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E20: Karthik Calling Karthik Screenwriting Breakdown · Breakdown Besties | Bollywood Screenwriting Podcast

• Breakdown Besties Podcast: Hi guys, for our next episode we breaking down for the very first time an action film, a proper action film. the film of Bhai Salman Khan. The film we breaking down is Ek Tha Tiger. ⁓ try and the film before our episode comes out. See you next Tuesday. Ananya: Hello everyone and welcome to episode number 20 of the Breakdown Besties podcast. We made it so far once a week. Thank you for watching all our 175 people as we have right now as subscribers on YouTube. We're so thrilled you're here and we hope you are getting the film school education that we promised you through this podcast. So as you know, we are your Breakdown Besties. I'm Ananya. Akshay: Woohoo Yeah. I'm Akshay. Ananya: And we have 14 years of experience writing for shows like Mismatched, Wedding.com, Ishq in the Air, Rana Naidu, Grahan, Inside Edge, I'm so tired of saying these names every single time. ⁓ Amazon, and Disney Plus and a host of other shows that have gotten stuck in development hell but will see the light of day one day. And like we mentioned, we are here to give you a film school experience by breaking down a bunch of iconic Bollywood films and seeing the tips, the tricks that have been used, analyzing what works, what makes them work, and then breaking it down so that we can implement them in our own writing. Right. So today, the movie that we are going to be breaking down, as you know, because you clicked on the episode, is Karthik Calling Karthik, written and directed by Vijay Lalwani. This was another genre-defining film, right? Because we haven't seen a lot of these before or after, have we? Or just have I? Akshay: Yeah, I mean I don't think so. I do think I do think the the twist of the movie, spoiler alert, who has not seen it but you must. That that the disos-- like the multiple personality disorder, I think that we have seen a lot now. I think like like somebody just ⁓ just stop that. Like we saw in Bhool Bhulaiyya also. And like I don't know, hundred other movies which have done that. ⁓ Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. That's what you say a lot. yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay, so I was wrong. Yeah, I think Akshay: No, but I think this this treatment of like see the first half is like a almost a romcom of sorts and the second half becomes a completely different film. I think this treatment we didn't expect like going in the Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, this and Akshay: I do remember it being a little bit of a pop culture moment though. Like I remember in school in ninth grade everybody spoke about the songs Heya and this one, Uff Teri Ada and I think Deepika Padukone became a collective crush of everybody in at that time. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I Though I thought she couldn't act in this film. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, yeah. She couldn't, she couldn't. You can really see, no, Nai like bad like it You can see her ⁓ And I remember this conversation also became like a topic. Like, is her dress in that song brown or purple or like what is the colour? Even though you know the Facebook thing it had, like is the dress golden or white or whatever? So yeah, equivalent to that. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Yeah, whatever, yeah. Wow. Okay, cool. So let's get into this film like we always do by getting into the log line. So what is the log line of your film? The log line is your film's guiding light. Essentially, it summarises your entire film, its premise in 40 words or less, and it allows you to see the point of your film. So when you are lost deep into the weeds of the screenplay of your film and you can't see the forest for the trees and you're like, what am I even writing about? What's the point of this film? What's the point of the scenes? This dialogue? To what end are we writing this? That is when you go back to your log line because it will answer all your questions. Now, why is it so effective at answering all your questions? Because it contains four essential elements. And those are one, your flaws slash block slash limitation slash wound slash need. So essentially this is something within your character. This is something that they lack or something that's stopping them from achieving element number two, which is their goal. The goal is the whole reason you're watching the film. It's why we go on the journey and watch this character. It's because they are pursuing something. It keeps your audiences hooked and going. Number three is conflict. Conflict is this external obstacle which challenges your character's internal need. So whatever they are scared of facing, whatever their fear is inside, it materialises externally and only by overcoming that external force are they able to change from the inside and go one step closer to their goal. So if the goal is the destination, the conflict is the journey. And finally you have stakes. Stakes are what your character will lose should they not achieve their goal. It is not simply not achieving their goal. It is going one level lower and losing something extra. Right? Okay. So that being said, I have a log line for Karthik calling Karthik and it is a longer log line than usual because there are so many elements to encapsulate in this. And okay. So I will read it out to you and break it down. So when a man with low self-esteem, Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Ananya: starts receiving phone calls from himself that allow him to live the life of his dreams and land a girlfriend. He must keep these phone calls secret from his girlfriend lest he be considered crazy and lose it all. Akshay: Yeah, this is great. Yeah. Sounds perfect. Ananya: So, okay, so let's break it down into its four elements, right? The first is limitation. In this case, he has a limitation of having very low self-esteem. He doesn't believe in himself, he doesn't believe anything is possible. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: He has the goal of living the life of his dreams and wanting a girlfriend. And the reason I've separated wanting a girlfriend is because that is where the lion's share of the movie concentrates, right? Like he gets his first two goals of the job and the house cleared out really fast. The girlfriend has a bit of a chase, right? Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And even I have written I actually I just wrote that he his biggest goal is wanting a girlfriend. Which ⁓ yeah, yeah. The other two almost falls into the category of he needs to overcome those two things to get his goal. So yeah, yeah. Ananya: Goal is girlfriend. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And conflict, keep the phone call secret. Now, this challenges the limitation of low self-esteem because as a man with low self-esteem, it's hard to keep a secret because you're constantly like, ⁓ my God, what if I get found out or, you know, will she leave me? Like, I need to say this. So that's why it's the conflict. Challenges is low self-esteem and the stakes are considered to be lazy and lose it all. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Crazy. Ananya: Yeah, crazy. Yeah. Did I lazy? ⁓ Okay. I've written lazy also. I've written twice. ⁓ Yeah. Akshay: Huh, yeah. Yeah, you said lazy. Yeah. Yeah, that makes all That's perfect actually. Ananya: Cool. Yeah. So now that I'm reading this back and I'm thinking about the film, I'm like while his limitation is low self-esteem, ⁓ conflict of keeping the phone call secret doesn't directly challenge that limitation, right? Akshay: Ha ha ha. Ananya: Because the conflict is something that challenges your inner flaw, right? Like if your flaw is being someone who a coward, your conflict will be facing a lion. So it challenges it. So if his conflict is having low self-esteem, he has essentially kind of, he overcomes low self-esteem very early on in the film. Akshay: Ha. Hmm. Hmm. That's also another problem I had, which was like the switch was so fast. Like the day he said that, okay, I'm gonna follow your instructions, he suddenly he changes, you know, like it's like a switch which happens. Like somebody like literally went like Ting, Ting, Ting, okay, I'm perfect now. Like I wish there was a little more struggle of that. Like, like even in a scene work, if it was like, Yes, I'll do it, yes, I'll do it. You know what? No, I'm not gonna do it. Just a little bit of that. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. No. Hmm. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, I wouldn't now I'm revisiting my own logline and I wouldn't say that conflict is keep the phone call secret ⁓ because by the time he has to keep the phone call a secret, has already overcome his limitation. So conflict challenges limitation. But when there's no limitation, Akshay: Huh. Ananya: there is nothing to challenge. Akshay: Hmm. I think what you say that, you know, like if he's a coward, the conflict has to be the lion. In some way it is that like he's like he has low self esteem and shows as the is the flaw or limitation he has. The fact that he is taking orders from somebody is the conflict in some way. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that is correct. That his low self-esteem, his new confidence doesn't come from inside, it's attached outside of him. So that way keeping the phone calls a secret does become the conflict because he has to kind of keep taking these phone calls to keep his self-esteem where it is. That is really good. Yeah. Well thought out. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Yeah, yeah. Hmm hmm. Ananya: Let's into hero's journey next. So what is your hero's journey? Your hero's journey is the structural spine of your film. It is the journey every character goes on, which allows them to overcome their flaw and eventually achieve their goal. Even if they don't achieve their goal, they do end up overcoming their flaw and that in itself is achieving the bigger goal. Now, when all of us, from our characters to ourselves, set out to do something new, we also set out on our own hero's journeys because it's the most natural journey that we embark on when you go out to do anything new. You feel scared, but you hesitate, you find someone who helps you through it, you achieve it, you fight, all of that. So... This hero's journey is essentially a diagnostic tool which you use which will allow you to map out the various turning points of these journeys which you and your character are both going to go on and ensure that it gives your audience that experience, emotional hit of those various emotional turning points which they will experience on this road to achieving their goal. This is what helps keep your audiences in their seats. Akshay: Hmm. Ananya: Okay? So, the hero's journey of Karthik calling Karthik begins with the ordinary world as do all hero's journeys. The ordinary world is the world in which your hero exists before they set out to achieve their mission and their goal. In the ordinary world, you see what their flaw is, what their daily life is, the where, what, when, who and why of the situation they're in and why haven't they achieved their goal yet. In the ordinary world here, we see that Karthik is a regular employee. He has no friends. He's lonely. His boss hates him. His landlord is sucking his blood. ⁓ He gets fired from his job. Nothing is going his way. And by the end of it, he wants to kill himself. He's anyway very low and he's quite depressed and he wants to kill himself. And then we have the call to action. The call to action is when the character is called and said that come come now you can achieve your goal we are giving you this opportunity to go and achieve your goal. So over here as he's about to kill himself gets a mysterious phone call. ⁓ Akshay: A call for a call to action. Ananya: So he gets this call and the caller on the other end sounds suspiciously like him, seems to know everything about him, says I want to help you, blah blah blah. Karthik freaks the fuck out and he is like, he puts the phone down. And that takes us to the refusal of the call. Now the refusal of the call is when you're offered this opportunity to actually get what you want, which in Karthik's case is a life that he actually doesn't dread living but enjoys living. The life of his dreams. You're like, but wait, what? This is too good to be true. I can't even do it. Am I capable? It's the hesitation because of which you refuse the call. So Karthik banging the phone down is a refusal of the call. And then he goes to the MTNL office. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: the MTNL office also tells him that boss, you didn't receive any call, it's all in your head. Whatever. So he's like, okay. And then he goes home that evening and he gets a call again. And this call can also be considered meeting the mentor. Right? The mentor is in meeting the mentors the next stage of your hero's journey. Over here, you meet someone who has been on the journey that you want to go on. Akshay: ⁓ Ananya: And they say that, going to help you. If your goal is to slay the dragon, I'm going to give you the sword to help you do that. And he says that your goal is living a good life. I want to help you live a good life. I can help you live a good life. Or is it that you just don't want to be helped or you not trust that I can help you? What is it? Don't you want to be helped? Don't you want to be helped? I can help you. And then Karthik says, okay, fine. Like I'm listening to you. So he stays up all night talking to that voice that's telling him how to improve his life. You need to learn to say no, you say yes to everyone and everything and he really takes in the learnings of this mentor on the other. Then you have crossing the threshold. Crossing the threshold is when your character takes a real step into the new world. He does something that marks that, okay, now I'm stepping into this new world and I cannot return from this point. I'm committed to achieving my goal. And in this film, it is when Karthik takes on his landlord who is asking for an extra deposit and says that... Akshay: Mm. Ananya: No, buddy, this ain't happening and in fact turns the situation around in his favour and gets money out of his ⁓ Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Ananya: And I think the crossing the threshold emotionally, think because of the way they've done the music and stuff over there, it continues even until when he goes back to the same job he's been fired ⁓ from and negotiates new position for himself, that also feels like he's still crossing into this new world. Right? Akshay: Huh. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Cossing. Yeah, like like you're right. Like it's not just the music, the way they've stationed it, like he's walking in the corridor in that new suit, all of that feels like so like he's entering the new world essentially. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, exactly. He's still crossing that threshold. And once that happens, once he negotiates a higher head of business development position from himself at his old job, that's when he's crossed in. He's made it. And now he can go after his real goal, which is getting Deepika Padukone's character, Shonali. Right? And that takes us into your next stage of your hero's journey, which is your tests, allies and enemies. Akshay: Huh. Mm, mm. Yeah. Ananya: That once you've crossed here, understanding what your new world is. Who are your friends? Who are your enemies? What challenges are going to be coming your way in this new world? So over here, we see that we have an initial enemy, who is Deepika Padukone's current boyfriend. Then we Deepika who's going to be his ally. And the challenges of essentially, well, getting a girlfriend. Because there are no other challenges in this that... Akshay: Yeah Yeah, like correct. Like she just says, I'm not interested in men but like him trying to like woo her becomes the challenge in this situation. Yeah. Ananya: stem from his brain or mental health. Hmm. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And another ally on his course or mentor is his own or his own personality, other personality. And so by the end of this, he ends up winning Deepika Padukone over, they go on dates, non they paint his house, all of that. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Until finally they go shopping for him one day and they run into his cousin and there he says that she is just a friend and Deepika says I'm your girlfriend and then we begin the approach to the innermost cave. Now your approach to the innermost cave is if your goal is to slay the dragon and steal the bag of gold here is where you approach the cave where the dragon is sleeping you endeavor to take it on and steal that bag of gold. So over here, Farhan Akhtar's character says, hey, thank you for like keeping up the ruse of being my girlfriend in front of my cousin. And she's like, hey, but I am your girlfriend. And then it goes into another sort of courtship sequence where they're like, now someone has to make the first move. They go clubbing, then she's drunk. So he doesn't want to like take advantage of her because she's drunk. But then he gets drunk himself. He's like, the both of us can take advantage of each other. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And then just as they're about to hook up, her insecurities kick in. So then he takes her to the office in the middle of the night to show her unwritten, written but unsent declarations of love, which is mildly creepy, but okay. He's got issues. Yeah. The whole movie is centered around his issues. So yes. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's got a shoes. He's got his shoes. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And Deepika sees drafts and drafts of unsent love letters and she's like now I know your love is real because you waited it out for me. And then they hook up and they have approached the innermost cave. They are in a relationship. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So we have the ordeal. So once you have approached your innermost cave, you've gotten what you've wanted, ⁓ then you have to pay the price of it. So there for me the ordeal was that Deepika is like, look, I've been burnt by men lying a billion times. So you please don't lie to me. And he's just like, okay. Akshay: Hmm. ⁓ mm, mm. Ananya: Cool so I will-- he's conflicted he's like should I tell her about the phone call should I not tell her about the phone call so he decides to tell her about the phone call he's like look buddy this is happening and she's like bro you have issues you need to go see a therapist either you go see a therapist or we break up because I ain't marrying you when you got issues you're not willing to treat ⁓ and Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: then he goes to the therapist and he tells the therapist what's happening she's like, you know what? I'm going to come to your house and see whether you actually get these calls at 5 a.m. ⁓ lo and behold, the call actually comes. He threatens the therapist character, Shefali Shah. And then ⁓ he tells Deepika, bro, this happened. Now, do you me that I actually get these calls? Therapist ma'am is also saying I get these calls. Akshay: Hmm, mm. Mm. Ananya: She's like, no, no, I will answer. I will come over and see, and the call actually comes. When the call comes, she says, don't answer it. Don't answer it. Have you ever thought of not answering it? So, ⁓ then after some time, ⁓ leaves because she's flipping out. I'm outta here. Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Mm. ⁓ Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And then later he finally answers the call and that is the Karthik on the other end saying, bro, who are you to not answer my call? Who do you think you are? Now I'm going to fuck you. Your life is going to be over, blah, blah, blah. And that proceeds to happen because that Karthik ends up calling the boss, ends up calling Deepika, calling her a slut, getting... Now then he gets fired from his job. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: He loses his girlfriend. All of that. So he leaves town, he decides to go, leave forever to a place where even he doesn't know the name, he doesn't know the location, nothing. Gets on a train, asks a stranger to buy him a ticket and he goes to a nondescript town without a phone, nothing. ⁓ And then the reward. Now that you've faced this ordeal of everything in your life going wrong and you're finally away from the dragon who has been chasing you down, Akshay: Broken up with Ananya: you've taken the bag of gold, you have a moment of relief, of reprieve. For Karthik, this comes in the form of not getting any more calls because he doesn't have a phone and of having started a new life and a new job which he's actually really good at. Then you have the way back where you think you're okay, you're fine, you're on your way back home, you've escaped what you need to escape, gotten what you needed to get, but your road back is still filled with challenges. There are still people who are trying to steal that bag of gold from you. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Life. Ananya: In this case, it is his new boss who says that while you're a phenomenal job, in this day and age, you can't not have a phone. So you have to go get a phone. So Karthik is extremely scared to do so. He gets a phone, but he doesn't even want to know the number. He's like, I have no interest in knowing anything that's going on. And he waits it out and he's scared he's going to get another call. But luckily he doesn't. The first night. Akshay: Hm. Ananya: But the next night onwards, he gets calls again that, you thought you could escape me. I'm back. You're done for. You should kill yourself. You should kill yourself. And Karthik is so tormented by this that he proceeds to commit suicide for the second time over in this film. But then you have the resurrection. The resurrection is when your characters are at lowest point and then they've been attacked. They've been on the way home and they're almost not going to make it. But they rise from the ashes and fight the demon again. In this case, Kartik resurrects when Deepika Padukone finds him. Because separately, she and the therapist have put together the facts that Kartik has schizophrenia and something is wrong with him. So she comes to save him and he resurrects. He is alive. ⁓ then you have the return with the elixir. Akshay: Mm. Mm. Yeah. Ananya: This is when you return to your old world but now you're a new person. Over here we go back to the old world where Karthik is now living with Deepika and it is now his birthday much like it was when he wanted to first kill himself in the film. Except this time, Shefali Shah's character calls and says happy birthday we're all here with you, Deepika is here with him. So now he is in the new world but he is in the old world but he is a new person. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. And she says that, ⁓ I'll see you soon. That means like he's continuing with his therapy or like treatment essentially. Yeah. Ananya: It'll be. Yeah. Okay, let's go into the theme next. So what is the theme of your film? So as an artist, when you create art, you have a perspective on the world and your art is nothing but a medium for you to tell the world that, this is what I think about where we live, the human condition, circumstances, what I believe is right or wrong. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: This is the most important part of anything you create. It is the heart and soul and without this underlining your work, your work tends to be empty. So over here in a film specifically in these formats, your theme is posed as a dramatic question. It may or may not be a question you ask directly out loud to your audience, but it is a question you definitely have in mind and you already know the answer. And through the actions your character takes throughout the film and the final result that they obtain, you will give the answer to your audience that this is my belief on the world. So in the case of Karthik Calling Karthik, I believe the question, the dramatic question they've asked is, is our mind our best friend or our worst enemy? Akshay: Hmm. Interesting. Yeah. Ananya: And I'll tell you why I think so. Because from the get-go itself, you know that it is Karthik calling Karthik. It's in the name of the film. So you are never confused about who this mysterious caller is. And given that, in the start of the film, you've seen him have nightmares. And they've explained this backstory where his brother who was bullying him passed away while trying to bully him and Karthik carries the guilt of it his whole life, Akshay: So Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fair. Ananya: you understand that there is a mental health condition at play over here. So in that case, you know that the calls are actually his own mind speaking to him. So only time the calls become real to the audience is when Shefali Shah's character listens, sees the phone ringing and answers the call. Then you're like, ⁓ my God, like how did this happen? Right? So until then you know what's going on in their own head, right? Akshay: Hmm. Hm, hm. Yeah. My God. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So it's like, okay, but it was his own mind till then that was his best friend that got him to this level of success that he wanted to be at. But later on, even when he isolates himself or when he does something wrong, when he ignores the phone call, he gets a call again. And this time it's his mind saying, you didn't like believe me, you didn't listen to me, et cetera. Of course, for some time you're confused that, okay, but this is a real caller. Is this someone tricking him? Akshay: Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm, hm. Mm. Hmm. Ananya: all of that but later on once the schizophrenia diagnosis and stuff is revealed when they reveal to you how those calls are actually coming to him you realize that it is actually him it is his own mind and that time his own mind is his worst enemy so when you don't keep a promise to yourself you know let's say that I promise myself that I'll write a script in the next three months and that at that point you're like okay great I'm doing this really well Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: The moment you break that promise to yourself that okay I'm gonna write every day and then you don't write for one day, your mind hates you, right? They're like, how dare you? You're terrible, you're stupid, how can you do that? And that's the same thing that happens to him, that you know, I'm gonna keep you, I'm gonna boost you and your confidence but the moment you don't listen to me or you don't take my instructions, you don't do it how I think it should be done, then I'm gonna become your worst enemy. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Mm. Ananya: that is, I feel like the theme of the film that they're asking is your mind your best friend or your worst enemy? And they've answered the question by saying because this could have worked even with someone without a mental health illness because I think our minds are just crazy places right because we all have this internal dialogue always going on. But in this they've said that ⁓ yes in the case of someone with a mental health condition especially it is your worst enemy. Akshay: So Hmm. Yeah. Self sabotaging nature, yeah. Ananya: at the end he does almost kill himself because of his own mind playing tricks on him. But this film takes the theme ⁓ level further, it pushes it, where it says then, okay, but who is your friend in that case? And over here it is other people. ⁓ ⁓ the start when he wants to kill himself and he's stuck with his own mind, he is lonely. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Hmm, mm. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And now when he's rescued, has Deepika Padukone, has Shefali Shah coming to his rescue. So which also shows that, you know, when all of us are struggling, it's easier to talk to another person because they give you perspective on yourself. Yeah, which you never have. So this is, I think, largely what the theme is talking about, that you can be your worst enemy, but others can be trusted to help you out when you're being terrible to yourself. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, to reach out. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna talk about tone. Ananya: Hmm, yeah. Akshay: So I think this is a slight problem of a lot of Bollywood movies that we can't stick to a genre. And and I'm not saying that we shouldn't do genre bending stuff. That's not what I'm saying. Like, but I feel genre bending transcends first half, second half. Like your each scene should feel they belong in two different genres, right? Like or like multiple scenes should happen. Here it was a simple case of the first half as your Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: romantic comedy movie, it's all cute and fun, and so much of it is shown, right? Like the chase, like you said, to for him to get his girlfriend, not just that, but like even to show so many cute moments about them. It just almost made me feel a little impatient to see that where is this going? Like when are we gonna start talking about the actual film? And recently another film had come out, Tu Yaa Main which was about these two people like Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: They're in love and they get stuck in a hotel swimming pool, and the swimming pool is now filled with crocodiles. Like that was the sell of the movie, okay? ⁓ yeah, like it's it's one of those creature feature movies like an Anaconda or Jurassic Park. But again, what they did the first half is entirely a rom-com, which is like them them just falling in love, him chasing her, whatever. And only your second half becomes about these crocodiles. But I wanted to see the crocodiles Ananya: Hmm... No. Hmm. Akshay: Immediately, right? Like I wanna see the I wanna see like for in the first ten minutes what's wrong. correct? So similarly, I felt that it's a risk because I feel like people are like the Bollywood films are structured as two halves, right? Like if like and there's a little bit of confidence lacking to commit to a genre in the sense that there needs to be something for everybody. Like if somebody is not on board with Ananya: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you have to tease it at least. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: the psychological thrillerness of this film, but at least like the romance will like like get you in. And I feel and I'm not criticizing the romance moments. They like fully gave me like butterflies and they were like really cute moments. But I just wish that the psychological elements kept seeding in throughout. Like the fact that he says that you cannot tell anybody about me. Ananya: Ha ha Hmm. Yeah. Hmm Yeah. Yeah. Hmmmm Akshay: Also came in so late in the film. Like, imagine how creepy would it be if every call of his ended like that. ⁓ do this, do this, do this, but remember, you cannot tell anybody. So at least there would be a little bit of stake building throughout the film. ⁓ but it did just did not happen. So I wish like there was little more genre meshing in that sense. So that it just... Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Bye, Sean. Akshay: So that it won't completely feel two different firms. Ananya: Absolutely, yeah, yeah. But speaking of tone, I want to give credit to film where credit is due in terms of the realist-ic-ness, the realism of this film. Like, you know, Bollywood films have this tendency of just things being unrealistic. But ⁓ which fine, which is what Bollywood films are for. They're for escapism, they're to show you the promise of a better life. But over here, the film is hyperreal in a lot of ways. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Food. Ananya: So they've used really small moments to show you that. Like when he first, when his boss fires him on the phone, like, and he picks up the phone and throws it. Okay, common. We've seen people break shit in a lot of films. But then he starts picking up the pieces. I'm like, they've kept it real. You know, when Deepika is applying lipstick and he throws the lipstick away, like everyone who I was watching it with their reaction was, arey Mac ki 4000 ki lipstick hai. And that is ⁓ literally... Akshay: Hm. Hm, yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And that is like her reaction to Deepika's like go and bloody get that back for me. So he goes and he retrieves it. So they've kept it very real in this sense of the film. Akshay: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And since we're talking about the tone, I just want to talk about the world very briefly, terms of how they've used it. Because as it is hyperreal, the world is hyperreal, they haven't really tried to take you outside of it and build anything larger than life. So all the conflicts also stem from the world in terms of when he's asking her out, they're in an office. Akshay: Hmm. ⁓ Mm-hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: So how can you get creative within an office to ask someone out? So because it's an architectural firm, he prints it on a plaque and he sends her like coffee tonight. And she also responds with taking out the plaque and covering it and saying no. Then they're talking communication on the printer. So they didn't feel the need for a big dance and drama sequence. They thought, how can we use this world and make the characters ⁓ creative within it? And that is like a true test of your creativity, right? How do you work constraints? Akshay: ⁓ yeah. No, yeah. Mm. Hm. Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Because unlimited budget can you can send them flying to the moon but how do you use the world to add elements and conflict to it? They're very mundane things which they've taken and created conflict out of them. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: which is really Which is hard to do in a realistic film. always... ⁓ Akshay: Yeah. Especially in the Bollywood film, I find it so hard. Like, you know, like the constant brief, like how is this exceptionally different? You know? But the fact that they tried to keep it not different was different in this film. Yeah. Ananya: hard. Different. Exactly. Hmm... different. Exactly. Next, want to talk about ⁓ the of Karthik, character creation. So I love the way they have introduced Karthik. I'm not saying I love the character, ⁓ but they've done is immediately created relatability right off the bat. The filmmakers knew their audience really well. They knew that it is the ordinary office going person. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Mm. Mm. Huh. Ananya: and they're They were like, what problems do they have in their life? They have a landlord who's an asshole, a boss who's an asshole, they are lonely, they come home to nobody, they feel like they're terrible. These are very common and relatable problems. So you have two ways of approaching character creation. I mean, you several ways, but in a film like this, which is hyper realistic, you have two ways of creating it. Either a character who you really admire or a character you... ⁓ Akshay: Yeah. So Ananya: relate to and is very ordinary. And in this case, they've chosen to go the very, very ordinary route and instantly the audience is just like, okay, he's one of And this works really well because this creates range, which is another thing which you do when you want to create a character ⁓ is you introduce them at their lowest so that then you can take them to their highest and it lands. It shows a genuine difference. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: So they've shown this man who just cannot speak and later on they've created this character, built him up into someone who can speak to anyone and get anything done and has a way, has a trick for anything and everything. So it is only by starting at a low over here that you can take this character to a high. If you'd started him out at a medium, no one's interested in that arc. You need range. Akshay: Hm. Hm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I think what they also like-- more than relatability, obviously it is relatable, but the fact that they they make you sympathize with him so much. Like you almost feel so bad for him because like it's again relatable, right? Like you also feel bad for yourself when your boss is shouting at you. ⁓ but the fact that it's you don't like anybody being punched down so much, right? Like Ananya: Hmm. Mmm. Yeah, yeah. Hmm. Akshay: in the sense that the the landlord is so unreasonable with him and the boss is so unreasonable. Like he says that give me one contract, but he demands contracts at two like for like two things and makes him stay up the whole night. And ⁓ the fact that Deepika's character doesn't even know that he exists. So obviously there is an aspect of relatability, but you also feel so bad for him that right, like I feel they use sympathy to make create empathy for him. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. This is so. Hmm. But do you think that works? Akshay: I think it worked in this film for sure. Ananya: Hmm, because yeah, I think it did work. But usually if you do this with a character who doesn't like stand up, you will like you will get really annoyed. You'll be like, dude, stand up for yourself, you know. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Huh, But I feel that because it's a starting point of this film, it works. Like if it was the entire first half of the film you'd be like oh my god this needs to end already. So I it's just because it's just the starting point, I thought that was good. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Good, yeah. And he does stand up to his boss, which ultimately leads to him getting fired. So he's not completely, ⁓ Yeah. Akshay: Huh, yeah. Yeah. At At least he's trying to reason with the boss that he says that no, you did not say two contracts and but it's just that the the nature of this world is that you know like the you have to listen to your boss in some way. So what to do? And I also thought they balanced with his character want versus need very nicely in the sense that Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Akshay: his want is very clear that he needs a girlfriend. Like he wants this woman to be his girlfriend. Like he's not caring so much about I need respect from the boss. I I need like the all that is secondary. But his actual want is that he wants a girlfriend. But you know as his need as his need as his character is that he needs to just be confident, raise his self-esteem and Ananya: Mm-hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: the need comes from his other personality, which says tells him like stop saying yes all the time. Like you need to say no. So I thought they did a good balance of want versus need, for at least for his character properly. Ananya: Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah, very well done. Yeah. into genre tropes. Because in this ⁓ film, like ⁓ a lot films like these, genre trope is a tragic backstory, right? When someone has a mental illness. ⁓ A mental illness from a childhood incident, someone shouted at him and they became like this, essentially trauma. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Yeah. Ananya: as a backstory which justifies mental illness which they use to create empathy for him throughout the film and to help us understand that this is why he might be suffering. But at the end what they do is they reverse the backstory. They say that achha, he didn't actually like he never had a brother who he killed because of which he feels guilty. His brain invented that brother. So it's like he didn't have ⁓ Akshay: Mm. Mm. Hm Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Ananya: an incident which led to a mental health disorder. He had a mental health disorder which led to imagining that or creating that incident in his head. So I think this is a really good tool to use in a mystery film like this where it these elements of mystery. It's a genre trope where you essentially reverse the cause and effect where the effect can be the cause and the cause can be the effect. I don't know what to call it. So I called it the palindrome backstory. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Mm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So, I don't know. Or you can do this not just with a backstory but with any device. Where you think the device is the cause but if it logically it can be the effect also if switched together. So this is a really good tool if it works logically to create a twist in your film. So which they have done over here. Akshay: Mm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, but I Ananya: Cool. And another genre trope I want to point out for this mystery sort of ⁓ thing called the logical explanation or the device, which is when you have something that is mysterious, it can't be explained, it seems supernatural, but it's not supernatural. And there's actually a device that has been used, the explanation, the logical explanation. So over here, it's how is Karthik getting all these calls? Okay, fine. It might be in his head. But how is Shefali Shah and how are Deepika Padukone being able to listen to him. How when he unplugged the phone does the phone keep ringing? And that's when they take you to a flashback. And flashback can be very gimmicky, but they have done it very well in this case where... Very well done. Where Kartik first buying the phone and the features of the phone are being explained to him. But he sees Deepika outside the store, so he's not... Akshay: Yeah I love the the sw they've done. Yeah. Ananya: paying attention to that consciously. So he's looking at Deepika. So as an audience, also aren't that-- the sound is not there for the shopkeepers saying you're like yeah he's explaining the phone's features, who cares. But later on, we realize logical explanation is provided when you want to say that this is not a supernatural phenomenon, but a scientific phenomenon that the phone has this feature of sending reminders to yourself. It will ring at a certain hour, etc. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah, huh? Shun childry, huh? Mm. Yeah. Ananya: and show you that flashback when the guy is explaining all this his attention was elsewhere. So very beautifully done in a flashback. They have used character motivation to eliminate that information from both the audience and the characters conscious mind. And as they say the subconscious notes everything so he was able to remember all that information and also he had a box with instructions. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And they And they also say that they go one step further to explain what subconscious mind works like, right? Like even when he's working, he can hear Deepika Padukone's boyfriend like talking to his wife in Delhi. So even though he doesn't register what his subconscious, unconscious mind registered that it ⁓ and even with his boss that you know catches his boss with his secretary or whoever, like, you know. So I thought they did it very well, yeah. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. subconscious or just is it yeah Hmm... Yeah... Very well, yeah, for sure. And then another genre trope from the rom-com genre that I wanted to point out was a transgressive touch. So when this happens, when your characters in a rom-com haven't reached that level in their relationship yet where they can be like touching each other, holding hands all that... But it's a rom-com, so you need to give your audience that feeling. Akshay: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Ananya: So, and also you need to give your characters a sense of yearning, which comes from things that they're not allowed to do and yearning and feeling a little bit then pulling it away. And over here, it is when they are painting Farhan Akhtar's house and he gets some paint on his face and Deepika rubs it off. So that is creating touch before it has actually been earned within the film. Akshay: Mm. Huh. Hm, yeah. Yeah, yeah. From a rom-com point of view, I have two more genre tropes. Which is first is ⁓ grand gestures. So first he asks her out for the coffee and she says yes. ⁓ And and they go on a drive and she's like, Where are we going? He's like, You didn't tell me where to go for coffee. So he takes her all the way to Khandala. He like organizes like a small picnic. Ananya: Hmm. No. Hmm, yeah. Akshay: ⁓ so again, A grand gesture in a romantic comedy holds. Like in Barfi! you know, he goes to the clock tower to say like hello, or in Band Bajaa Baaraat he burns a CD for her all night to like give her. So I thought like that's a common trope we see. The second one which happens in rom-coms is delayed gratification. Delayed gratification specifically for the first Ananya: Hmm. Yeah Hmm. Akshay: kiss for the first time like the characters sort of get physical with each other. So in this case, they have the song Uff Teri ⁓ and like he drops her home, she says, Come kiss me. And he's like, No, I can't kiss you because you're drunk. So she's like, Fine, you're boring. She goes in, he gets out, he's like, he does want to hook up with her. So he drinks, and then he goes upstairs and you know, he says, Now I think we can hook up because I'm also drunk. So you think, okay, now they will hook up. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Mmm. Akshay: They don't. Her insecurities pop up there that, you know, this is not a one night thing, right? So he takes her all the way to the office, shows her all the emails, and that's when the first time properly like hug slash hookup, implied hookup. ⁓ So I thought like delayed gratification was cool there. Yeah. Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. No. Yes, yes, perfect. Why does this work so well? Because you know that this is what your audience is waiting for. And the moment you've given it to them, the edge of the seatness goes away. Then people are not sitting at the edge of their seat. So you are, as a writer, always playing this fine balance of how do I keep my audience at the edge of the seat, but also not make them impatient to like, damnit just get to it already. So this trope of delayed gratification really works in that case. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Я ⁓ Ananya: ⁓ shall we go into and sequences next? Akshay: Yeah, let's do that. Ananya: Cool. One technique I want to talk about is which I have spoken about earlier called conflict piling. Or you put one conflict after another after another on a character and you see how they react. You think? ⁓ conflict piling essentially helps elevate the scene. Instead of taking conflict at one level, you add another to it, you make it worse, you make it worse. Over here, I want to talk about the scene where Farhan Akhtar finally gets fired. Akshay: Mm. I know which one you're talking about, I think so. Yeah. Hmm. No, that was not my scene though. No. ⁓ Ananya: Did you think? Okay. So in conflict piling over here, Farhan Akhtar tells his boss that bro, you told me to only do one company's contracts. Now you're asking for two. So he's like, ⁓ the boss first says, "you're saying that I made a He's like, no, I'm not really implying that kind of, wasn't implying that. And then the boss takes it one step further. He's like, ⁓ so you want me to apologize to you? You think you're so much better than me, I should apologize to you. So that's the second conflict. The third conflict is he doesn't stop there. He goes out to the whole office, Ram Kapoor's character, and announces that, ⁓ look, Farhan thinks he's so great, he wants me to apologize to him. And fourth, he finally fires Farhan's character in front of everyone. Akshay: Mm. Mm-hmm. Ananya: So this scene could have been a simple scene in the office that you're disrespecting me, you're a shit worker, bye. But they push the conflict. How can they push the further and they add to it. It's not like they're constantly just talk about I told you this, no, you told me this. I told you this, no, you told me They're like, they keep adding to it. You think I said this, now I'll fire you. ⁓ Now I'm to apologize. Okay, no, not just apology in front of everyone. Now I'll fire you in front of everyone. So they've pushed it, elevated it and piled it up. Akshay: Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and like the point of the scene is to us for us to feel so bad for him, right? Like, how can you make feel horrible for this guy? And I think they add one more thing in the scene, which is like at the end of the scene, Deepika Padukone finally does notice him and she's like, Is this guy new in our office? So you know that she doesn't even register that he's been working here for so long and you have seen him yearn for her so much. Ananya: and Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. so much, exactly. And she notices him at his worst. So that is the worst time to be noticed also. So they've done that very well in the sense of... because again, that goes into range, right? If you're going to build a love story, you need the characters starting off on the wrong foot. That's why we always have meet-cutes where something goes wrong. Or over here, where if they're supposed to get married, it has to start with her not even noticing him. So they've used this scene to create that range and they've... Akshay: Yeah, correct. Yeah. Hello. Hmm. Mm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: essentially double, they've done one thing, many things with one scene. Akshay: Hmm, hm. Very nicely, hmm. Ananya: So very nicely done. And I wanted to talk about the opposite of conflict piling, which I don't know what to call it. I called it admiration piling, is admiration. I don't know. So this is where it's essentially like you have a machine gun ⁓ you're killing one person after the other and not missing a single target. Akshay: Hmm. What piling? ⁓ okay. Admiration. Ananya: And this is what you use this technique when you really want to show that your character is top notch at this unbeatable sort of level, which they do with Farhan Aktar's character when he has to speak to the landlord, when he decides to cross the threshold. So when they're crossing the threshold, become Dutch, now crossing the threshold, it is so... Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Ha ha ha. Ananya: Farhan Akhtar, landlord comes and says that bro, you where's my deposit of 50,000 rupees. He's like, actually I repaired the floors that caused this much, I repaired this which caused this much. So actually, ⁓ kind of owe me 5000 rupees, right? And then he's like, what are you talking about and all. And then Farhan Akhtar doesn't stop there. So anyway, you're admiring him that he's done this reverse mental math thing. He's like, ⁓ by the way, I know you're running, selling that garage, renting it out illegally, etc. ⁓ Akshay: Hmm, hmm. Mm. Mm. Ananya: that needs to like, I'm going to report you for that. And then the guy's like, okay, what? And then he's like, there's that guard who takes care of it. I don't like the way he looks. Fire him. So he's not just ⁓ taking thing. ⁓ He's it from many different angles and adding to it. So this is admiration piling where you're like, this guy's not just smart. He's can like really work with the whole situation. So this technique works when you want to really establish admiration for your character and that's admiration piling. Akshay: Mm. Huh. Adding. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. It's like a superhero technique, right? Like first you would like go for one person at a time, then you like I can hit two people at the same time. you know what, I can tackle four people at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. Cool. Pretty cool. Ananya: Exactly. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Hmm. Akshay: I wanna talk about misleading as a technique. ⁓ in this scene, ⁓ okay. So misleading is when you are as an audience as an audience think that the scene is gonna go in some one direction, but the filmmaker or the writer decides that no, that's not it. We're gonna take you in a completely different direction. So in this one is he is told by the caller that remember nobody can know about us. Like you can't tell anybody that you get these calls. And when he tells Deepika Padukone's character, Shonali, that I do get these calls, she says, go to the therapist. And the therapist also says, you know what? I don't do this for anybody, but I'm gonna come to your place and like actually ⁓ see if the caller calls or not. ⁓ And in this moment, you're like, like maybe like. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: Now she'll not hear it and you know this guy will be deemed crazy because you sort of know that it's it's maybe internal, like he's not actually getting these calls, but it's in his mind. So but that's the mislead where when the doctor actually does come home, she comes like an half an hour early, there is a whole anticipation and you think that the call is not gonna happen. But it does. So I thought that it was very well played out. Ananya: Mmm. Yeah. Yeah Akshay: And following this scene is I wanna talk about conflict piling which I had ⁓ which I thought was you wanna say was when Deepika says that you know what? I also want to hear what ends happening. Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: Let;s see if he calls again or not. So again they're at four in the morning, having their cup of coffee or whatever, and now waiting for this call. Now you have already established that other people can also see and hear these calls, right? So how do we up the ante? How do we pile on conflict in this scene now? So now again it becomes a whole sequence of piling one after the other. So the moment she's like in his house, she first Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: tells him that, you know what, I'm gonna report him to the police. Like, let's see who this guy is. So, which already like Farhan's character is like, No, like I don't want to do that. So there is immediately conflict there. Now, when the call comes, now it's no more a secret whether the call will come or not. You as an audience know that it will. She says, we are not picking it up, you are not picking it up. So the conflict adds there, like in the sense that... Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: Akhtar gets very restless. Deepika actually puts her hand on the phone that you're not gonna answer no matter what. You choose it's the call or you. It's either me or the caller, Deepika says. Like the tension is heavy. And she just says, What will happen if you don't answer the call? And door starts banging. So so again, another layer of conflict is added because now the audience are like, ⁓ fuck, what just happened? Like Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm... Yeah... Yeah. Akshay: is it some actual person or a force or is it some horror element which has now come in? So I thought they really did very well the whole piling stuff. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, very, very well. Akshay: Yeah. other technique which I thought they applied well in the film was mirror scenes. A mirror scene is essentially you have one scene with your characters and it plays out a certain way. And later on in the film, either it could be the end or in some other time when your hero has entered the new world, ⁓ you play out the same scene ⁓ and you see Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: if he reacts to the scene in the same way or in a different way? So that way you can assess whether your character has grown or not. One scene was... this is his ordinary world, which comes where he watches her from his cubicle. She's in his she's comes she's coming out of her cabin and she waves. ⁓ And like and he gets so he waves at her back only to realize that, it was some it was not for me, but somebody from behind. Like she was waving not to me. Ananya: Mmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: And later on in the film, when she's act he's actually like wooed her properly, she comes out of her cabin, she waves at him, and his instinct is to actually check, like, ⁓ is it to me or not? ⁓ And she's like, No, it's for you, idiot. So I thought that was a good mirror scene. I don't know if this is a mirror scene or not, but that the first time he tries to take his life, he's having those pills. Ananya: I'm so sorry. ⁓ Hmmmm Yeah. Akshay: And he gets rescued by this call from Kartik. That was the first time he gets a call. And he's not able to kill himself. But at the far end of the movie, the exact opposite happens, which is he gets this last almost this last call, threatening call from this guy, and he decides to like now start taking those pills. So Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: I wouldn't call I don't know if it's a mirror scene, but there is some duality to it because it's like it's like cause and effect have been reversed. Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: So but I thought like there was similar visual placing for it to like look like a mirror scene. Ananya: Yeah, yeah. I think this can come into the category of a callback, where you've explained earlier that a callback shows how the relationship between characters have changed or not changed. So in the initial scene when he's taking it, the Karthik that calls him is calling him to save his life. And now relationship has changed where this Karthik is saying, take your life. So he's taking it in the same way as he did earlier by... Akshay: Hmm. Yeah, yeah. Mm. Ha Hmm. Yeah. Mm. Ananya: consuming those pills. So it's almost a callback in that sense, I'd say. Akshay: ⁓ Can See? I wrote "callback" and then it through. ⁓ Ananya: It's a visual callback, not a dialogue callback. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So hence I got confused, Like should it be a mirror scene or like a callback? But yeah, yeah. Hmm. Ananya: Hmm, callback, yeah. And speaking of callbacks or setups and payoffs, there are two other setups and payoffs I want to talk about. Essentially, you have a setup and payoff when you want to have something happen in a film, but you don't want it to be a coincidence later on. So you set it up earlier and later it pays off by coming to use. So over here, first you have a spam call where you know that Karthik gets spam calls from people, credit card companies like we all do. Akshay: Hmm. Mm. Ananya: And it comes initially in the film. later on, when the phone is ringing, it's a tense moment, you think it's Karthik, something's gonna happen, he picks it up, it's again that spam call. So you're like, okay, they've set this up before. So, not that I wouldn't believe it if ⁓ ⁓ time. ⁓ ⁓ still, a thoughtful detail. ⁓ next is the illegal sale of the land. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Especially in today's time when you get like thirty spam calls a day. ⁓ Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ananya: So this is in the initial part of the film where Karthik is in the car with his boss and he overhears his boss selling a piece of land and Karthik is like that's illegal and the boss is just like shut up you know. And what is your goal with any scene? Your goal with any scene is either to further the plot or further the character or reveal character ideally both. This I thought was first revealing character when you reveal that the boss is an asshole who does this. Akshay: Mm. Mm. ⁓ Ananya: But then they've also used this as a setup because later on that Karthik goes to ask for his position back at the company for a higher position. He says that will reveal the fact that you're making an illegal deal to these people. So it also turns into a setup which they've used later to pay off and help him gain that elevated position. And I want to use this to segue into another technique which I call the mini arc, combined with the rule of three. Akshay: Hmm, hm. Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: The rule of three is that ideally you want to have a beginning, middle and end with any arc or with anything that you do in your film for recall value and for continuation. So over here, this illegal land thing has first you see them in the car, then you see him using it to get his position back. And finally, at the end, he's fired from his job also because phone Karthik has informed the buyer that that land was not like not like they couldn't sell it. Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Ananya: So it was actually an illegal sale. So they've used this three times and created a mini arc out of it. So three scenes. They've also done this in the hookup scene prior to that, where they talk about "will you take advantage of me or not?" So first they're at a club and Deepika is telling Farhan to drink. And he's like, "if I drink, will you take advantage of me?" And she's like, "no." So he's like, "what's the point drinking then?" ⁓ Then... Akshay: Mm. Mm. Mm. Hm. Ananya: later when it's actually time for them to hook up he's like but you are drunk, I can't take advantage of you, so no we're not doing this and then the third time they use it is when he goes and gets drunk comes and he says "now we can both take advantage of each other." So again a rule of three and they've used it as a mini arc and they furthered the usage a little bit each time. Akshay: ⁓ Yeah. ⁓ It's like a five-hour task there, yeah. ⁓ Ananya: Let's go to dialogue next. Akshay: Yeah. I wanna talk about the moment which you just said when they're in the club. And she's like, I wanna drink and like get me like this vodka with orange, blah blah blah. side note, you know this is a two thousand nine, ten film because everybody's she wants vodka, not tequila or like gin like how people want today. But yeah, she said vodka ⁓ and she he asks she'll take advantage of him if he drinks. And she says no. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: So ideally this dialogue could have just ended here. But I think what they the technique is using a conventional line and having a flip on it, which is that he says "if you don't take advantage of me then why should I bother drinking?" Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: So I think like using a conventional thought and having a different flip on it, ⁓ take on it, gives you like good dialogue work. So I thought like that was a good good moment. Ananya: Yeah. big on it. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: In the film. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah, that was very well used. And I also think, just another thing I want to point out was when, which is very small and which you would do anyway, regardless of anything, ⁓ is he comes into a position of power. ⁓ Farhan when he's earlier addressing his boss as Aap, he now addresses him as Tum. So, while this is very basic, this again ⁓ merits pass to be done towards the end of your script because you will forget. Akshay: Hmm. Doom huh. Yeah. Ananya: to do this. So much like in Munna Bhai they did a Bhai pass, over here you have to do like a status pass. Where this ties into status of the character, right? Which we've spoken about earlier, where a character knows what their position is in the world and will act according to that. So first, this film is a case study in that literally, where first Farhan is very low, he doesn't believe in himself, so he's meek, all of that. And then later when he knows that he is the shiz and his status is elevated, Akshay: Yeah. Huh, cut egged. Hm. Hmm. Ananya: the way he walks changes, way he talks changes. So that also bleeds into dialogue here, where status dictates dialogue. Akshay: So Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: And I think what we should do is answer our audience's question. So as you guys know, we have chosen to breakdown Karthik Calling Karthik not just because it's a phenomenal film, but because one of our viewers, Zingur, has watched, has asked us to break it down and he asked us a question that how have they maintained tension around the mysterious caller? And to answer that question, I think they haven't. Akshay: Mm-hmm. Hm. Ananya: For the lion's share of the film, like we've discussed, we know that it is Kartik calling Kartik because of Farhan Akhtar's voice. It's very evident he has a mental illness, we know that this is him calling himself. You think that maybe it's almost symbolic, the phone is symbolic of the conversations going on in his head. What they do manage to create mystery about later is once Shefali Shah's character Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Mm. Ananya: enters and she is able to answer the call. So then you realize, oh, it's not in his head. This is not symbolism. This is actual reality. So that's when the tension rises. So the how is by literally just making it something that you question that how is this possible physically? How is this possible? That's when the real mystery element kicks into this. Right. And that's when it turns into a mystery and they reveal to you later that the phone is doing this. But yeah. Akshay: Said huh? Mm. Mm. Huh, so Hmm, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: They make the mystery element by work by showing you that it's not just happening in someone else's head and it's happening to others too. So it's the how of it. Akshay: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's the exact moment when the genre of the movie changes. Right? Like yeah. Like it was romance before that, but now it's become a thriller. Ananya: Re-changes. Yeah. So that is all I have on Karthik calling Karthik. How about you? Akshay: Yeah, that was all. Ananya: y'all know the drill. Like, share, subscribe, leave any questions, comments, reactions down. And we will be back next Thursday with episode number 21 ⁓ of the Breakdown Besties ⁓ Bye. Akshay: Bye bye.