I Was Very Impressed by the Power of Words - Jessica Khurana

After writing 13-14 shows as I head towards film writing, my experience has been the exact opposite of what many think of the industry today. Everybody I have worked with has been extremely warm and kind to guide me through and share their experiences and for a newcomer who had no clue about this world, that's all I survived on.

1. Tell us more about your background and journey.

I hail from a small city in Punjab, Ludhiana. My journey has been colored with the cultures of India. For the past 11 years, I have stayed in various metropolitans from Bangalore to Mumbai. Even though I am a Post Graduate Fashion Designer and Stylist my venturing out in the field of storytelling has been nothing short of a fairy tale. 

I have been extremely lucky to come across commendably learned and nice people from the very day one. 3 years ago I began as a Creative Intern in a production house called, Sphere Origins and learned all about what goes behind making a show. At the time, I was unaware of how it would all unfold for me but I knew one thing, I was enjoying this job more than I enjoyed anything else before. 

To conclude, I have to say, after writing 13-14 shows as I head towards film writing, my experience has been the exact opposite of what many think of the industry today. Everybody I have worked with has been extremely warm and kind to guide me through and share their experiences and for a newcomer who had no clue about this world, that's all I survived on.

2. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

Since I was a child I was very inclined towards stories, I loved that imaginary world. My mother, who is an ardent reader got me into the habit of reading too at a very early age, though later I found out that was also because she was fed up of narrating stories to me, I just wouldn't have a meal without it. 

As a teenager, I was famous for writing text messages on behalf of my friends which makes me partially responsible for end number breakups and patch-ups so it's funny but I was very impressed by the power of words, I loved the authority and I would often joke about how it would be a dream come true if somebody paid me to just do this. 

Both the shows I was doing as a creative were set to go on air and I still remember on the day of the launch I told my boss that I have been called in for a meeting with Mr. Vikram Bhatt the next morning and I would want to be a full time writing assistant. I was all sorts of nervous, didn't know the first thing about professional scriptwriting. 

My meeting the next day was in one word, “magical” followed by a dilemma. I had to join the next day itself and assist on a star plus show, “Dil Sambhal Ja Zara” but I had a full month's notice to serve at Sphere. Here is where the fairy tale began, things just mystically fell into place, My boss understood what an opportunity it could be for me and let me go without the notice period and Vikram sir welcomed me to the Lone-ranger family and taught me everything from scratch. 

Started as his assistant on the show but soon enough he roped me in on the movie 1921 which was then in pre-production. Soon enough along with the entire team, I headed to London for the shoot, and my life completely changed in the next 70 days to come. We were having a usual shoot day full of crises and sweet chaos when I came to Vikram Sir with bad news and told him that the writer we hired back in India is unable to deliver the way we want. 

Out of nowhere, he said a line that I will never forget, “Haan toh beta tu hai na...tu likhegi ab ye show”. Overwhelmed and nervous I had no idea how to even react but I knew I had to do all it takes to live up to the faith my Mentor had in me. ”Hadh” became my first independent show. 

Vikram sir and I went on to do a number of shows together for the coming year and a half and there was no looking back from there. My being a writer was decided for me by my Guru, which will always be a blessing.

3. Is it a financially stable career?

Writing as a career is very financially stable, especially if you work with production houses like Alt Balaji. In my experience, Ekta Ma’am is one of the few producers who has always made sure that the writers are never exploited financially and in fact, most upcoming platforms and production houses are now following the same. So its a secured profession Provided you deal with good producers. 

As I complete my third year here, I have very recently come across a couple of producers who will try every trick in the book to exploit you financially and drive you helpless. Never be scared to speak up your words have a lot of power and to the writers who have just begun, I would say make your contracts directly with reliable production houses and not third party agreements. 

I would not want to name the ones I have had a bad experience with but I will definitely recommend working with companies like Lone Ranger, Alt Balaji, Electric Apples, Sphere Origins, CA digital Media, and some more.

4. Who is your favorite writer and why?

Before I even thought that I would remotely be associated with writing ever, I had a favorite. Mr. Niranjan Iyengar. The man is a legend, any Bollywood buff like me would know that he is amongst the chosen few, whose words and dialogues will live with us forever. 

I was extremely keen on knowing who this man is, who is such a versatile writer, he starts his journey with 'Kal Ho Na Ho' and goes on to write movies like 'Wake Up Sid' and 'Fashion' and 'D-day' and then even 'Student of the Year' with the same ease. I mean these are just a few of my all-time favorites and of course the lyrics he has given us. I was so smitten with this writer until one day I met him in the lobby of my building. 

It was a now or never moment for me, literally like a stalker I rushed to him and told him all about how much I admire him. This was about 2 years ago, I found out the man that I have been obsessing about has been living 4 floors below me all this while. If these aren’t miracles and blessings, what do I call them? 

Although now Niranjan is also my family, he is one of my closest friends who happens to be a writer and who I cant now imagine life without because I need his guidance in almost everything I do but as a writer, if I could be half as good as him in my dialogues, I would consider my life accomplished. Just likewise I truly admire the art of story writing and plot points that Vikram Sir can come up with. 

In my dreamland, I often wonder what it would be like if I wake up with their story writing and dialogue writing skills.

5. Where does your inspiration lie?

In everything around me. I come from an extremely big joint Punjabi family, I am sure you know how dysfunctional that can be. Then I went on to stay in different cities post my grade 10 and so kept coming across new people, their cultures, their dialects. Most of the characters I create are characters I have met. 

Also, I am a very grateful and optimistic person in general so I do tend to get inspired by almost every person I meet. Sometimes its the Rickshaw driver telling me how his daughter is soon to be an IAS officer, sometimes its just my school friend dialing to tell me how she is stressed about not having enough space in her walk-in closet to fit her branded bags. If you come to think of it both are inspirational from a writer's point of view.

6. What does your typical day look like?

I don’t know if its a good thing or not but my day mostly never looks the same. I am not very proud of not having a set routine, especially ever since the lockdown but I am glad that I can always plan my day according to my priorities. I try and not miss on Yoga as it calms me. I make sure that I write about things I am grateful for every day. 

And the rest varies, if I am researching on a particular subject then its days of watching content. Then as deadline dates for the scripts approach there is a lot of writing and then more rewriting, It is a little crazy on those days because as I near a deadline I always become a nocturnal writer. If I have a little extra time at hand I try to work on my narration skills because that's a problem I have yet to fully resolve I think I write better than I narrate, which in my opinion is not a good thing.

7. What piece of advice would you like to give to future aspiring writers?

It wouldn't be fair of me to give any advice, considering I still think of myself as an aspiring writer. There is still so much to learn, its just the beginning for me. Like Niranjan always says, there's this thing about knowledge, the more you learn the more you feel like you know nothing! It's so true. But to all my fellow writers I would just say, nothing learned is ever wasted. 

Keep learning, keep writing, keep meeting new people, have your trust issues, I completely understand those but also follow your instinct. Lastly, when you sit to write, don't always be very controlling, sometimes when you write with a free mind, a creative power takes over and if you let that happen, half your work is done without even you knowing it.

8. Which is your favourite book and why?

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. I actually like most of his books for he is able to transport you to his world completely. Though my stress buster go-to reads are still my Nancy Drew’s and Secret Sevens.

Interview by - Shruti Kaval