'Writing crime fiction doesn't take a toll, it's the opposite'

Mirzapur writer Avinash Singh Tomar, Gangs of Wasseypur writer and actor Zeishan Quadri and filmmaker Prakash Jha of Gangaajal and Apaharan fame talk about their inspirations, and what writing crime fiction entails in a society marred by it, in interviews with Garima Sadhwani

- Garima Sadhwani

● INTERVIEW: AVINASH SINGH TOMAR, SCREENWRITER

What was writing Mirzapur like?

It was a very collaborative writer's room we had for Mirzapur. There was a lot of studying character arcs, we would think a lot about how we want to phase the seasons, and what gimmicks would sell. We spoke to a lot of local people as well. We took a pragmatic approach as to what the viewers would want to see.

Mirzapur has become a cult show over the years. Where did your inspiration to write this show come from? And did writing so much crime and gore ever get to you?

I come from Uttar Pradesh, so whatever I wrote were things I'd been observing from an early age. I have not committed any crime (laughs), but I've seen this ecosystem up close and been a part of it first hand. So the authenticity was pretty easy for me to get a hang of. What I would say is that you have to know your palette and your audience. So you have to use your imaginative acumen to give the show a flavour that the audience would want to come back to.

Writing crime fiction doesn't take a toll on you, it's actually the opposite. Violence is such a strong and intense emotion, that when you're writing about it, it's almost as if you are venting it out of your system which feels pretty cathartic. Writing, in itself though, is a very exhausting job. It's the good kind of pain though.

Do you think anyone other than Pankaj Tripathi would have been able to justify the role of Kaleen Bhaiya?

Once you put an image to some character and then go and see in retrospect, it's always difficult to imagine someone else playing the part. You can't imagine anyone other than Amjad Khan as Gabbar from Sholay (1975). There are a lot of actors I know who would have done better, but would it have landed that way? You can't say for sure. The magic that happens on the screen happens.