'I wrote 'Rashmi Rocket' the way I would have for a male Bollywood superstar'

Aniruddha Guha, one of the screenplay writers of the Tapsee Pannu-starrer 'Rashmi Rocket', is currently busy working on four web series that are in the pipeline and he says it is high time we create and watch female protagonists in bollywood films like their male counterparts.

The story of 'Rashmi Rocket' is based on gender tests on female athletes in India and it is directed by Akarsh Khurana. The story of the film is written by Nandha Periyasamy and screenplay by Aniruddha.

Aniruddha told IANS: "Look, when the film happened Taapsee only brought the story because Nandha shared the story with her. So I knew that she is going to play the title character of the film. I started writing the film in mid-2019 and these films like 'Thappad', 'Saand Ki Aankh' among others did not release."

"The idea really was to create a character who is fierce, unapologetic and not a victim but a fighter. Even in the courtroom scene, she was not a victim who was seeking justice but she has taken the entire sports federation to the court because of the wrong practice of gender tests. She demands justice. In my head, I was writing Rashmi like the way I would write a character for a big male bollywood superstar because why not? Why must a male superstar get a mind-blowing entry shot and why can't it be a female superstar like her?" he shared.

The writer earlier wrote the screenplay of 'P.O.W. - Bandi Yuddh Ke', 'Code M', 'Malang'.

As Aniruddha started his career as a journalist and film critic before turning a story writer, he was asked if watching a film like a critic also brings something extra to the table as a writer and he said, "well even if I was not a film critic, I am a film enthusiast. I watch films through a certain prism and that is a reflection of my sensibility as an individual. It is the same with my writing as well because as a writer also what I bring to the table is my sensibility that of a storyteller."

So, what is keeping him busy these days?

"Currently I am working on four web series. One of them is produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, directed by Vishnu Vardhan, the director of 'Shershaah'. I will be writing two seasons of it, so quite excited and a lot of work is going behind it. I am also working on a web series based on a real-life incident and it will be released on an OTT platform but since the official announcement is yet to be made, I cannot give out details of that. Also, I am writing a web show, which is an Indian adaptation of an Israeli web series. I have written the second season of 'Code M'," Anirudhha signed off.

Indo-Asian News Service