Student Of The Year is a landmark film for me – Niranjan Iyengar

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart… In the hierarchy of Bollywood, dialogue and screenwriters are often granted a position so low, given their creative value, that the prospect of one becoming a star overnight is almost laughable. And then there is Niranjan Iyengar's story. It all began one day when Niranjan's mother took him to the movies where he started crying and had to leave. He was a kid then. Adolescence got him dreaming about Rekha and thus followed his stint with 'G' magazine as a writer, a few years with the pen and then mixing it well by assisting Manish Malhotra for three and a half years designing costumes for films and for the ramp. Having penned dialogues for the two most awaited films of 2012 – Student Of The Year and Heroine, Iyengar's determination to see a project through was evident because his challenge doesn't lie in putting those lines on the paper. It lies in taking the director's vision ahead. So to say Niranjan's a visionary maybe true. Dressed in denims and a shirt with vintage glasses on, Niranjan arrives only to find himself waiting for fifteen minutes. I was across the table from him interviewing a couple of blokes. I run to greet him and apologise. I offer him coffee but he is down two after having it with Karan Johar before he met me. It was inevitable, really, when Iyengar breezed in effortlessly. It was like everyone around me was talking in dialogues from his famous movies. At that point, for me, it wasn't hard to pinpoint that Niranjan Iyengar is a brand to reckon with. And just before he was about to leave, he delivered, "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Alvida kehne se phir milne ki ummeed mar jaati hai". So let's rewind and go back to where it all started and know how this brand was built and gave the B-town the lines they'll never forget.

What an incredible journey you've had in movies, Niranjan. Let's flashback a little.
As a kid, I didn't have any intentions of being in movies. My only passion was watching them. Bollywood was a very distant land for me as a kid but it held a lot of curiosity for me. My mother tells me that she never used to take me to movies when I was a kid because I used to cry a lot (laughs). Anyway, but I remember I got a little bit of interest in movies when I discovered Rekhaji. I am a very big fan of hers. I was mesmerised by her. I started collecting her photos, articles and bought a lot of film magazines home. That resulted in more information about movie stars. I got sucked in the film world and then one day I wrote to the editor of 'G' magazine to be an intern with them. Writing was something I was very keen on. In school days, I did think of being an author. I come from a very conservative South Indian family. So being a scientist, an author, etc. were professions we were encouraged to pursue. So yes, my obsession with Rekhaji has got me here I guess (laughs).

I hear you also assisted Manish Malhotra in those days.
Yes, it's true. I had a 6 year tenure as a journalist. Once I finished that, I got a little tired of it and was planning to go and work for Boston Globe in America because my aunt used to work there. During that time, Manish Malhotra was starting his mainstream store in Napean Sea Road. He suggested me to join him instead of going abroad. I assisted him for nearly three and a half years. I did costumes for movies, fashion shows, etc. I got even closer to movies. That's when I decided that I need to get back to writing. At that point, Karan Johar was making Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. I gave him an advice to publish a special book on the making of the film. He was fascinated and offered me to write the book. I put together that book and was on the sets researching and writing.

And I'm sure there's a story behind how you got your first movie debut as a dialogue writer?
(laughs) While on the sets of K3G, Amitabh Bachchan used to have a lot of problems in dialogue reading due to improper Hindi grammar. That's when I jumped in and started making corrections. He thought I was Karan's new assistant. I started working on a few scenes of the film but it was only after the film shoot was over that Karan offered me to write dialogues for his next film. That's when Kal Ho Naa Ho happened. At the same time Jism was happening and Pooja Bhatt too wanted me to write the dialogues for her film. It was Bollywood calling from there on.

Do you think there are trends in dialogues? What was spoken ten years ago isn't applicable anymore?
I don't think there are any such things as 'trends in dialogues'. Every film demands a certain kind of language and we as dialogue writers should be able to give it to it. It adds the flavour to the film. In 80's, there were heavy duty dialogues. But at the same time Basu Chatterjee's and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films were very conversational in its dialogues. Unlike in the West, our cinematic tradition is born out of theatre – 'nautanki' and 'Ram Leela' were all forms of folk theatre. Our films were born out of them. The melodrama carried on for a while but then came the diversity in dialogues. Its 2012 now and there is a Ek Tha Tiger and then there is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara with Kahaani and Singham. Dialogues will always remain immortal.

What gives you a 'high'?
My high doesn't come from anything that is individualistic. That's how I have conducted my career so far. The reason why all the filmmakers have repeated me, with the exception of Ayan Mukherji. I may have not done their second film for whatever reason. I look at myself as a tool. When a script comes to me, my complete loyalty is with the script and the director. When I was doing Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and knowing that all the characters from the film are Indians living abroad, it made more sense of them talking like any urban guy or girl would. But Karan insisted on giving it a bit more rooted and dramatic touch. I still remember writing an alternate scene for most of the film. It was my version of how the characters would speak. I wanted to go a little subtle. But when I saw the film, I realised that Karan was bang on about his vision. Everything else was alienated except the dialogues. Same thing happened with Bhatt saab's Jism. I realised with time that when director comes to you to write lines, I allow them to set the tone of the dialogues. The challenge is in that if I need to take that person's vision a little ahead with my proficiency.

And yet there is so much to learn, isn't it?
Yup! One of the most fortunate things about my career is that I am probably the only dialogue writer who sits on the sets of a movie. I also have interacted with all these actors as a journalist and as a designer. So they aren't conscious of the fact that I am on the sets. I do the reading with them before a scene if required. Apart from that, I love being on the sets of a film. There's so much to learn from being at the epicentre of movies.

I want to know the films that have left a lasting impression on you.
There are a few films that have left a lasting impression on me as a dialogue writer. I love the dialogues of all Coen Brothers films. There is something quirky about them and yet very real. Then I love the dialogues of Hours – Nicole Kidman starrer. I love the dialogues of all Woody Allen films. American Beauty comes next. I like a lot of television shows, for instance, I love Criminal Minds. It's a crime show but what lines! From our Hindi Film Industry, I like Mughal-E-Azam, all Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films. I try to use lines that can also apply largely to your own line.

I can't let you go without you talking about Student Of The Year. Awaiting the new future generation?
Definitely. I can't wait for it to release. Student Of The Year is not about dialogues or cinematography or editing or story or anything but the true spirit of the youth. It's a spirit of Karan Johar because he is working with newcomers and trying to be the twenty year old (laughs). It's the spirit of these three talented actors – Varun, Alia and Siddharth. Yes, Student Of The Year is a landmark film for me because to recreate an enduring quality of a youngster. It was my way of recreating that. When I watch the edited version of the film, no matter how much I've fallen short with my dialogues, but the spirit of the film has taken it further.

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more