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INTERVIEW: Rajat Arora on Thalaivii, Kangana Ranaut and more: ‘I don’t believe in apologetic writing’
In a candid chat with Pinkvilla, Rajat Arora opens up about writing powerful and larger than life characters for the women and his bond with the leading lady of Thalaivii, Kangana Ranaut.
Known for films like The Dirty Picture, Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Kick and Gabbar Is Back among others, Rajat Arora returns as a writer with the Kangana Ranaut fronted Jayalalithaa biopic, Thalaivii. The writer informs that it was Kangana Ranaut, who got him on board the project. “Vijayendra Prasad had narrated this story to Kangana and she was very keen that I come on board for screenplay and dialogues,” informs Rajat, adding further, “I am very thankful to her because it’s such a prestigious film to be a part of.”
The writer informs that working with Vijayendra Prasad was a learning experience. “He is a soft-spoken man, but has so much passion for cinema. And that’s an important trait in any writer,” he smiles. For Rajat, the most challenging part was to crack the relationship of Jayalalithaa with MGR. “It’s a relationship, but not a love story and that’s the most challenging part. Their bond follows a graph and there’s ample maturity and understanding in there. Even the political aspect was challenging, but we treated it like a human drama. Once you start rooting for a character, the backdrop – be it politics, wrestling or cricket – does not matter,” Rajat explains.
Ask him about the experience of working with Kangana and he answers, “It was outstanding. She is very passionate about her work and has given 100 percent to the film. I had a ball working with her. The journey from Once Upon A Time in Mumbai to Thalaivii has been extraordinary.” Rajat insists that MGR’s death sequence is the most powerful scene of this Vijay directorial. “It has been captured very well, and I also love the telephone scenes between MGR and Jaya Madam.”
Be it The Dirty Picture or Thalaivii, Rajat has written powerful and larger than life characters for the women. Prod him on the approach of creating these characters and he shares, “For me, they are the heroes. Who said only men can have a larger-than-life image? Jaya madam is as larger than life as it gets. I don’t believe in apologetic writing because I feel women have always been more powerful than men.” And what about the one-liners? “They all come in organically. Forced dialogues in the narrative don’t work. They ought to be related to the character and suit the story. I have also made mistakes. I believe, the dialogues become big because there is a story in the backdrop,” he signs off.
Next up for Rajat is Heropanti 2 with Tiger Shroff, Sanki with Varun Dhawan and the launch pad of Ahan Shetty, Tadap, featuring Tara Sutaria as the female lead.
ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: After Heropanti 2, Tiger Shroff to commence shooting for Ganapath in UK from October end
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