Varun Grover Instagram – 1st July 2004. Exactly twenty years ago, I moved to Mumbai with the dream of becoming a writer. Zero connections, zero formal training, very little knowledge of good world cinema (the best films I had seen till then were The Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, Katha, and Appu Raja – all of them i still love but i didn’t know ki duniya mein iss-se better films bhi hoti hain), not much knowledge of even the basic craft of writing, and very little savings (though of course my privilege was a huge safety net).
I often think that if I had known how tough this city – and this industry- are, I’d have probably never moved. The constant exploitation, almost as a compulsion even when they could get work done without exploiting or manipulating, and lack of respect for writers came as a shock to me but at the same time, kindness and support of many people (starting with my first writing partner and friend in the city @randomiya – a treasure of a person), the team and crew of my THE GREAT INDIAN COMEDY SHOW (@shashantshah, @pathakvinay, @amitvmasurkar, @lordmenon, and show’s creative head Sailesh Dave plus many others) kept me going. Over time, many more artistic voices I respected and loved allowed me to collab and play (starting with the man who taught me to be brave – @anuragkashyap10 – and then a long list of names who inspired me to be honest and authentic – @neeraj.ghaywan, @snekhanwalkar, @anubhuti_k, @motwayne, @sylvesterfonseca, @vasanbala, @sharatkatariya, @rkrkay, @therichachadha, @iamhumaq, @swapsagram, @anvita_dee, @itsamittrivedi, @avinasharundhaware, @jaideepahlawat and many more.).
And then i recently got to make and release my first feature film ALL INDIA RANK thanks to fantastic producers in @matchboxshots with @pratikmr and @vishal_bajaj_1603 as EPs and a team full of so many talented first timers.
Ye Ek Rupaye ka note uss din mere wallet meiN tha jab maiN barsaat meiN bheegte huye Mumbai aaya tha. Isko sukhaane ke liye rakha tha – phir laga just as a romantic gesture, isko hamesha sambhaal ke rakhoonga. Mere paas aur paise thay – but ye note symbol bann gaya uss din ka. Tab sukhaaya tha toh kadak ho gaya tha – aaj tak kadak hai. Iss shehar ki tarah! | Posted on 01/Jul/2024 21:28:07
