Rajkumar Hirani Quotes

I want to write a film. I need to think of the right idea and focus on that; I love writing.

Writing film scripts is the hardest thing in the world. A script has to go to five or six drafts, and you need the feedback of other people and to keep coming back with a fresh eye, honing it down.

The script for 'Thirteen' is tight, and not because of the now-famous six day writing spree, but more because it started out as 15 pages longer.

The hardest single thing you do is get the bloody screenplay right.

Ensure that your script is watertight. If it's not on the page, it will never magically appear on the screen.

Usually, if you've got a great script, everything falls into place.

I went to journalism school, so sometimes writing the script of 'Being Mary Jane' is me putting my journalism hat on.

I do the same kind of rewriting that I do in the shorts that I do in long books - and that is a lot. The book really comes to life in the rewriting.

Basically I started to jot notes, lots of faxes back and forth to my writer, we faxed ideas throughout the whole first draft, and started all over again.

I have stories that I'd like to maybe one day consider directing, but you need a lot of time to write and put it together.

In the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better.

The few times I've tried to write original screenplays, it's a difficult process because I just don't feel like I know the characters the way I know them after the year or two it takes to write a novel.

I always write the script by myself.

The success of the movie industry comes from the story. And the story comes from somebody putting something down on paper.

I want to make my own films from my own scripts based on stories I want to tell, but they take time to put together.

Screenwriting is still a challenge for me. It's more technical than creative. You have to be a very good journeyman plumber and put the proper parts together. Then, if you can still inject a little bit of something worthwhile, you have done as much as can be expected.

There's nothing more important in making movies than the screenplay.

Normally, I spend a week on the outline and take two weeks to write the book.

Outlining is not writing. Coming up with ideas is not writing. Researching is not writing. Creating characters is not writing. Only writing is writing.

I was halfway through a rough draft of 'The Sisters Brothers' when it came time to start the 'Terri' adaptation.

If the script is telling the story well, that is your inspiration, and you do not need to go somewhere else.

I've never written anything that I haven't wanted to write again. I want to, and still am, writing 'A Few Good Men' again. I didn't know what I was doing then, and I'm still trying to get it right. I would write 'The Social Network' again if they would let me, I'd write 'Moneyball' again. I would write 'The West Wing' again.

When I started working on 'Stay With Me,' I thought it would take two years to complete the novel.

As a director, you want to work with great writers.

I always thought the writing process for movies and TV shows was just a blueprint. The making of it was the thing.