In the last decade if someone has touched our souls through films and changed the dimensions way people see Bollywood is Juhi Chaturvedi. She layers the humor with great thought process keeping the message intact. She keeps the balance at its best giving us all a picture-perfect story. She dives into the subjects that people shied away couple of years back, she is the pioneer of the wave of change Bollywood content is experiencing today.
From Vicky Donor to her upcoming Gulabo Sitabo and many more Juhi makes us this look so much at ease which is definitely not the case.
She comes from a creative background and had started as an Illustrator for the Time of India Lucknow edition. Later she moved to Delhi and joined Ogilvy & Mather well-known advertising agency prior to taking a transfer to Mumbai in 1999 at Ogilvy & Mather itself. It was in 2008 she joined McCann and worked as a Creative Director. This is where she met Shoojit Sircar who then use to direct ad films. They collaborated on projects for brands like Titan watches, Saffola to name a few.
Shoojit Started working on a film that starred Amitabh Bachchan titled Shoebite for which he roped in Juhi to write the Dialogues for the film, but the movie never saw the light of day, that didn’t stop them from working together. She made her debut with the critically acclaimed Vicky Donor a film that spoke on the issue of how the medical world is making advancements in the field of pregnancy but people are afraid to use it cause of the shaming they go through in the society, it’s a kind of story that would make you want to laugh but also aware at the same time. cause of this story Juhi went on to win many Accolades. Vicky Donor did change the dimensions the way people saw comedy earlier in Bollywood. Brilliantly executed and the soul lied in Juhi’s writing.
She then went on to work on two films with Shoojit Sircar, Piku and October, while Piku gained a lot of attention from the audience for its humour and realistic touch, October was a low-key loved film yet powerful. She made you laugh in the situation that many would chose to keep it heavy. She brought the slice of life in hardships, making us accept the life the way it comes.
Many a times we pay so much attention to what were shown on screen that we almost forget that somebody has written all these stories and Juhi is just one of the writers that will make you fall in love with the story and the characters too.
Soon this year we will watch Gulabo Sitabo written by her and directed by Shoojit Sircar.
Filmography: Vicky Donor (2012), Madras Café (2013), Piku (2015), October (2018), The Sky is Pink (2019), Gulabo Sitabo (2020)