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‘I have done engineering from IIT BHU. After this, I worked in companies like CT Cop and Coca Cola. I used to get 9-10 lakh rupees annually. I used to travel by flight, had secretaries, had a beautiful house and all the luxuries. But I was so obsessed with becoming a director that all these things disappeared from my life.
A time came when there was no money even for an auto. Had to travel by bus. Pregnant wife also used to go to office in the bus pushing for livelihood. But life seems to be coming back on track even if late.
Puneet Krishna is saying these things while laughing, but the pain is clearly visible in his eyes. Puneet is the writer of the famous web series Mirzapur Season 1 and Season 2. He has also written the story of the recent web show Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper.
We met Puneet in the office of Dainik Bhaskar in Mumbai. After some formalities, we asked him the first question-
You were an engineer, how did you come into the film industry?
Puneet laughs and says- I was always motivated to study at home. But it was my father who would take us to watch movies. Perhaps this was the reason why I always found myself close to movies.
After 11th, I lost touch with films. My entire focus was on studies. After 12th, I got admission in IIT BHU. Here I joined the cultural department. I remember that I made a play in the fourth year, which won the first place. I did the writing and direction.
All of us friends were celebrating this victory. Everyone was dancing after drinking alcohol. Then one friend said- Punni, people like you must be making films. Why don’t you try.
He said this in an emotional state while drunk, but I took it seriously. After this, my only struggle was to go to Mumbai somehow.
To enter films, he left a job of Rs 10-11 lakh per annum and did cleaning work
After passing out from college, Puneet worked at places like CT Cop, B School. Then he got a job at Coca Cola and in this connection, he came to Mumbai.
Regarding this, Puneet says- I worked for 4 years in Coca Cola. Along with work, I started doing theatre, where I also used to do cleaning work to learn. With the passage of time, my passion for films was increasing. Finally, to make my dream come true, I left a job of 10-11 lakh rupees per annum and started struggling like ordinary strugglers.
When I left my job, I got taunts from my relatives
Puneet further says- Even today in East UP, the jobs of an engineer, doctor and IAS are given the highest importance. When I told my family about leaving my job for films, there was an uproar in the house. Various kinds of talks started taking place among the relatives.
Mother supported me, but father was a little upset. However, he too never openly opposed it.
The pregnant wife also had to suffer in the bus, the house was run with her money
What was the worst phase after leaving the job? Puneet said- I have a friend, Ashish. He knew director Rajkumar Hirani. It was because of him that I met Hirani Sir. Seeing my passion, he took my contact number and sent me back with the assurance of meeting soon.
I was unemployed for 6 months. Slowly all my savings were exhausted. The circumstances were such that to keep myself busy, I used to read a newspaper 4 times a day. I did not even have money to hire an auto to look for work. I used to travel by bus.
My wife supported me in this difficult situation. She had married me thinking of a better future. But in my desire to fulfill my dreams, I was not able to fulfill even her needs. On the contrary, she was struggling with me without complaining.
I remember she was pregnant. Even in this condition, she used to travel by bus to and from office. The entire household was run with her money. We saw the worst of days at that time, but she did not complain at all.
The story of the recent web show Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper has also been written by Puneet. He has also directed and produced this series. This series has been on top in Netflix India for the last 5 weeks.
When I got a call from Hirani’s office, I thought someone was joking
Did Rajkumar Hirani offer to meet again? Puneet says- Yes, it happened after some time. One day I got a call from Sir’s office. At first I thought a friend was joking. But after some time I was convinced.
After this I went to meet Sir in his office. After the interview I got a job in his company. This is how I took my first step into the world of films.
The first film written could never be released
When did you start working as an AD and how did you get into writing? Puneet said- I have worked with director Shantaram Verma. Here I used to work as an AD. He asked me to write a film, whose name was Noora. Along with the story, I also wrote its songs. I did this work for 2 months, for which I got only 18 thousand rupees.
This was going to be a big project. It was hoped that this project would give me a big break in the industry. But fate had something else in store. Due to some reason, the film could not be made. I got another big shock in my time of trouble. However, what else could I, a helpless person, do in the face of circumstances.
When the film Bangistan flopped, people said- you are a flop writer
How did you deal with the failure of the film Bangistan? Puneet said- After the film Noora, I wrote the story of the film Bangistan. After reading the story, director Ritesh Sidhwani agreed to make the film. However, this film flopped.
This phase was very bad for me. I felt like I was standing naked. I felt as if the public was saying that this is a part of a flop film. It is the rule of the industry that whoever does good work, the industry welcomes him with open arms, otherwise he is thrown out. The same thing happened with me.
After the film flopped, people’s attitude towards me changed. I remember one day I got a call from someone. He said – We are looking for a good writer. You are a very good friend of writer Sudip Sharma (who has written the story of the film NH 10). Can I get his number?
In response I said- Sir I am also a writer. But the reply that the person gave me blew my mind. He said- I am not looking for you, but for a hit writer. This statement of the person shook me to the core. At this time I wrote a film for Phantom, but that too could not be made.
If the film had not flopped then perhaps a series like Mirzapur would not have been made
Puneet further says- I was fighting this bad phase when one day I got a call from Farhan Akhtar’s production company Excel and they demanded a story. The dark phase of life was going on, so I wrote the story of Mirzapur with dark comedy. I wrote this story in 3 days. After the first meeting with the makers, I wrote 2 episodes by July 2016. When this story was narrated to Amazon, they also liked it very much and this is how the series Mirzapur was made.
