Vijay Maurya: When I got the script from Zoya - I was blown. Is this really from Zoya Akhtar? It straight touched my heart. I don’t think in English, I think in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati. English is a secondary language… so I don’t think in English. Zoya is born and brought up in Bandra…joh pehle ki film banayi hai unhone…Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara… Dil Dhadakne Do…ek alag culture wali film hai…elite class keliye. Jab Gully Boy ki script mili toh laga ki – ‘Yeh toh meri hai…yeh toh mera world hai’. Clarity of emotions and craft ka correct combination jo dialogue form mein Zoya ne diya tha usse. And unhone haath jodke mujhse kaha tha ki…please don’t use any cuss words in the film…nahi toh censorshipwale ghusenge aur kaat denge woh log. Writing about rappers and writing about that world and not using any gaali was really challenging for me. Normally, bolte bolte gaali nikalti hai naturally.



I don’t want to use those words here, but you have seen youngsters talking to each other – they abuse. They use bad words in a good sense. Kitna mast aadmi hai…tu toh na beep hai… tu toh na yeh hai…She said I have the basic script and these are my dialogues, you have to transcreate it, bring out your own stuff. I didn’t want to lose the soul. English main jo padha tha maine usme soul tha…normally kya hota hai English filmein hum jab dekhte hain…unka jo subtitle hota hai who bohot bura hota hai. Jurassic Park – subtitled film dekhne gaya tha ek baar – ‘Yeh dekho bhayanak chipkali…yeh kisi rasayan ka adbhut namuna lagti hai… Aao pahad ki chhot pe chad jaate hain’ - It sounds so bad. I knew that if I translate it, it will sound bad, I need to own it. Baatein hui Zoya se, padhte padhte maine likhna shuru kar diya. Because this is my world… so why should I do research. I just dove right in. I transcreated it. Wrote 5-6 scenes to tell her that this is the way I’m thinking. I took it as a responsibility. Mujhe laga main kuch likhke dunga aur mujhe phone aayega doosre din aur Zoya bolegi, “Nice to meet you. Theek hai baad mein kabhi kaam karenge.” I was really worried, but she was thrilled. She was like you have to finish it and give it to me. Javed(Akhtar) saab ne bhi padhe woh scenes and he was like, “Bang on, this is correct!” Iski apni bhasha hai…yeh apni boli hai. Characters bolne lagey hai ab.