Writer's Bloc

SUMIT ARORA TALKS ABOUT HIS JOURNEY AS A WRITER.

- SRIJITA SEN

Sumit Arora is riding high on the success of Border 2. The writer has come a long way, from his early days in television to making a mark across films and OTT. With shows like Dill Mill Gayye and Sadda Haq, he captured young audiences on the small screen, and today he is the mind behind some of the most quoted lines from Stree, The Family Man and Jawan, among others. When we sit down for a conversation, he reflects on arriving in Mumbai as a teenager with big-screen dreams, navigating the stigma of being labelled a 'TV writer', and eventually breaking into films with Stree. He also speaks about the evolving value of writers in mainstream cinema, crafting whistle-worthy moments for Shah Rukh Khan, shouldering the legacy of Border and more. Excerpts:

You moved to Mumbai from Meerut at a young age. What were those early days like?

I came to Mumbai when I was just 17 or 18. The plan was always to write and direct films. I was new and didn't know how to speak English because I was a Hindi-medium student. I did not know anybody in Mumbai, so there was a lot of struggle even in terms of meeting people. I realised that somehow you have to survive in the city first and then aspire to do films. I got into TV writing and assisted a senior writer. I started making money through television and that helped me settle in the city and work on myself and my craft.

You became one of the highest-paid TV writers. Did that kind of success so early on feel surreal or scary?