Writer Ishita Moitra on Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: ‘It’s about celebrating your differences’

After a gap of seven years, Karan Johar makes a grand comeback to the big screen with yet another romantic, musical family dramedy Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (RRKPK) - starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. Written by Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan and Sumit Roy, the film has earned ₹85 crore worldwide so far, as well as garnered mostly positive responses by audiences and critics alike. Speaking about the storyline, Ishita recently said that RRKPK is all about “falling in love with the differences” between people.

According to the screenwriter, as a love story of a Punjabi man and a Bengali woman, the movie “plays with stereotypes only to later break them”. It also features Jaya Bachchan, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Churni Ganguly, Aamir Bashir and Kshitee Jog in pivotal roles. 

In an interview with PTI, Ishita - who also belongs to a Bengali household - said, “RRKPK is about celebrating your differences, it’s a shout-out to inclusivity. There are many reasons why we hate someone or judge others, but it’s about rising above those differences, accepting each other, and living with love. We were playing with the same stereotypes. In the film, no one is perfect. Like, this (culture) is a stereotype but when you invert it, you dig deep, you fall in love with the differences. Eventually, they stand for each other, they rise above those (things). Everybody understands there’s no perfect community, perfect person or perfect love. You have to first make the stereotypes to break them.”

She has previously written dialogues for movies and series like Shakuntala Devi, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain and Four More Shots Please!. Speaking about working with Karan, who returned to direction after Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), Ishita said that his brief was to keep the story of RRKPK relevant and entertaining. The filmmaker had already begun work on the script of the film with Shashank and Sumit before she came on board as screenplay and dialogue writer.

According to Ishita, within high drama and entertainment, they wanted to make a film with “progressive values”. “We were trying to subvert that genre as much as we could, while making sure that all the trappings that people love and crave for are in place,” she added.