Tellychakkar.com gets into a candid conversation with TV writers Sushil and Shilpa Choubay

TV writers Sushil and Shilpa Choubey

Well-known television writers Sushil and Shilpa Choubay were two individuals who came down to the city of dreams - Mumbai to achieve something that they were not really aware of, in terms of planning. And to their surprise this city welcomed them with open arms. Today, a wedded couple, they have their own house, some good work up their sleeves and some more yet-to-accomplish dreams. We caught up with this couple on a busy evening over dinner to understand their journey of love and work. Read on…

Firstly tell us a bit about your beautiful love story?

Shilpa: Since I am a writer, I’d like to start from the very beginning. It was destiny that brought me and Sushil together. Having said this, I always had the desire to get married to an army officer or a fighter pilot. Incidentally, I was the best cadet in NCC and also have a student pilot license. In fact, I wanted to be an IPS officer. Kiran Bedi and my mother have been my role models, especially my mother because in spite of living in Raipur, she gave me a chance to achieve my big dreams. Since I am the daughter of a professor in literature, you can guess from where I have got the habit of reading. Incidentally, my dad used to write plays.

Basically you were connected with the entertainment industry in spite of being away from it?

Shilpa: Yes, back in Raipur, I used to be part of plays that my dad used to write. But I wasn’t interested much, but enjoyed being a part of it. Since I also loved dancing, I learnt a bit of it. However, I wanted to do something else and applied in the Indian Air Force but unfortunately I wasn’t selected. That depressed me a lot.

After that I moved out of Raipur for a while and joined my sister on her trip to Mumbai. This was in 2000 when I was just 20 year old. I wasn’t doing much here when one fine day I came across an ad in Mid-Day that read that ‘Manju Singh needs an asst. director’. So I went to her office the next day. There she asked me to write a bit for her; surprisingly she liked my work.

Was it there that you met Sushil?

(Sushil does not interrupt while Shilpa talks)

Shilpa: Yes! I found a friend Rajeev on the sets of Manju Singh’s show and through him I met Sushil. Back then not everyone had a cell phone in those days, and not all had a landline also. Hence I used to call this friend on Sushil’s number which was his (friend’s) c/o number. And one fine day while I was talking to Rajeev, Sushil was talking to him in the background. This is when I asked him as to who was speaking? This is when he introduced me to Sushil over the phone.

Sushil: (smiles and let’s Shilpa continue…)

Shilpa: He was a part of the show Surbhi while I wanted to write for the same. So we planned to meet and discuss. But while we decided to meet, my parents fixed my engagement with an engineer who worked in Coal India.

Sounds like a filmy story…go on…

Sushil: It’s no less than one.

Shilpa: So I met Sushil after a year in 2001. I still remember that the day we first met, he was wearing black denim and a grey T-shirt. Trust me, the moment I saw him I knew I’d marry him. But then we did not meet for days and during this time the man I was about to get married to came to Mumbai to stay with my uncle’s family for a few days. But when I learnt that he wasn’t a nice man I did not know how to convey the same to my family. Soon after he left, Sushil called me saying that he wanted to handover my cheque for my work in Surbhi. And when I met him I ended up telling him about how worried I was to get married to a man I don’t like. And all he told me was talk to my family; they’d understand it better.

So did you talk to your family?

Shilpa: Yes, I did and soon after this Sushil proposed to me and we got married. Then I was 22 while he was 25. There was a lot of drama that happened in between our dating and marriage phase but finally we did get married.

You started as an assistant director and went on to become a full time writer?

Shilpa: Yes, I initially directed a multi-camera setup for Zee network. I was their in-house director after which I went on to become the in-house director of SAB TV. At that point of time, SAB had three daily non-fiction soaps which I directed. But I always loved writing. I used to get back home from my shoots and write with Sushil but never wanted to share my nickname with him. But while he was writing Dhadkan, his director there asked him to get me along for a meeting as he knew that we work well together. He insisted on me being on board and that’s when we began working together.

Initially, did you face any difficulties?

Shilpa: Since both of us were kids then, we used to have a lot of fights; moreover we had limited money and stayed in a one BHK house. Plus, it wasn’t just us staying in it, my sister Mona too stayed along with us while other relatives of ours kept coming on and off. There were times when the two of us did not have work and used to live on one person’s salary.

(Now the couple has a three BHK house that has two balconies)

Sushil: We took this house in 2009 while we were working on Betiyaan.

Tell us a bit about your current shows?

Sushil: Our current show is Iss Pyaar ko Kya Naam Doon… Ek Baar Phir. We were working on Ek Mutthi Aasmaan till the leap came in. We also write for Saraswatichandra as and when the story demands. Basically, we are part time writers there. Apart from that, we are working on two new shows but can’t really talk about them now.

What are the phases of planning a new story?

Sushil: Once the story is finalized, one has to work majorly on the characterization of their important characters. We work on every minute detail; the layers have to be created as the TV stories revolve around their reactions of every situation.

Shilpa: I must add this that Sushil is an engineering student but he has studied literature more than me. So it’s our solid literary background that has brought us here. I have read everything from Hindi, Marathi, English and Bengali literature and even others that have been translated in Hindi or English. So our background helps us write better.

How do you manage to balance work and home with the hectic TV working schedule?

Sushil: We can hardly do anything. For the past few months we have been very busy. Our phones have not been working properly and we haven’t had the time to go and shop for new ones. That’s how hectic our lives are.

Have you got the fair due for your work?

Shilpa: We’ve been unlucky in this matter; but yes, we’ve done a lot of good work that includes CID, Aahat, Raat Hone Ko, Choti Bahu and more. In fact our name is in the Limca Book of Records (2005) for writing dialogues continuously for a single shot on the sets of CID; as a matter of fact the camera was rolling for 111 minutes and we went on writing dialogues all throughout.

Sushil: We have created new time slots of two shows. When we came up with Choti Bahu for the 7:30 pm slot, no show was airing at that time slot and neither was any show on in the 6 pm slot and may be that is why Iss Pyaar Ko… is doing well even in that time frame.

What about criticisms?

Sushil: To begin with, I used to write non-fiction, but then I gave up on that to take up fiction work. So after a lot of search I got to write for Doordarshan’s Nyay. In fact, I wrote dialogues for an episode and one day while I was on the sets, two ADs who were reading it started using abusive languages and asked who the stupid dialogue writer was. I happened to hear the same. It was the first reaction that I got to hear from someone but then I feel everybody has the right to keep forth one’s opinion.

Shilpa: But then things soon changed…

Sushil: Yes when I and Shilpa started writing Dhadkan, the director called out loud for the writers. The first thought was that he would give us a backlash akin to someone telling me something behind my back some time ago. But to our surprise we learnt that he called us to appreciate our work.

It’s often said that TV has nothing original to offer. What do you have to say about it?

Sushil: What happens is that the situations are the same. If the hero and the heroine are stuck in a jungle and the latter gets drenched, Roop tera mastana will happen. Since the scenes are the same, references will be the same. Apart from that, if TV writers are told that they’ll have to write just 26 episodes I don’t think anything will be repeated.

Shilpa: (raising her finger) What do you do when you get to know that an actor wants to quit the show in five days? Naturally you’ll have to kill him? It’s obvious that the situations will be the same.

What’s next?

Sushil: We want to be makers. We have seen that though we make products they do not remain the same due to the intervention of too many people. Hence, we want to make a show where people would believe in our conviction. So we have a different subject in mind but it would be too early to talk about it now.

Shilpa: You see we have to think of something new every single day. If I just continue writing for TV shows all my life, I might be finished. Though I know that this (writing work) pays my expenses and my house loan, I want to do a lot many other things. I want to make documentaries, serials, write a travelogue and capture the world to present it in a beautiful manner. I want to do everything that I can, but the only issue is that this life is too short.

Like
0
Love
0
Haha
0
Yay
0
Wow
0
Sad
0
Angry
0

Subscribe Here

Enter your e-mail address below.
KavitaYadav's picture

About Author

Submitted by KavitaYadav on Tue, 01/21/2014 - 18:51

Comments

Abhijeet's picture

Read the interview..........visited our college days we spent with Sushil Sir (Choubayji we used to call him)...but now regret that now he has become uncontactable. I and all our friends are very happy and proud that we had spent time with him. Hope their carrier touches new heights......BEST WISHES to both CHOUBAYs.

Add new comment

Tellychakkar Google News Follow
Top Stories
MUMBAI: There’s a lot going on in the world of TV, OTT and movies. The audiences have been keeping their eyes on the...
MUMBAI: BTS, the famous K-Pop boy band that needs no introduction has become a global sensation due to the fresh sound...
MUMBAI: Crew, directed by Rajesh Krishnan and produced by Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures along with Anil Kapoor...
MUMBAI: Isha Malviya, has recently made headlines with her upcoming project alongside actor Parth Samthaan and fans can...
MUMBAI: Jointly produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Kabir Khan, 'Chandu Champion' is set to present the extraordinary tale...
MUMBAI: The biggest commercial family entertainer of the year, Crew, is all set to release in the cinemas tomorrow....