How To Write Like Rajkumar Hirani.

3 Idiots. The Munna Bhai Series. And now, PK. Rajkumar Hirani and his writing partner Abhijat Joshi can do no wrong. What's more, me and this other colleague have a hunch in some other life these two would have been great ad-men. Every film they create has a tagline, a takeaway so to speak. Jaado ki jhappi. Get well soon. Aal is well. And all these catchphrases go viral. That's media mileage most brands would kill for.

Last night I heard him give a talk at an Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) conference. He discussed about censorship, creativity and how to deal with the unintended outbursts arising due to some obtuse interpretations of your work. The last bit, he unfortunately became familiar with due to PK.

But my favourite part of the talk was when he discussed the LCD principle. It's sort of a thumb rule he and Abhijat apply to every scene they write. As per it, everything you write should either make the audience Laugh, Cry or invoke some Drama. Short for LCD. Which makes a lot of sense. Not a scene is a filler. Every scene serves a purpose. Now that you know how two of the best writers in Bollywood think, have a good second look at your script. Maybe there's some room for rewriting and editing.