Juhi Chaturvedi Talks About Coexisitance Of Commercial Blockbuster And Life Stories, Says 'Certain Films Bring Money, Certain Films Bring Satisfaction '

Commercial blockbusters and life-like stories need to coexist, says screenwriter Juhi Chaturvedi, who believes the record-breaking box office success of Pathaan has reinstated audiences' as well as filmmakers' faith in theatres. Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, which released on January 25, has emerged as the biggest success for the superstar, studio Yash Raj Films and has brought back the lost glory of cinema halls. The film has raised Rs 924 crore gross worldwide. Pathaan Box Office: Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's Film Mints Rs 924 Crore Worldwide in 18 Days!.

Chaturvedi, known for writing realistic dramas such as Vicky Donor, Piku and October, said with Pathaan money is coming back to the film industry which will help many smaller films see the light of the day. "I'm glad people are watching Pathaan. Shah Rukh is a superstar... It is money coming back to the film industry... Films like ours will get greenlit. It's a cycle. Faith is coming back.There are certain films which will bring money and then there are certain films which will bring satisfaction. "All of them need to coexist. If there was only a certain kind of cinema then we would become like the European film industry, which is very small, because they don't get funding," the screenwriter said at a session at The Times Literature Festival here on Sunday. The writer believes post the pandemic the lack of footfall in cinemas has altered the dynamics of the film exhibition sector making it tough for movies such as Piku and October to get a theatrical release. ''The grounds are still shaking. People are trying to make money... There is doubt... The Hindi film industry has travelled a certain distance from the early 2000s till now... Piku was released in theatres, so was October. Will these films still come to theatres? I don't know," she added.

Chaturvedi, who shifted from advertising to film writing with Shoojit Sircar's unreleased movie Shoebite, has penned memorable characters for some of the top Hindi film stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Deepika Padukone, Ayushmann Khurrana, Varun Dhawan and John Abraham.While she believes as a scriptwriter it's impossible to think of an actor before creating the character, Bachchan and Irrfan were exceptions. "In the case of Piku and Gulabo Sitabo, there was nobody else apart from Mr Bachchan to play that role with so much sincerity. As a writer, when it comes to Mr Bachchan, there are no dos and don'ts. His knowledge, awareness, flair for languages... Pathaan Box Office Collection Week 3: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham Starrer Garners Rs 476.05 Crore in India.

"There is nothing he doesn't know or is not curious about. I experienced that on Shoebite. If it ever releases, you will realise what an actor can do. He was walking in snow in 2008 in Shimla like any other young actor," she said.

With Irrfan, Chaturvedi first interacted during an advertisement shoot for a mobile service provider. Even though she couldn't gauge his excellence as a performer during that meeting, she knew nobody could have pulled off Rana in Piku like the late actor. "He was just a human being treating another human being with respect. When he read the script, the first thing he asked was 'Will people understand Rana?' I said, 'I hope they would'. He said, 'I'm not asking you to increase the lines, but I want to know why you want me to do this. He asked questions about health, cancer, which had nothing to do with his character. But it gave him a better understanding of Bhasker (Bachchan) and Piku (Padukone). Describing a usual day on the sets with Bachchan, Deepika and Irrfan, Juhi said it was "amazing. When Mr Bachchan was on the sets he took over.... Deepika was a bit rattled... and Irrfan was just amused by what these people were doing. With every scene, he was trying to decode Mr Bachchan and Deepika. It was just amazing." Irrfan died in 2020 at the age of 54 due to a rare form of cancer.The session was moderated by author Yasser Usman and also had film writer-author Priyanka Sinha Jha as one of the panellists.