Latest / Breakdown Besties | Bollywood Screenwriting Podcast / E16: Raazi Breakdown
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- Breakdown Besties Podcast: Hi again, Bestie. This one we broke down a film where one of the co-writers writers was Bhavani Iyer. And next week we're doing another Bhavani Iyer film. We're breaking down the film Black. So see you next Thursday. Bye. Ananya: Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast. I'm Ananya. Akshay: I'm Akshay Ananya: are your breakdown besties. Together we have 14 years of experience writing for platforms like Netflix, Disney +, Amazon Prime Video, with shows like Mismatched, Wedding.con, Ishq in the Air, Shark Tank, Rana Naidu, Grahan and a host of others that have gotten stuck in development hell but will hopefully see the light of day one day. And we'll hopefully still get credited for Akshay: of course. Ananya: You have very high hopes in this industry. Our goal with the Breakdown Besties podcast is to give you an authentic film school experience. Not that we really know what that entails because we didn't go to film school, but from everything we've heard and from our experience in the writers' rooms of several shows, we're going to do what we do, which is understand and look at the screenwriting of iconic Bollywood films, see what makes those scripts work, the tips, the tricks, and what makes them not work. doesn't work and how we can emulate these techniques in our own writing and how can we improve what doesn't work so that we can take the industry forward. And the movie we're breaking down today is a 2018 phenomenal thriller starring, written and directed by all women. This is Raazi and written by Bhavani Iyer and Meghna Gulzar. I think we should just jump right into what it's about by getting into the log line, right? Cool. Akshay: Yeah. And it's based on a book, Calling Sehmat by Harinder S. Sikka. Ananya: Yes. Your log line is the guiding light of your film. It is one sentence which contains four essential elements which allow you to see the forest for the trees. So when you're lost in the screenplay and you're really stuck in the weeds and you don't understand ki what are you even writing about? That's when your logline helps you out the most. Why does a logline work so well? Because of these four elements. The first is your flaw or your block limitation or wound. This is something within the character. a need, a necessity to change, one which they haven't confronted yet. And having this need within them, this limitation, this weakness is stopping them from B) the second element, goal. They have this goal in mind which they want to achieve, but they're just not able to achieve it so far because their flaw or limitation is stopping them from doing it. And this goal is what our character goes after in this film. by overcoming their need. And how is this need overcome? With element number 3, the conflict. The conflict is an external challenge which you encounter on the road to achieving your goal, which challenges the inner need, the inner limitation of your character. When this character is forced to confront with this conflict, they overcome the weakness, the limitation within them. and they're able to move forward towards their goal. It is also your story engine. Without conflict challenging your character, you have no story, you have no film. And the final element are stakes. Stakes are what the character loses should they not achieve their goal. It is not simply not achieving their goal. It is taking it one level lower. And that is our log line. So... I get into what I have written as the logline for Raazi? Yeah, I think it's fairly straightforward. We might agree on this. Akshay: Yeah, go for it. Yeah, it took me some time to understand one element out of the four, but we'll get into that after you read it. Ananya: Hmm? Okay, okay. So, when a patriotic college girl is sent to spy in Pakistan, she must extract sensitive information as covertly as possible, lest she lose her life. Akshay: Yeah, I've written the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Ananya: Same thing, right? Like super simple. So what are the four elements? One is your limitation, which is patriotic college girl or college girl rather in this matter. So Alia Bhatt's character Sehmat she is a young college girl. She is barely 20 years old. And she, the conflict is she's been sent to Pakistan to spy. So obviously a college girl has to spy. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: So that is automatically challenging her. So that is the conflict. And she must extract sensitive information as covertly as possible. That is her goal, because that is the goal of all spies. And then if she doesn't, she loses her life. Akshay: Yeah The bit i was struggling with what was her flaw like that took me the time a time to like figure that out because i was like she doesn't have any limitations as a like but then it struck me that her patriotism is what like keeps her going more and more and like it sort of like becomes her like there is a little bit of this quality that Ananya: Mm. Mmm. Akshay: comes first" she keeps repeating that which also comes into play in her personal relationships which she there. ⁓ that's where I actually went back Kahani ⁓ to find out what the flaw was. In Kahani like Vidya Balan's flaw was that she was relentless, you know. And that's what made me click this one's patriotism here that the engine which keeps her going in spite of Ananya: Hmm, hmm. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: all the conflict and the tension which is that ⁓ she is patriotic she will keep doing this no matter what Ananya: Hmm. I don't think patriotism is her flaw though. is being because A, she doesn't have a flaw. She has a limitation. Her limitation is that she's a college girl. So there's that but her patriotism that comes more into play thematically. It's not a flaw at all. It's not that because she is patriotic, she's not able to achieve her goal. A flaw is something that stops you from achieving your goal. Akshay: Huh, yeah! Huh. Yeah. Hmm. Huh, that's true. That's true. Huh? Huh, yeah. Ananya: So, right? So her limitation here is that she is a college girl. She has to train to be a spy. She is a woman in a man's world. She has gone into Pakistan at this time, which is 1971, married into a new house. She is limited, she is restricted by her gender, by her roles, by the fact that she is a college girl. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, but You know, like none of this has a bearing directly on the scene work which comes ahead like, like, it's not like her flaw that she's a college girl, or like, ⁓ she's a spy, like, you equate that all of those moments as any spy who can get caught, you know, so that's why that was the main reason I struggled with like, I thought, is she naive? Is she like, innocent? Like none of that, like none of those things come into Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: play as a conflict like later on. Ananya: Yeah, they don't because they deal with everything in the mentorship part of the movie. When she meets her mentor, which we'll get into here in the hero's journey, they essentially train her so smoothly that every limitation is taken care of. So then we focus on the spy work itself. And then it's the fact that it's not her... Akshay: Huh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Get out. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: patriotism but it is the fact that she is actually very loving as a human being and she is human which comes into later to form a limitation for her or because she is so patriotic she is not allowed to put her relationships first. So that affects her but again it doesn't limit her from doing her work. She will still kill someone then she will cry about it which goes into a character deepening technique which we will talk about later again. So Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. ⁓ first yeah Yeah, yeah, later. Ananya: But the core flaw which would ideally come in her way is that she was a college girl but they... College girl, yeah, who is put into this world. A simple college girl and a simple, like, loving college girl. But none of those act as flaws. Akshay: simple college girls. ⁓ Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. That's why I struggled for it. Yeah. But yeah, you make sense. Ananya: So, yeah. Cool, let's go into the hero's journey next. What is your hero's journey? Your hero's journey is the structural spine of your film. It is the classical monomyth, the journey which every hero, heroine, in every story since time immemorial has gone on. It is on these beats and on these turning points of the hero's journey that every single book, movie, musical, ⁓ fairy tale is built. It essentially maps out essential turning points ⁓ a character's journey of achieving their goal. So you need to ensure that every so often your characters also have these turning points because they give your audiences emotional beats, something to look forward to, hits of the fact that they are progressing on their journey. So sometimes even if your story is a little weak or your character work is not working as strong as you'd like it to, use your hero's journey as a diagnostic tool to see when you can bring in these turning points and how your character must change, evolve or grow in order to meet these turning points. Right? So let's get into it. First, we have the ordinary world. The ordinary world is the world in which the character exists before they go on the journey of achieving their goal. It is their day to day, it is what's normal, we establish their regular life and we establish what their need or flaw is. And we establish the when, where, who, what and why of their circumstances. In this film, Alia Bhatt or Sehmat is a college going girl. She's a very soft girl, loving girl who loves her family, who loves her father. And she's had a fairly normal upbringing and existing existence. We also set up the backdrop of this world that the 1971 war is going on. The Pakistan Civil War, Pakistan West Pakistan and India is supporting in East Pakistan, the Mukhti Bahini, which are the rebels who want to free Pakistan, East Pakistan, so that can be Bangladesh eventually. So that is the backdrop of the world, which is set in there too. ⁓ Pakistan has gotten a sense that India is going to be a thorn in their side. So they want to curtail their actions. And India, of course, wants to take actions against Pakistan in retaliatory fashion. So they are not going to be left behind. This is the essence of the world which is set up. Then we have the call to action. The call to action is where the hero is told that, you can now go and achieve your goal. This is your goal, come, come, let's achieve it. We are calling you to achieve it, to go after it. In this case, the call comes from Sehmat's father. Sehmat's father is also a spy, but he is dying of a lung tumour. So he wants to fulfill his duties to the nation. So he says that my young 20 year old daughter will take my place. And he tells Sehmat that this is what she is going to do. Then we have the refusal of the call. The refusal of the call is where your hero or someone in the world of the hero says that maybe this is not the best idea to go after this goal. Like ignore the call, cut it, silence it. Over here, it is not Sehmat who refuses the call, but it is her own father who has second thoughts. He says that am I right to be sending my daughter into the field like this? It's a dangerous proposition. And Sehmat says that, much like you and your father served the country, it is also my duty to do so. And if it is dangerous for me, it is also dangerous for our boys who go out in the army and all of that. So I am willing to take that risk. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: And after she decides to do that, she goes into her mentorship phase, meeting the mentor. The mentor is the person or the people who have been in your shoes, who have gone where you are going to go, and they can equip you with all the tools that you need to be able to survive in this new world. ⁓ we have a fairly obvious mentorship sequence where Alia is literally being ⁓ by the intelligence bureau. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: and she's taught what she needs to learn in order to cross the threshold and go into her new world. Right? Now she goes into her new world, she crosses the threshold, which is the next step in your hero's journey. When she gets married to the son of one of Pakistan's armed forces higher ups, yeah, Brigadier's high, one, the Brigadier, his son. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Brigadier yeah. Ananya: who is the Brigadier and Sehmat's father seem to be friends on the surface. The Brigadier thinks that he is actually a spy for Pakistan in India. Little does he know that his friend is keeping him in the dark and he's sending his daughter to marry his son so that she can actually be a spy right within their home. And she crosses a threshold as she gets married and there's a literal threshold crossing scene. Akshay: That's what it's Yeah. Ananya: Where she's at the border in Kashmir at India. She gets out of the car and they walk to the other side where there are cars waiting for them to go into Pakistan. Akshay: Can I pause you? Didn't you feel like I felt the moment up till the call to action was so late in the film. Like there were so many multiple opening images like you have the first scene where there are the navy and they're saying let's not forget our forgotten heroes and then you have the Pakistan set up and then you have Sehmat's father talking to his friend about it. Ananya: And yeah. Hmm. Akshay: And then Sehmat's father talking to Sehmat's mother about it. Like it's so much it felt like you know they came to the call to action so delayed. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. I thought so too but I think they did it because they wanted to set up the gravity of the situation without getting into like a war sequence. So there's couple of ways to do it right like either you can say that I'm immediately going to open the film with a war so you understand how dire the situation is but that's not within the tone of this film. This film is of tension not that much action. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah don't turn yeah yeah action yeah Ananya: So they've, it's a very tonal choice. ⁓ Akshay: yeah ⁓ a very tonal choice I agree yeah I was just getting restless I really wanted to see alia but faster in the movie ⁓ Ananya: Yeah. Had you seen the film before? Akshay: Yeah, I'd seen it in the theatre. Ananya: Okay, I hadn't seen it. So I was quite immersed right off the bat. Like I wasn't waiting for Alia. So and I had forgotten that Vicky Kaushal was in the film also I had no recollection. So when they do that, when they show you all the photos of the family members in Alia's mentorship sequence that this is going to be your father-in-law's is going to be and this is going to be your husband, they cut it right because they want to like show you Vicky Kaushal in the flesh not in the photo and I had no idea who it's going to be. Akshay: Huh. Huh. Yeah. Cut it, yeah. bless yeah yeah ⁓ yeah Ananya: forgotten. So for me it was actually quite the reveal. So his look, his look for the film and all quite landed very well. So that's actually a good screenwriting tip, right? Like we say a lot of things like, we'll see the actor in the trailer anyway, so we know how Vicky Kaushal looks and all. But your films have such a long shelf ⁓ that I think you have to consider writing in absolute terms, not relative to the marketing material and all of the world in which like Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, looks, huh? Just like hmm yeah yeah yeah Ananya: you will want to reveal your love interest. You will not want to show them in a photograph. That is a core screenwriting tenet. They need to be given an entry. So even if they're going to be on the poster with a certain look, your script should give them their individual reveal. Because it works. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah And it plays up ahead in one sequence also which I'll talk about much later on but you're very right like they really withhold information which the audience is really wanting right now you know so yeah pretty cool. Ananya: well done. And then we have the Tests, Allies and Enemies, which is the next phase of your Hero's Journey. In your Tests, Allies and Enemies, your Hero gets a lay of the land of the new world in which they're in. What are the tests and challenges they'll face? Who are the allies they'll have in that world? Who are the enemies? So over here we establish the loving relationship between Alia and Vicky Kaushal. They are a great pair. You understand who is part of the world. We see Abdul, the house help, who is suspicious of Alia right off the bat. Then you have all the various different members of the family. And we see, we also see Alia as a woman in the world and how she uses that side to ally herself with how she integrates herself with the army wives association and Akshay: ⁓ Ananya: finds herself in a school to infiltrate other houses and stuff like that. We see all her friends and who they are. And as she does this, we also see her doing her spy stuff. Yeah, so was gonna say spy'giri' and then I was like... "Spygiri rela hai bhai." Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: So where she essentially starts ⁓ lines across the house, she bugs the house, she goes, ⁓ in folder, mean, checks folders and files in the Brigadier's office, all of that. And in doing so, one of the times she learns that they are going, they're planning a submarine attack. ⁓ she wants to send this information back to India because it is pertinent information. And this is when we approach the innermost cave. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Huh. Ananya: ⁓ In her approach to the innermost cave, she wants to get alone time with the file. So she goes and she steals it. But in stealing it, the Brigadier comes back to the house looking for the same file. A whole house goes up in arms looking for it and she in the meantime relaying contents of the file back to India through morse code and the receiver that she has. And just in the nick of time, she is able to do what she has to do and hand the file over to the Brigadier without anyone suspecting her. Approached the innermost cave, the work is done. But then we have the ordeal. So if approaching your innermost cave is trying to steal your bag of gold from under the dragon, then the ordeal is when the dragon wakes up and chases you once you've stolen the bag of gold. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: And I think this analogy applies pretty literally to the scene because she has stolen the file and done all her work. And then Abdul, who has always suspected her, finds her Morse code transmitter up in the bathroom and he says, I have always suspected you. And therein begins the ordeal. We get into our first chase sequence of the film where Alia chases him down as he takes her component of the Morse code receiver. Akshay: yeah yeah yeah Ananya: Or machine and he runs to report her. Alia is forced to pull the trigger so she finds a car and she chases him and drives over him. She kills him or so she ⁓ Even though she is really shaken ⁓ he is left in a gory state, we soon find out that he is not actually dead. And there begin Alia's fears, her nightmares, what's going to happen. Akshay: with him. Hmm. Ananya: But luckily enough, he passes away. And that is the reward. The reward is what you're able to escape with after you've left the dragon behind in your wake. Right? Then you have the way back. Now you are making your way back home. You have transmitted important information and now you're trying to figure out how can you extricate yourself from here. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: Over here, Alia is left cleaning up the mess of the investigation which is now going into Abdul's death. Her husband, Vicky Kaushal, brother in the film, Mehboob is on his tail. He really wants to understand why was killed. It doesn't make sense to him. And Alia thinks she is going to get caught. So following instructions from her counterparts in India, she also murders her brother-in-law. And as she is doing this, she also decides to frame Abdul for being the informant, a spy himself, even though he was not. In doing so, ⁓ gets, Vicky kind of realises that Alia is a spy and Alia also realises, Alia ⁓ feels they might know that she is a spy. Akshay: Yeah by Ananya: And she remembers a line in her training where they say that if you think you've been compromised, you have been compromised. So take action accordingly. And this leads to her counterparts from India deciding to extract her from the situation. They find themselves in Pakistan. That's Jayadeep Alhawat's character Khalid Mir. He comes with his operatives to extract Alia, take her back to India, get her out of danger. But the extraction goes awry. Akshay: Yeah. Ananya: And they decide that we cannot extract her because even the Pakistan agents are now after her because Vicky Kaushal has reported Alia and we can't save her, can't ⁓ let her be so we have to kill her. So they hit her in a dart with a poison arrow and they also drop a grenade ⁓ Vicky Kaushal and who think is Alia also die. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: And then you have the resurrection where your hero rises from the ashes, a new person. And after having overcome all the setbacks in their path. And over here it is almost a literal resurrection because you think Alia has died, but in fact she had survived because she had thought that someone was on her tail, that the Pakistan agents knew what was going on. So she had found an alternative route and they had Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: mistaken someone else to be her and killed her instead. Alia is full of sorrow and guilt that she's lost her husband and she's lost this woman, that woman lost her life. But this is the cost of war, right? And then you have the return with the elixir where the character goes back to their old world but now they're a new person. They have overcome their limitation. Akshay: Huh. Huh. Ananya: In Alia's case, she has overcome her limitation, which is of being naive, being a college girl. She has shown she has come out strong on the other side, but she's also a hollow husk of her former self that she cannot, she doesn't like being the person she has become. And this is her way in the new world. Akshay: Hmm, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And another thing I think one more thing about the return with the elixir is that India wins that war, which the reason she had gone to Pakistan as a spy, her information could help the Indian government to win the war. So I thought that she literally achieved the goal which she was set on. So I thought that was very nice. Very clean, very clean. Yeah. Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, very well tied together. Exactly. Yeah. So simple heroes journey works classic just perfect. Akshay: Yeah, yeah perfect Ananya: Next thing I thought I should get into is the theme. over here the theme, what is the theme of your film? The theme of the film is what you as an artist believe about the world and want to convey to the world through your art, through your medium of the film. Right? Because that's why we all become artists. We really have a strong point of view and art is our medium of getting it out in a large scale in a manner that A statement never could. Like I can say, over here the statement this film makes is, or they ask a question rather, what is more important, your people or your patriotism? Right? And the film by the end answers this question and makes this statement. And so this works much more effectively than in real life if I had to say, no, no, your patriotism is much more important. But if I show you a film where someone is constantly battling between people and patriotism, people and patriotism and ultimately once you're on the side of this character and they've chosen patriotism, that statement lands much more viscerally because of the experiential nature of the medium. Right? Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. And I think they do, they answer this question, but they also have a caveat about this answer that like she does, like the remorse of whatever she did stays with her. The loss which she had to face continues to be a part of her life because there is this one shot of Alia in like a small village later at the end of the film, but she has nobody in her life, you know? So I thought that was... Ananya: Absolutely. Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: very well explored the theme very well in the sense that you answered the question but the question is again not straightforward you know. Ananya: Hmm... No, no. It is... Yeah. So, essentially your theme determines your main character's arc, right? So, if you want to ask the question of what is more important, people or patriotism, and you want to make the point that it's patriotism, you have to have that character learn that throughout the way or constantly earn that. So, we start off with Alia being someone who considers patriotism very highly. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: Sorry, my bad, who considers people very highly. Her opening shot is also of her like rescuing a squirrel. So that shows us how much she cares about life. She doesn't want anyone to die. And then throughout this, she's being forced to kill other people. Who are close to her. So her people don't matter to her. And she ends up being someone who says patriotism is more important. But as you said, the film caveats it Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Alright. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: by saying that it is more important but the cost of it will be your people. And they've also not just done this in her character arc but they've also done this in all her relationships. The reason Alia goes to become a spy is because her dad tells her. So her patriotism is also driven by the people in her life. Then we see it with hers and Vicky Korshaw's relationship. Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. life. Ananya: which is beautiful, it is built on, it is a very natural relationship you feel for them and even then when he finds out that she's a spy, she points a gun at him even though it kills her. But no, my patriotism is more important, I have a job to do here. Even her dad and the Brigadier's relationship is one of friendship and even that friendship is compromised for the nation. Akshay: Hmm. ⁓ Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: So every relationship talks about this theme over and over again. Akshay: Even her relationship with her mentor- it becomes sour because he is the one like he first here comes to rescue her all the way from India in the guise of a policeman and then when he knows the bigger mission is compromised he orders to kill her which doesn't sit well with Alia's character again because she's like you just ordered to kill me like ⁓ what does this job we do you know so yeah very well noted. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. The next thing I want to talk about is the world of this film. Because obviously films like these period dramas, they are built on the world of your film, right? You cannot have a film without it. And when you have such a world, think this works at two levels. Okay. So first you have the world of spies, which is in itself very voyeuristic because this is not something you and I have access to like Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: other than by reading a bunch of books and watching a bunch of movies like we're never probably going to meet a real life spy. So this movie in that sense through the world gives us a lot of gifts. Now what is gifts? We talked about this concept in Kahani and in Chak De! where when you're exploring a new world you also open up the world to your audience and give them information that they enjoy receiving and then can go talk about in their real life. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Ananya: They come out feeling smarter, better, more well-informed human beings. So it's ⁓ you know, because we say this absolutely wrong thing, that Bollywood films are guilty pleasure films. So this gift makes you feel like, maybe I didn't waste three hours of my time. Now I'm a little more enlightened than I was. ⁓ Akshay: Yeah. yeah I know how morse code looks like ⁓ Ananya: Exactly. Yeah. Short press for dot, long press for dash. But everything in this, especially the spy training sequence, right? That you have certain boundaries within which you'll work. Like do not cross them at any point. Then of course you convey everything in Morse code. You're not meant to make any direct contact with us. Akshay: Yeah. ⁓ Hmm. Ananya: All of those little nuggets of information really help you get a sense of what it would be like to be part of the Information Bureau, Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: I thought that was very well done and I think this is also a very good film to show you how to derive conflict from the world and not just from the world of the spy but almost the subculture which is a woman's world over here. Right? Because you're not just a man on the field or he's not going into dens where you know there's like a gunda sitting and you know like integrating himself there. She has integrated herself into a family. Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. yeah Yeah Ananya: So over here, they use that word to give you a lot of conflict. So for example, when she's in the bathroom and she's setting up the Morse code machine and she forgot to lock the door and Vicky Kaushal almost enters, she takes her top off because she knows it will throw him off. Now that is using the woman's word because she's a woman. For a dude, this plot fine would never work, right? Like... Akshay: Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, I'm off. Yeah Hmm. book. Yeah. Sorry. Ananya: Over here, the idea is that what is the point of sending a woman married as a spy? Because everyone will underestimate her. No one's going to think-- she's the last person anyone will assume is a spy. So how can we use that underestimation as her superpower? Then when she needs to get to Colonel Baig's house to spy on the meetings there, she doesn't ⁓ through any hidden Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How's school? Huh. Yeah. Ananya: Cave and all underneath. She becomes a singing teacher and decides to tutor his grandson. So again, A very woman's way of doing it. Right? She gets into the meeting sometimes serving tea and that's how she does it. Or when she goes when Colonel Saab like has of the Brigadier has like this call out of panic and frustration, she goes to serve him water. But in serving that water, she's able to glance at the files and no one's thinking that she's glancing at the files. Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, yeah. yeah yeah yeah Even and even like when she used to go meet her informants and her allies in the market she says I'm going to buy clothes to donate in Abdul's name because like whatever like he's passed away so it would be nice to distribute clothes for to the poor so all those come from like her inherent qualities of a good essentially yeah ⁓ Ananya: So. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Akshay: But I also think this was a very tonal choice the filmmaker wanted to take. So can I talk something about the world? ⁓ in the tone, can I talk about the tone? So I think there is an inherent ⁓ softness to the film, you know, like they don't harp on too many bomb blasts, gun attacks, chase sequences which are brutally shown. ⁓ don't have any of the... Ananya: Yep. Hmm. Akshay: the action is never high octane or it's never edge of the seat action in the sense in a very typical way like all of the action is driven from emotion and in the sense that nothing is too fast nothing is too loud and even when like you said like the meeting has shifted to Begg's house like what she could have was like snuck out at night, gone ⁓ you know climbed over somehow found out a flight whatever you know the file Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, yeah. But that's not the film. Akshay: and in a mission impossible it would look banging right because this is what Tom Cruise would do or like Salman Khan in Ek Tha Tiger would do but that was not the point of the film like I think the filmmaker really wanted to use the softness of of this girl almost this tiny dainty girl to like to like get what she wants and I thought in a very again very tonal choices like very few things happen at night Ananya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Akshay: everything happens in the day like even the final bomb blast which happens between Vicky Kaushal and the the girl who is killed is in daytime or only she kills her brother-in-law in daytime the only thing happens at night is she kills the first murder which is the Abdul's murder is at night time but everything else is in day and throughout the film she's only shown in soft pastel colors of pink and blue and green and like yellow like Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: I think it was a very tonal choice to keep the film soft, rooted, contained into the world of what you're saying to be a woman as a spy. So I thought that was really a very good choices over here. Ananya: Yeah, absolutely. Definitely, for sure. get into scenes and sequences next. ⁓ thing I really want to talk about and I think you touched upon it very ⁓ when we were talking about the hero's journey ⁓ ⁓ breaking up of information in this ⁓ you said in the opening it's so slow right little bit information little bit information but what they've done is use a technique of deciding Akshay: ⁓ Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: where the information will have the most emotional impact. And I will demonstrate this with the opening sequence with three scenes. First you have a scene where Alia's dad is in Pakistan and we think that he is a Pakistani spy, an Indian spy who is on the Pakistan side and he is dying. He has a tumour in his lung and he speaks to the Brigadier and he says that Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: I am dying and the Brigadier says I can't do anything a fellow you know patriot for you but I can do something for you as a friend. You cut the scene there you don't see the rest of the conversation right. Then you get into the next scene where you understand that Alia's dad is actually working for India and he's talking to another man Jaydeep Alhawat from the IB- Information Bureau ⁓ Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: they are talking and he's like I will send my daughter Sehmat to Pakistan to do my spying. Right? You get a little more information that he's dying, he can't go so he is going to send his daughter and then we introduced Alia's introduced or that she comes home and he she's told that okay you will be doing the spying on my behalf but we are going to marry you off Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: to my friend's son and in their house it is that you will be a spy. So this is the most impactful bit, right? Like, ⁓ wow, that I am going to go as a married woman. I'm not just some spy who's going to be snuck through like in tunnels in the middle of the night. So if we had this conversation up top ⁓ of him okay, I'm dying. So can my daughter like marry your son? Then the same Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: The impact is not the same. You want to see Alia's reaction to this information because she is the one who's impacted the most. So this is distributing this information the way that is most impactful. And they've done this again where Alia has bugged Colonel, I mean the Brigadier's office. And then as she's listening in to those bugs, we hear something and we hear her say, ⁓ no, and it's not clear. And then we cut to her Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Huh. Huh. Hmm. Ananya: relaying that information to Jaideep Alhawat's character and then he says that okay she has bugged this place but now they're shifting the meetings to Colonel Baig's house so it's one two steps forward one step forward two steps back so this information is again not given like Alia hears it and she relays it no it's just a look and then the information is given at the person who it's affecting there so splitting up the information. Akshay: ⁓ Hmm. Hmm. That's true. Yeah. Yeah, Ananya: You give half-half information but eventually it has to be completed. The point of completion has to be one where it is most emotionally pertinent. Akshay: yeah yeah Hmm. Very, very well noted about I think this film does it multiple times. And I think another time they did this was when Vicky Kaushal's character Iqbal comes to know about Alia that his wife a spy. Like again, that scene is choreographed where half information is given half is going to be given now. Again, more is given more is withheld. ⁓ And just Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: the whole choreography of how the sequence was done. So I thought this was beautiful. I thought this was the most amazing sequence for me in the film, which was that Iqbal, Vicky Kaushal's character has come to know that his house is being now surveyed, like surveillance has been done in his house to like see if there is any material or like any sort of evidence and they come across all the morse code paraphernalia in Abdul's attic. So Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: Now, what you said the impact on Vicky is so much more because it was his loyal servant who he now comes to know was a spy for India, you know, so check that like that's great. Now, but when while that is going on, he notices something on the floor. Now, we again don't know what it is that but we just now in this moment realize that he's come to know something and Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: Now we cut to the washroom where we see him break down. He's crying his heart out. So we sort of understand it's obviously about Sehmat right? Like because nothing else will affect him so much more. But we still don't know what he has found out. Now we cut back outside. Sehmat has come back home. She sees his wallet. She sees a photograph in the wallet and on the wallet she sees a bead of her anklet. Now she remembers that when she was planting this evidence in Abdul's room, Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: Her anklet accidentally broke because she fell from the stool and this bead like sort of like got separated. And now we see that as a flashback. So now we have the full information revealed how she got caught. Again, scene doesn't end there. You cut back inside. Iqbal is finally washing his face, washing his face. He's composing himself. He comes out and now Sehmat has a gun directly at him. So now again, this could have been a very one, what you said, direct scene like Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: First, he finds out, he tells her, she denies, she brings out a gun. It's so long and so unnecessary. But now this is direct. So, and again, it only was possible because they, ⁓ each cut, they're giving more and more information. So I thought this sequence was done very interesting and they use multiple to get the sequence also right. That firstly, it is intrigue, right? Withholding information. ⁓ And second, Ananya: Hmm. Mmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: emotion drives the scenes more than all the other technical stuff like like the focus is not more on what did he find but the scene the focus is more on his heartbreak his emotion her shock that she her husband found out that she's a spy and the final moment when she has the rifle like the gun on him you know again like the emotion is heavy more than ⁓ like she's pointing a gun at him you know so Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: that works and this again this a lot of this film employs this technique which is of intercutting which is she is one character is in some situation trying to achieve something trying to hide something trying to retrieve something at the same time another character is undergoing is around the same place at the same time so rather than what could have happened is that you show Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: one character sides so completely and then later on the other character comes to know they've just combined those timelines and intercut between the two portions to create firstly tension and an economy of time because it why would you have two scenes when it can just happen in one sequence i think this is a like this is the beauty of screenwriting which like has been employed here so yeah Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Definitely, for sure. And speaking of intercutting, I want to talk about like one scene and then get into a sequence which is when the first time Alia has the keys to the Brigadier's office and she wants to bug it. So she goes in there, she gets the key, she goes in there and she starts bugging it, doing her thing. And in the meantime, we cut to Abdul. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: and Abdul over there has figured that something is off and he's coming towards Alia. Now this employs two techniques. A, this is intercutting between Alia doing one thing, Abdul coming on her tail and the second is Alia doesn't know that Abdul is on her tail but the audience knows. So this is Hitchcock's bomb under the table which is giving the audience information the character doesn't have. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: So this makes because the audience doesn't have that, because the character doesn't have that stress, the audience is stressed on behalf of the character. That, my God, can you do this fast? Can you do this fast? So that creates even tension, right? Of going into this locked room. And then finally it comes to a head where Alia drops something, but she hides, you know, sees his shadow and everything passes, right? Now this leads into another technique, which is where... Akshay: Yeah. hmm yeah yeah Hmm, yeah. Ananya: See, this is a spy film, right? a spy film can be, can have so many cool things because there's one ploy here, one ploy here, you can really use the world. But as you said, the world is contained for its softness. That's the reason. So ⁓ Alia in this, doesn't keep finding new, new things to do. It is one thing that she's doing over and over again. And over here it is getting access to private offices all the time. ⁓ Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: So over here, what do they do? The same thing will constantly get boring. You can't show the same intercutting, same giving the audience information, blah blah blah. So they keep upping it. So this is the first scene that you have. Then you have one where she's at Colonel Baig's house and she is looking for a file there. Now there you don't have intercutting. There they used surprise, where the door opens and someone's there and she just comes out in the nick of time. She's heard a sound. So the audience gets the information at the same time as the character. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Open. Yeah. Yeah. cool Ananya: But it's dealt with very quickly. There it's not about tension, it's about jeopardy. It's how quickly can you make that happen, change happen. ⁓ then you have the final time, which is when ⁓ this one, she's planting the evidence in she's going to gather, yeah, in his room, in Abdul's room. And even there, that time you have the same what's going to happen, what's going to happen. But that tension now doesn't come from the fact Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm... Adult's Room. Ananya: that someone's actually spying on her. It's because it has already happened twice that that tension is already in your audience's mind that there is always someone on the tail there. Look for you. Exactly. So that's also I guess the rule of three. So another technique used there. So they've escalated a single ploy three times, making it even more intense and dangerous until they've not had to plant Akshay: twice. Huh. Gonna look for her, yeah, yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: any obvious danger but the danger is already in your audiences mind. Next, there was one small callback that I really liked and I want to talk about. It is when Alia is being mentored in her training sequence and she is being taught like combat and defence. And as the combat and defence sequence is done, she gets taken down and even as she gets taken down, Jayadeep Alhawat tells her Akshay: ⁓ Cool. Ananya: always smile like on a new bahu's face, new bahu's face means there should always be smile. And then within that same sequence as she gets better at her training in one combat sequence she takes the person down and she smiles. And it is such a small moment, it's not a verbal callback but it is a callback to show that okay now she has progressed and that this relationship Akshay: Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: as you would say has changed. Earlier she was not smiling and now the same situation she is This has to be written into the script. mean there's no... Akshay: changed, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I didn't notice that. Yeah, but huh nice. Yeah For sure, for sure. Yeah. This is a heavily written film. Like the direction is fully like on paper. Yeah. Ananya: One more technique I wanted to talk about was a moving goalpost. So we talked about this earlier, but I want to put it in the confines of this technique to help understand it, which is where Alia bugs Colonel Begza, Colonel, I mean Brigadier's office. And it's again, a tense sequence, right? Because Abdul is going to be there, like itna mainat karke she bugs it, right? And then she listens in and Akshay: Hmm. ⁓ Ananya: Arre, now bugging ka koi fayda nahi because they're going to another move now to another location to do these meetings. But one problem you face with a moving goalpost is that the actions can be completely rendered futile. Which means that your you risk putting the same thing over again. Akshay: The office has moved now. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: like bugging here, then Colonel Baig could have been another bugging sequence. So when you have a moving goalpost, your script often runs into this problem of, you, she's going to solve it the same way, But over here, they've kept the moving goalposts, but the trick is to solve it differently and to reward the earlier goal, which was achieved, however, temporarily. they've, that reward is achieved by, because she has bugged it Akshay: Yeah Ananya: can she have received the information that, okay, these bugs are useless because she's listening in. So that is how she gets it. So that is the reward of achieving the goal. But then it is only conflict that moves the story forward. And instead of a new conflict, it's the same conflict that now she's to bug another place. But instead of bugging it again, she uses another technique, which is of integrating herself as a singing teacher and going to Colonel Begg's house and finding the information out. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. forward. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: So you can have a moving goalpost, but these are the constraints within which you can have one. Akshay: Hmm hmm hmm hmm yeah good choice, what they've made, I feel like they have their little training sequence with Jaydeep Alhawat's character and Sehmat. Now, there's only so much you can tell in that sequence, right? Like, there are 100 list of things she's been told. But obviously, in that five 10 minute sequence, how much can you overload the audience right like Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: It's anyway overwhelming for your character. You can't make it overwhelming for the audience also. They'll forget everything. So what they do is you've established her mentor character, its distinct voice, the way he speaks, everything. Now at important times in the film when she's entered the new world and she's facing the situations which he must have taught her, his voice comes as a voiceover. And that tells a rule which we didn't hear earlier. Ananya: Yeah... Hmm. Mmm. Yeah. Akshay: but now it's coming into play. So now, for example, the first day she tries to cook breakfast for the family and it doesn't go her way. That's when you hear his voice for the first time. says ki dil jeetne ki jald mat karna. It doesn't work. And this, if you would have told earlier, the audience would have had a little bit of a hard time recollecting it. Number one, like it would, they would have to do mental two and two, which is always, always a little unpleasant for if you're not decoding a mystery. Like, Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: it works as a mystery, then it's fine. The audiences love that. But this was not a mystery. This was just a payoff of something ⁓ must have learned earlier in her life. And it comes again at multiple times it's done. Like, you know, when she's noting everybody coming in and out of the house, then his voice comes again. "Keep track of everyone's comings and goings." These were the moments of training which she would have gotten, but the audience doesn't need to know at that time because again, it's information overload. Ananya: Hmm... yeah. Yeah. Hmm. that yeah exactly yeah and there's no supporting visual either so when it when you say that don't try to like win hearts too early like what does that even mean you know but like combat and all is visually you can see it so this but then once she makes parathas and it goes unappreciated then you understand that okay don't try to win over people too soon that's what it means Akshay: Yah! Yeah, mean, huh? Exactly Yah, yah. Yeah. Yeah. And again, it brings me back to your point, like, you know, information when it has the maximum impact, right? So now we see her disappointment with this, that she's not appreciated. now it recollects, she recollects this one, you know. So ⁓ I thought that was a very interesting choice again. ⁓ I wanted to ⁓ a small Chekhov's gun moment. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: A Chekov's gun is a moment in the film where you see a gun on the wall of a character and somewhere later one of the characters in the film is going to pick up that gun and like use it in there. Now in this moment I thought her anklet was a great Chekov's gun like ⁓ it's used the earlier scene as something a moment between Iqbal and Sehmat like he gets her a new anklet. And like he makes her wear it and like it becomes like the first time like they sort of have consummate their marriage and ultimately that only becomes the way he finds out that she is a spy for living in his house so I thought that was a great gun only right this would be yeah set up and pay off ⁓ of the yeah I don't know you figure it out Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Check off's yeah. Set up and pay off. One of those. Call back. I don't know. Essentially you give information in advance so that when you have to use it, it doesn't seem convenient. Because if otherwise it would have been any anklet, would have been like, how does Vicky Kaushal know it's a bead from one of her anklets? But over here he knows this because he has given it to her. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Ananya: Okay. Let's get into character creation next. I primarily have notes on Alia's character. Which ⁓ I will dive into. So I want to about before Alia's character is seen. Right? We hear her dad say, "what I couldn't do, my daughter will." And are also, you've heard him Akshay: Okay. Hmm. Ananya: talk to Jaideep Alhawat and say but she's a 20 year old girl, how is she going to like be a spy? And then her dad says what I couldn't do, my daughter will do. And over here they're using two techniques simultaneously. A is building the mythology of the girl, that she's a 20 year old girl, like but she'll be able to carry out work as a spy. That's the main mythology and B, we are hearing her dad talk about her, saying that she is capable, she will be able to do this. Akshay: Hmm. ⁓ Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: So if he says something strong about her, something nice about her, we as an audience are inclined to believe what another character says. Because are not praising themselves, they are praising someone else and we believe what others have to say. We trust their word. So two techniques used as one. And then we immediately see Alia's introduction where she goes and she saves a squirrel. Right? So you already have the information that she is supposed to be a spy. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Huh. Huh. ⁓ Yeah. Ananya: and then you see such a softy. So this shows us the arc Alia has to go on throughout the film. It And it's also because you foreshadowed her arc, it creates curiosity. Ki abhi how is someone so soft going to become someone so hard? Akshay: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Ananya: This is another technique of creating curiosity by showing a gap in the information. So an information gap helps create a character and helps foreshadow who they're going to become. And finally, I want to talk about character deepening in Alia's case. Hmm. Yeah. Akshay: Hmm. Nya. Nya. Hmm. No, but because when because then the introduction scene I want to add a little bit more so that I because I remember this happening when I first saw it I'd gone with my cousin. Okay, and the next scene which happens after this is when a piece of glass gets like stuck in her foot, you know, and she winces and she immediately says, "just the sight of blood makes me squeamish" and my cousin immediately went "and this girl is going to a spy?!" you know, I remember this ⁓ so so I like Ananya: Hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ⁓ ⁓ Exactly. Akshay: At that time, like I didn't think it so much, but now when I noted this point that it like really that contrast is that really makes you want to be very curious that how will she do this? Like how is this girl gonna do it? So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, very well done. And then they've also deepened her character, which is also thematically correct, where because she's a soft person, she's living now with her in-laws, with her families, but she's having to kill her own in-laws. Like first she kills the house help, then she has to kill her brother-in-law, right? And would think she's someone, she's a spy, she's hardened now, there is no remorse. But Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: they have shown depth where after she kills she gets like a fit. She needs to like collect herself again. She is panicking. What have I just done? She's feeling really bad. She's feeling bad for her sister-in-law. So this shows us that the character is more, there is more to the character than what meets the eye. So even as they are developing, there is more to them. And this is really important in creating a character that is more lifelike and multifaceted because us humans ideally should have many facets, many don't. Akshay: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Ananya: but yeah, so this is how you can make your characters more lifelike by giving them layers. Akshay: Yeah, yeah, hmm, yeah. And again, like the movie fully works on emotion, right? So it really lands that when she does cry, she feels horrible for killing this person. Like you really feel bad for her, not for the person who died, you know? Yeah, yeah. Ananya: Yeah. ⁓ Yeah, died. Yeah, actually. Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Akshay: When we're talking about characters, also want to talk about Vicky Kaushal's character, Iqbal. Now, the technique I want to talk about is subverting the expectation. So, like you would expect in a situation like this, sure, the fathers are friends, they would want to like, you know, get married at nice place. That's the softest thing. But deep down, you also know that the father has a mission, right? Like, Ananya: Hmm. Akshay: to accomplish so he wouldn't care however is the guy she has to get married to him and now as an audience and we'll expect that my god what kind of this guy will be like you know what if he's rash with her what if he like gets physical with her but you subvert that expectation by being the complete opposite like Iqbal's character has been written completely different than any of our expectations. Ananya: Yeah. ⁓ Akshay: In fact, the first time he touches her accidentally her shoulder, he immediately apologizes, sorry. He said, no, wait, I'm going to get the door for you. And he decides to even like when she's waiting on the bed for the first night, the expectation is that, okay, now he will want to have sex with me, right? Like that's what is assumed. But what he does is goes and sleeps on the sofa and he was like, I'll also need time. You'll also need time. Ananya: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm Akshay: and he tries to shut the door and it's her actually who says that you know keep it slightly open so it really empath like empathizes like it creates a lot of empathy for him and we already love this guy like we again we feel bad for like this what doom this relationship will have to face because they're inherently both nice people who will who and we can foreshadow that they're gonna fall in love Ananya: Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Akshay: right because they're genuinely like good people so but what this technique of subverting the expectation did is that it created such a beautiful character so i think here it's good to remember that whenever you're struggling to create a very obvious character like think what other facets of human emotion that character can bring out right like like we had never seen this husband being so caring and like Ananya: Yeah. Hmm. Akshay: especially a husband who you've never spoken to, you know, and like it's almost an alliance marriage of sorts, right? Like, so, so I thought that was very smartly, very heartfully done. Ananya: Hmm. Very heartfully done. Yeah. In fact, speaking of that, this whole film ⁓ is subversion, ⁓ And if you're, this is obviously an adaptation of a book, but otherwise also, I think ⁓ generally subversion a very good rule of thumb when you're developing something, right? So imagine if there weren't a book here. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: And you say, okay, I want to write a spy thriller set in 1971 where India was super like nosy and wanted to interfere in like the Pakistan. What I want to talk about like a spy. Your first instinct is going to be dude, right? Spy means man. Okay. Right. So then you're as a writer, it's okay. You can have a bad idea. That is your first idea. It has to come. How do you clear out the pipes? The next question you ask is, ask is, okay, how can I subvert this? Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ananya: What is the obvious subversion here? Okay, make it a woman. Okay. But then how can I subvert this even more? Like, okay, let's make this a married woman. Like this gets it even more difficult. Okay. How can I subvert this even more? Her husband is really nice. So she falls in love. And this subversion not only gives you a unique story, but it helps you develop the world. Akshay: Well done. Hmm. Yeah. Love, yeah. now Yeah. Ananya: and And tells you these are different plot lines because the moment you think, okay, she's a woman who's married. Now you're in the house. You have developed the world. Okay. Now she has a husband who she actually loves. Okay. So you have another subplot going on there. So just ⁓ using subversion over and over, you don't just create great characters. You create just great storytelling in general. Akshay: Yeah. Yeah. And one more small character note I wanted to talk about. This is almost like a genre trope of sorts, which is the loyal servant in the house, you know. I tried to Google what the literal trope's name is and I found out it was Battle Butler. Battle Butler. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Which is that Ananya: ⁓ battle butler. Okay, yeah. It's like the dog, right? Like the dog who has to die. Akshay: he doesn't have anything to do with the big mission. He's neither in the army, but he is somebody who suspects your main protagonist tried from the get-go. Why? We don't know. Something about his experience, something about just the way he reads people. We just know from the first look that this person is going to be a threat to Sehmat. So this is Abdul and we have under all the moments until the moment she kills him, there is tension between the two of them. Ananya: Mmm. Hmm. Hmm. Akshay: She tries to cook breakfast, he doesn't like it. So like she comes on the back foot. She is trying to plant a bug in Brigadier's office. He is the one on her tail, you know? So there is a constant cat and mouse situation between the two of them. if you've seen enough of these films, you'll know this is the person she will kill the first, you know? So. Ananya: Yeah. Akshay: So I think it's a good genre trope of this battle-butler in Abdul. Ananya: Yeah. I really But it's interesting that you said that, ⁓ you that this is a person she'll kill first, because I was my screenwriter brain was also on right like while watching this one. So initially, put I was off by the end of it, but initially it was on. So ⁓ I two steps ahead. I thought they're going to pull like a Nawaz in Kahani or something where Akshay: Yeah. Okay, yeah Yeah ⁓ yeah Ananya: He's the asshole, he's always keeping an eye on her but later on we reveal that he's actually from like the Indian IB. Yeah. Yeah. But then it wouldn't have made sense to have two spies in the same house so obviously they didn't do that. Yeah. Akshay: yeah it's either of the two it's either of the two it's either this or it's the completest this one you know ⁓ two spies even Jaydeep Palawaj comes as an undercover you know like I was like yeah every like this she has so many allies by the end of it yeah yeah That is all I have on Raazi. Ananya: Same, that is me too. So thank you all for tuning into another episode of the Breakdown Besties podcast. We hope you enjoyed it. Go watch this phenomenal film again now and note all these techniques. And if you note another technique which we haven't noted or you think something is a technique but is you know, because you've recognized the pattern across several movies that you've seen, but we haven't noted it. Please let us know down in the comments. ⁓ And yeah, that's it. So like, share, subscribe, and we will you next Thursday on another episode of the Breakdown Besties podcast. ⁓ Bye. Akshay: Bye.