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: know, until she finally realizes that, you know, okay, I've become independent now. I've gotten this article, but I am lonely. And she doesn't want that for herself anymore. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm hmm. Ananya: So this is what I could identify as theme. It's not very clear. I might not be hitting the nail on the head, but this is a sense of what-- this is what it gives me. Akshay: I think it there is merit here for sure because in his case also it's not just about leaving his family. It's about leaving all his friends. Like he fought with all of them and like never like Ananya: Hmm, yeah. Akshay: he had no support system at whatsoever but this woman. So yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Ananya: Let's go into scenes and sequences next. Akshay: Okay. The first scene I want to talk about is this scene on the terrace between Sid and Aisha. And it's the scene where they both sort of like coming onto their own terms. And they're having this chat on the terrace where he asks her, you know, we're such good friends, we get along. Why couldn't we become something more? And she tells him that, you know, I don't I don't want to say because you'll feel bad, but you're just not my type. And because you're immature, you're childish, you're not independent enough. Now, this scene in a film like this, where romance at the beginning is not the main focus, you have to sort of put the scene to remind your audience and your character that this is also a romance film by the end of it. Like, this is where your film will go. And Ananya: Welcome. Akshay: that there is some romantic tension between the two characters, also. Like, we haven't seen the usual romance tropes here, which is like the transgressive touch. No, that is fairly earned early on in the movie immediately. Like, it's not even a transgressive touch. It's just like he's casually like whatever, hugs her, sh shakes hands with her, like nothing of that sort. So how else do you physically show tension or like romantic spark between two characters? It's through dialogue. Which is that something like this needs to happen. And the scene reminds that it's just not gonna be two characters living parallel lives. There will be moments of intersection also between their lives, which will affect both of their relationship journey. And this reminded me of the scene in Band Bajaa Baaraat which is that early on. She says, we're just gonna do business. No mixing business and pleasure. And they keep doing their shadis, like one successful after the other. And then eventually there comes one scene where he gets food for her and says, like, now what? Like, do we do Sainik farms? Like, what we do? And there again the conversation becomes about their relationship. So you remind the audience again that there is some romantic spark here. Ananya: Mm. Akshay: And again, because that film did not touch on these romantic tropes in the beginning, this moment is important because you need to realize that, this is not just gonna be two independent films. There will be like a confluence of sorts. Ananya: Mm, yep, nice. Akshay: The other technique I want to go to is the technique of contradiction. Which is that you set up a scene or a character in one way, which is that you say you've gone to you started with A, but completely by the middle of the scene, you completely go the other way around. So that the range of emotion hits the most. Because of this one contradiction. You essentially give like a curve in a scene progression so that like it's never static. The scene gets dynamic. And here it happens when she says that she's sent him a mail, which is that how is her life in Bombay looking like? And she says that, I feel independent. I don't know what I'm gonna do in the day. I just go walk around and I feel safe all the time. Until last night there's a rat in her room and she feels shit scared. So this contradiction where she says that, I feel so safe to then her Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: like screaming and shouting in her room, that's the perfect contradiction in this scene. And that that's what gets you laughing and that's what gives you like, ha unexpectedness in the scene. Ananya: Yeah, yeah. Akshay: Then the other moment, other technique I have is that subverting the obvious, which is that you think as as an audience, when sometimes you enter a scene, you immediately know how the playout will be. Like if like somebody's coming to like propose, he will propose. When somebody is dying, somebody will cry. Like th these are obvious emotions one deals with. When you try and do something different in the scene, like you enter the scene in one way, but middle of the scene, you take a com you take a completely different track. That's what you that's what is called a subversion. So here, Siddharth meets his old friend, who was his old best friend, and he comes to know that he's broken up with his girlfriend. Like his girlfriend dumped him. Now he goes to talk to him, and you think a big reunion emotional moment is gonna happen because they haven't spoken in such a long time. Now what ends up happening? They start laughing. Because that's the nature of their relationship, that they don't do these speeches and big reunion moments kind of things. And again, so that's what happens. Like you think this is gonna become sappy, this is gonna become heavily Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: emotional, but no, they take it on a completely different note, which is that they laugh and it's humor and it's on a light note. So Ananya: Hmm, yeah. Akshay: subverting the expectation. I wanna talk about one callback moment. A callback is when a moment or a scene or a dialogue which takes place between two characters early on in the film and it comes back later on in the film, where it establishes that whether the relationship the nature of relationship between these two characters have changed or not changed. Here this moment is between Siddharth's character and his mother, Supriya Pathak's character. Which is that he is being kind of a recluse, he just wears these boxer shorts and t-shirts all day long. And she comes in his room and she says you should wear more shirts, you look handsome in them. And he says I always look handsome, mom. It's not a big deal. And it's kind of dismissed. Ananya: Hm. Akshay: Now, later on, when he is like living alone and he comes to actually meet his mother. Because he's missing her, he wears a shirt. So that's a visual callback anyway. And she registers that and she even says you look so handsome in shirts and he immediately says I always look handsome. So Ananya: Mm. Akshay: even though they are they're in different places in the relationship, but the nature of the relationship is still the same. It has not changed Ananya: Hm. Akshay: that they are this loving mother-son duo. Ananya: Yeah, yeah. Now, another technique I want to talk about is the mini arc in terms of your relationship with someone or a certain scene. What does this look like? A mini arc is something which has a beginning, middle, and an end, and it's used to show character progression. So you have Ranbir Kapoor in the start of the film being woken up by Chotu. Akshay: Mm-hmm. Ananya: Who is his you know, house help, and he says, bhaiya, you're getting late for your exam, go, go, go. And he's like, What man, I told you to wake me up and they fight. Then you have when Ranbir Kapoor moves out of his parents' house and he wakes up one morning and he is just like Chhotu draw the curtains! And there you realize that okay, there is progression here because he still thinks he's in that old situation. Right? He's got old habits. And then finally, he has acr'd at the end, where Chotu comes in saying, bhaiya wake up, blah blah blah, and he is already awake. Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: So you have three scenes to constantly show us where he's at in his journey. So that's a mini arc that you can have with your with like side characters in your scenes. Akshay: Yeah, pretty cool. I didn't notice that, but huh? Very cool. one more technique I wanna talk about is having a setup and a payoff. This is not a Chekhov's gun because it's set up very late in the film and like it's not used as a weapon in the film end also. But it's a clear small setup and payoff, which is that Siddhartha's character has become independent. And he essentially does everything in the house now. Like he cooks, he cleans, he washes, he does the laundry. And one of the things he does is that he also like washes Konkana's kurta, a white kurta, which she really likes. And she has a big overreaction over this moment because she is now not liking the fact that somebody else is doing her work. And also, like she has complicated feelings for him there. So she has this big overreaction, like, why did you have to wash my kurta. I love this kurta. Ananya: Mm. Akshay: Like, I don't like it washed. And that scene ends there when like they sort of have like a water fight of sorts. And that's one scene. In the end, when he goes back home and he's packed his bag and he is unpacking, he realizes he's accidentally also gotten her kurta along with his stuff. So that's the payoff of that scene that, like this this became a thing, and now this is her kurta. And he wears Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: this kurta, and this is the kurta he actually goes and chases her. So, Ananya: Mm. Yeah. Akshay: again, a small setup and a payoff. You wouldn't have registered this kurta in the end if it was not set up before. So Ananya: Mm. Akshay: it's important to do these small moments where if you want your protagonist to wear this kurta in the end to it for it to have this big reaction, you need to set it up before. Ananya: Yeah, for sure. I wanna talk about the graph of a fight scene. Akshay: Hm. Ananya: So in this you have a scene where Ranbir Kapoor's friend, I forget her name, she comes and Akshay: Laxmi. Ananya: Lakshmi, yeah. To his house and to Konkana's house. And in fact, she and he's failed his exams. And he's like, You don't know what failure feels like. And she's You think I don't know what failure feels like. Every day I feel like I'm fat and I'm failing on my diet and all of that. All of us have our battles. And the two of them really fight. And after they fight, You know, you have this moment whenever you fight with someone after that, you start walking on eggshells around them. They're you're really like wanting to say the right thing, wanting to do the right thing. So it goes from this high of a fighting to extremely like do you know somber almost as a scene, like careful on that. And then at the end of it, they start laughing again, they start playing, and that is restoring to equilibrium that is the relationship which they ordinarily portray. So when you want to have A fight scene, and you want to go somewhere from there. This is a very organic graph of going from high emotion to very low emotion to bringing it back to normal to show that you're actually over it. Because Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: neither of those emotions show normalcy of relationship. You have to bring them back to equilibrium to show that the fight is now over, the matter has been resolved. Akshay: Hmm. And this is something that can only happen with a secondary character, right? Because generally, if your two primary characters will fight, like the equilibrium will sort of come only towards much later. Like you can't dissipate that tension immediately. so I think Ananya: Mm, no, no, no. Yeah. Akshay: it's a good trick to having like a big scene with a side character. Ananya: Let's go to character creation next. Akshay: Okay, the first I want to talk about is Siddharth's character. Now, the whole thing is that Siddhath's character's flaw is that he is a man child. In the sense that he's not a whiny man child, but in the true essence, he's a man child. Like he's spoiled. he is completely cushioned by his parents and like he has a house help, he has this great car. Like even to go to his job, he is given the bait of you'll get a new car. That that's the kind of spoiled he is. But apart from that, he is a lovely guy. So the fact that because the film centers around this one big conflict of his, you sort of have to pad his character with everything possible so that like it becomes great for him. So that Ananya: Mm. Akshay: he does even so that the fact that he when he meets her for the first time, generally you will see like Some he will pick on her, he will tease her, he will nag her. None of that happens. He is actually fascinated when she says that, I've come to the city, I'm gonna make the this my big living. Which is interesting, like, you know, because other Ranbir Kapoor films you've seen, especially when we saw Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, like he's constantly making fun of her. And, you know, he's like being sort of like a doofus around. This is just not his character. Like he is a well Ananya: Mm. Akshay: he's a well-sorted guy, like when she says she's not looking for anything more, he immediately is like, I also didn't want anything more. Like, she's like, Maybe you thought but you think about it. He's like, But yeah, literally, but like I'm okay to be friends, like I have no qualms about it. I won't make it weird. And Ananya: Mm. Akshay: he helps her move in without any expectation of anything in return. Like, it's just he's really a nice guy. He's just like he's very considerate towards his friends the moment he comes to know about his friend that she struggles with her weight, he doesn't like become awkward or weird about it. He immediately says that I'm sorry, I didn't know how much you struggled. Ananya: Mm. Akshay: So the fact that because his big flaw is that he's a man-child, they didn't give him any of the other traits of the man-child that he's whiny, he's complaining, he's entitled, Ananya: Mm. Akshay: none of those. Like he's not inconsiderate. Because and that's the interesting character technique they've employed is that of contrast, which is that you give him one flaw, but everything else is great. Ananya: Mm. Yeah, which makes the audience want to stick around for the journey, right? Like he's forgiven. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Because you're like he's not a bad guy, ya know? Like he's Ananya: Mm. Huh. Akshay: a man-child but he's not bad. Like we've seen worse people than Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: this to root for. So Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: this makes it easy for us to root for him. Ananya: Exactly. Yep. Yep. Akshay: Now I wanna talk about Aisha's character, Konkana's character, which is that she establishes that Ranbir Kapoor's character still is not her type, that he's obviously privileged. But one interesting character trait they have given her is that she doesn't taunt him, she doesn't judge him, she doesn't villainize him, she doesn't victimize herself. And she's just as it is. Like she says that we're just different, bro, it's fine. Like she doesn't Ananya: Mm. Akshay: like call him out on it, like she's not irritated by it, she doesn't express anger by it. It becomes an anger for her only when his lifestyle inconveniences her life. That and I thought there was a very interesting take on this that you know she's not bothered by him. Ananya: I like that as a character too, because she's non-judgmental. You know, because Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: most of us, if we saw someone as privileged as this character, you know, Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: getting what they want to, even from afar we would judge them. You know, we're like, Akshay: Mm-hmm. Ananya: whatever, like look at them. But she's just like, doesn't affect my life. You know, I'm in my lane, you know, moisturized in my lane, that whole thing. Yeah. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So that's what she is, which is great. Like she says what's on her mind because she's not judging anyone. Like she's like, Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: Yeah, look, I'm not sleeping with you. Look, because Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: and it's not like a judgment of character thing. Even when she tells him we can't be f more than friends because you're immature, it's not a judgment of you being immature. It's just that you're Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Ananya: immature. I need someone who's not immature. You can go be immature in a corner. It's fine, but Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: you know, just don't affect my life. Akshay: And it's also interesting that she says that I don't wanna say you'll feel bad. Like she is considerate towards him also. It's not Ananya: Hmm, yeah. Akshay: it's not blatant in consideration, like it's not honesty. Like I hate, like you know, people use honesty as a tool to be rude or like to be blatant. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: I feel like honesty can be said in Ananya: Kind. Akshay: a softer way, also. Ananya: Next, I want to talk about character complexity or character deepening using Supriya Pathak's character, Ranbir Kapoor's mom's character in this film. So, one way of showing complexity is showing a character doing almost two completely different actions or saying something and doing something, which shows us that they want one thing, but they also want another thing, which is the most human thing in the world. It's what makes us Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: complex beings, right? And in that, in this case, it's when she's telling Ranbir Kapoor off in this first one of the introductory scenes of the movie. She's like, You need to stop, you need to wear more shirts, throw away these t-shirts. But she only starts like folding his t-shirt. So she's saying one thing, you know, but she's like she's essentially saying, Become independent, become independent. But through her action, she is coddling him. And you realize that she is the reason why he hasn't become independent in the first place. And it is that complexity of being a parent, right? That you want them to become independent, but you can't sort of help your instinct of wanting to take care of them. So Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: and which stops them from becoming independent. So complexity Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: by difference in actions and words to show how they are managing this emotion internally. Akshay: Yeah. And I feel like they've done one more thing in the same technique with her character later on. Is that she's so sweet to him in the first scene, right? Like, she'll do everything for him, even though like her son is not who she wants to be, like, but she'll do everything, she's sweet, like you don't expect her to ever lash out. But the Ananya: Mm. Akshay: moment he fails, she immediately Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: says that, How could you fail? Like and that was also so human, right? Like what you said, like it's such a parentally Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: human thing that, your parents will like molycoddle you and shield you and protect you. But like the one time they did expect you to like stand up and you still fell, they will come at you. And I thought that was a Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: great, great moment. Like it also stopped her character from being one note. Ananya: One note, yeah. Akshay: Because you do realize she can also call him out. Ananya: Hm. Akshay: Eva e maybe with not with that same force which the father does. But she has Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: that complexity and emotion. So I thought that was great. Ananya: Exactly. Akshay: I wanna talk about Rahul Khanna's character who plays Konkana's boss at Mumbai Beat. And he is designed as a foil to Sid's character. Which is that she keeps telling that he's not her type. So they make him completely her type. That's what she Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: wanted from in a man, which is that he's independent, he has a job which he wants, he's passionate, he has goals, he's great in his job, he commands power, and at the same time he is culturally exciting. Like he likes to go to watch jazz gigs and stuff like that. And she thinks that she wants a guy like this, which is that, she also wants to be pretentious and arty, essentially, what she wants to be. But he is still an idea and enigma at the beginning to her because he is a desired object for her. But the moment she actually gets involved with him, she does go out with him, you realiz that he is all of these things, but that she doesn't want this anymore. Like Ananya: Mm. Akshay: she had an idea, but the idea is doesn't live up to the expectation. So I thought that was an interesting take on his character because if this his character wasn't didn't unfold in this way, she wouldn't have arc'd. She wouldn't have seen Siddharth Ananya: Mm-hmm. Akshay: for who he is. And another way he's completely different from Siddharth is that she has a very specific set of likes and quirks. Like she likes these books. So the moment they open her trunk, which the her parents have sent from Kolkata. And it's filled with books. Ranbir Kapoor is astounded that what is this life? Like, how can somebody send books? But he never judges her. He doesn't make fun Ananya: Mm. Akshay: of her. He doesn't belittle her. But the moment she says with her boss that, I don't like jazz music, or I don't I don't understand, I like probably I like Hind old Hindi music. And he actually like shames her a little bit for her choice that he says that Ananya: Mm. Akshay: keep hanging out with me, you'll come to know what real music is. So he essentially Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: like obliterated her and made her feel bad about her choices, with something Saz character has never done. So he's properly Ananya: Mm, mm. Akshay: designed to be a foil for Sid so that her character sort of understands what Sid's value is and what his value is. Ananya: Yeah, yeah. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: And for her to also understand how she is being to Sid, right? Because he Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: is being to her how she is being to Sid. Akshay: Yeah, exactly. Correct. Ananya: Cool. Let's go into genre tropes next. Akshay: Yeah. The first genre trope I want to talk about is Meet Cute. So essentially we've established that a Meet Cute is a scene where your two protagonists meet for the first time and the meeting is cute in the sense that they go get they get off on the wrong foot, and something you realize that these two people are not right for each other, or like they have a long way to cover before they come together. In this movie, this is where they do it differently. Which is that they Siddharth and Aisha meet at this college farewell party, but they don't get off on the wrong foot. They are actually cordial, they're actually nice to each other, all of that is the case. But they subvert that the essence of that meat cute trope, which is that they have to get on the off on the wrong foot. They keep the crux intact, which is that they're still starkly opposite as people. In the sense that throughout that scene they have established that he likes to spend his dad's money, she wants to earn her own money. He lives with her parents, his parents, she lives alone. He's been staying in the city all along, all his life. She's the one who's doing this big step about coming into the city, hanging out with a complete stranger, knowing nobody. He doesn't have any goals, no job, situation, nothing. She has an interview coming up. The fact that they are so different from each other gives you the same trope of the rom com, which is of of a meat cute that they have to cover a long way before they can come together. but they've done it differently here, so which I quite liked. And goes Ananya: Nice. Akshay: well with the trope of the meat cute also. Ananya: Yep, the essence is retained, the essence of them being different. Yeah. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Another moment I wanna another trope I wanna talk about is the trope of clocking. Where when you have established that your characters are not romantically interested in each other, but you still want to make it a romance film, you have to give one of your characters this moment of clocking, essentially where they notice the other character in a different light. They hadn't seen them as a romantic potential, but going forward now they do. Here Ananya: Hm. Akshay: it happens when Aisha and her neighbor, Sonia, which is this Kashmira Shah's character, they're having wine at night and they say that she says that, I think I find your Sid very sexy. And Aisha is like, what? He and sexy? I've Ananya: Mm. Akshay: never thought about that that way. And even though she completely dismisses at that point, you just need to plant the seed in that moment in your character's head that, I can also look at him differently. He can be a different being also for me. So I think that moment is interesting when they put it in a film like this. Ananya: For sure. And then that whole song is clocking, right? Akshay: Iktara. Yeah, yeah. exactly, exactly. Ananya: Niktara, yes. The whole song is her looking at him and being all, my god. Akshay: I'm gonna talk about the trope of grand gestures. Grand gestures are a thing that characters do at the beginning of the movie when they're proposing to the other person that I love you or it happens right at the end of the movie where they're like, they'll go something, they'll do something extreme and show in a big way that they love the other person. And this is done because this sort of mimics real life, like, right? Because we like somebody who does something extra for us, essentially. And like does something in a bigger way to profess their love for us. So here it essentially mainly happens with Konkana's character, where she writes this big article about him. And her intention was not that, but that's exactly that it has the exact effect. What a grand gesture would is that he notices this, he reads this, is moved by it, and also now falls in love with her again. So Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: this is a great way of doing this trope again, subverting it. The intention of the grand gesture is not, I want to let him know, but it Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: still has the same effect of that grand gesture. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: There's a trope which this film did not do, which I was really mad about. Which was the big kiss in the end. Ananya: Hmmmm Akshay: I really wanted them to kiss. Because the trope is that when your protagonists do come together, they have this big kiss in the end because that's what like you've craved your entire film to see them like this, right? Because you've built on the romantic spark, you've built on the tension, and now you just want to like see them make out. This film did not happen. I don't know why. I was feeling so bad about it. And I remember feeling this exact way when I saw it in the theatre for the first time also, which is like, why Ananya: Mm-hmm. Akshay: didn't they just kiss? That's so bizarre. Ananya: I feel like it was a bit of a leap for both these characters. I know you can take it, but very Akshay: Huh. Yeah. Ananya: organically, if you look at it through the tone of this film, Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: it was just like, would have been like these two characters, they've had nothing, like no sort of... Actually, Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: no, they did have a touch when they cuddled in bed. Akshay: Cuddle moment. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah, so that was your transgressive touch where they did, where Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: it wasn't earned, that cuddle wasn't earned because it was romantic and their relationship was platonic, but you're dying to see these characters together. Though in this Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: film, I wasn't dying to see them together. Like I honestly didn't care about the romance track. So I'm Akshay: Hm. Ananya: just like this cuddling and all. It's great for complexity of that. These relationships do get muddled, right? When you're living with Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: someone, it's like, mm, okay, like I'm doing all my household tasks with you. It feels domestic. Is there something more here? And that happened. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: I liked that. But they still hadn't built up enough. There wasn't enough. There wasn't flirting or anything for it to Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: warrant that kiss at the end. So I think tonally, Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: it was the right choice, honestly, which was made. If they wanted to have gone the full Bollywood route, they would have given it to them. But I feel like over here, even they were confused and like, what way are we going? Akshay: yeah, fair. I was just mad so I just said. Ananya: You know, convinced. Akshay: And now I have one trope of the coming of age genre. Which Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: is that meeting people and them also having the struggle like yours so that you can arc essentially. A lot of coming of age movies are they sort of from one character's lens. That this is what I need to do, this is where I am at, and everything will be about me. But you have to take this character and meet smaller characters in the movie and you have to give them their share of struggle so that your main character learns. And they Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: do that with a lot of characters where you see his best friend struggling, Lakshmi with her weight, you see Debbie angry with him for his privilege, mom studying English so that she can talk to him. And dad you know used to take photographs of him, but then life got too real and like he stopped taking them. Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: So these moments become very important for his arc to realize that I can't be so full of myself. I need to be sort of be aware of who I am and not take life Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: so easy because nobody has it easy. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: And it's a big... I think they do it in a lot of coming of age movies where you realize like it's not just about you, like the life, the world in life is bigger than you. You're like only when you meet Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: people around you, your character properly like forms an opinion and truly arcs. Ananya: Yeah, they have to be exposed to the world, right? That's when you come of age, when you realize that Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: your perspective is not the only perspective, that life is lived in different ways. Akshay: Yeah. Exactly, yeah, that. Ananya: Cool, so that's all we have on Wake Up Sid. Thank you so much for watching another episode of the Breakdown Besties podcast. And you know the drill, like, share, subscribe, leave any questions, recommendations down in the comments. And we will see you next week on another episode of the Breakdown Besties podcast. Bye. Akshay: Bye.