Atul Kulkarni: "'Laal Singh Chaddha' was written for Aamir Khan, the actor and producer"

It's your debut as a writer. How challenging was it to write the script?

Writing Laal Singh Chaddha was a really difficult job. The kind of exhaustion I felt after writing it was as if I had shot three films back to back. It was a lot of mental work and a very challenging task.

Adaptations are always tricky. In your opinion, how Indian is 'Laal Singh Chaddha'?

We have very specifically used the word adaptation. When people see the film, they will just be watching an Indian film. For instance, take the golgappa dialogue that’s also in the trailer. This is quite a philosophy of human nature that has been told by Laal’s mother to him and in such a simple way that every Indian would understand and that’s what adaptation is. It’s about adapting a film at its philosophical core. Apart from that, we have tried making it a very lovable and relatable film, telling you a kind of history of the nation through a love story.

What were Aamir’s inputs when you were writing the script?

Aamir didn’t know I was writing the script till I finished it. Of course, there have been extremely important inputs by Aamir and Advait (Chandan), the director. Filmmaking is a team game and you need experts from different disciplines. Even after shooting, Aamir has a habit of doing test screenings and I don’t even know how many we have done so far! So yes, every opinion counts.

The movie has taken so many years to finally come through. At any point, did you feel anxious that it won't happen?

As a person, I am not that attached to anything. Secondly, it was written for Aamir, the actor and producer. He didn’t read the script for two years. After writing the script, I called and told him that I have written a script for you which is an adaptation of FG. He kept saying he would read it but kept delaying it for two years. Once I asked him on the phone when he was going to read it. He confessed that it was because I am not a writer. He is a close friend of mine and he thought I would have written a trash script and if he didn’t like it, I would feel bad. I started laughing and told him that my life does not depend on this film and if he doesn’t like the script, we can just trash it. He was in Panchgani at that time. I went there and he read it. The moment he finished it, he told me in Marathi that not only will he act in it, he will produce it as well. He immediately called his production guy and told him to register three titles - Laal, Laal Singh and Laal Singh Chaddha. Then it took ten years to get the rights of FG from Paramount Pictures. But through this journey, I never ever felt anxious because I knew that Aamir liked it immensely. I knew once he takes it upon himself, he will make it happen.

Has this whetted your appetite for writing more scripts?

I don’t know. Ek baat toh tay hai that I can write. Aamir saab has proved that Atul Kulkatni can write a script. However, I don’t call myself a writer; I call myself an expresser. I express myself only when I feel like expressing. So whenever I feel like writing something, I will write it. I don’t know the if, when and how of it.