Breakdown Besties Podcast

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film OMG! Oh My God (2004) starring Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar. Written by Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla, this film explores our relationship with faith - how one’s personal practice of spirituality and religion is often taken advantage of by institutions claiming to house our creator while exploiting the devotees with unblemi...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Hum Tum (2004) starring Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan. Written by Kunal Kohli and Siddharth Raj Anand, this film explores the evolving relationship between a man and a woman who meet across different phases of life, riding the ups and downs of every evolution of lives and themselves together, asking the quintessential early 2...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Black (2005) starring Rani Mukherjee and Amitabh Bachchan. Written by Bhavani Iyer, Prakash Kapadia and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, this film explores the relationship between a teacher and his differently abled student, as he helps her grow from a hopeless child into a young woman with promise. Ahead of its time with bold choices an...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Raazi starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. This spy thriller written, (Bhavani Iyer, Meghna Gulzar), directed, and starring women takes us into a world that we’re not privy too- how women contribute to the war efforts to prove their patriotism and mettle. Adapted from the rich source material provided by the book Calling Sehma...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Bari! starring Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra!  This wonderfully whimsical film written by Anurag Basu, Tani Basu, and Sanjeev Datta provides a mezmerizing cinematic experience that makes the audience suspense all disbelief while they’re glued to their seats, wondering how these phenomenal characters will escape their damning...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Lootera (2013) starring Sonkashi Sinha and Ranveer Singh!  This heartbreaking adaptation of O’Henry’s The Last Leaf, written by Bhavani Iyer, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Anurag Kashyap, shows us how Western tales can be culturally adapted for Indian audiences and elevated to provide a gut-wrenching and mezmerizing cinematic experi...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Fashion (2008) starring Priyanka Chopro-Jonas!  This insider, almost voyeuristic view into the behind-the-scenes world of supermodels, written by Madhur Bhandarkar, takes audiences on a journey into a world we otherwise have little access to. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class ex...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Paan Singh Tomar (2010) starring Irrfan Khan!  This poignant biopic about the state of Indian sportsmen and the dacoit crisis in India, written by Sanjay Chauhan and Tigmanshu Dhulia, tells an important tale to audiences right from the heartland. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting clas...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film English Vinglish starring Sridevi!  This heartwarming dramedy which marked Sridevi’s comeback made going to the cinema an absolute treat for filmgoers in India! Written by Gauri Shinde, this film highlighted important themes of love and respect within the Indian middle class. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-s...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Paa (2009) This heartwarming father-son dramedy starring none other than Abhishek Bachchan and Ambitabh Bachchan as father and son respectively, written by R. Balki and assisted by Rishi Veermani, touched the hearts and souls of Indian audiences with moments of pure love and comedy. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Guru (2007) This unofficial biopic of Dhirubhai Ambani film starring none other than Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwariya Rai, written by Mani Ratnam and Vijay Krishna Acharya, wowedIndian audiences with dramatic storytelling, swoon-worthy love stories, and a voyeuristic lens into the behind-the-scenes of business. In this episode o...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Johnny Gaddar (2007) This genre-defining neo-noir caper film starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, written by Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti, Vinay Chaudhary, and Atul Taishete changed how Indian audiences consume caper crime films. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class experience, we ana...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Chak De! India (2007) This 2007 genre-defining sports drama starring none other than our favourite Shah Rukh Khan, written by Jaideep Sahni, changed how Indian audiences consume horror films. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class experience, we analyze the techniques used in the scr...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Bhool Bhulaiyaa! This 2012 genre-defining horror starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan, written by Madhu Muttam, Neeraj Vora, and Manisha Korde changed how Indian audiences consume horror films. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class experience, we analyze the techniques used in the...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Kahaani! This 2012 genre-defining thriller starring Vidya Balan, written by Sujoy Ghosh, Advaita Kala, Suresh Nair, Ritesh Shah, Sutapa Sikdar, and Nikhil Vyas, set the stage for thrillers to take Bollywood by a storm. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class experience, we analyze the...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Badmaash Company! Written by Parmeet Sethi, this young white collar crime caper film had us all amazed by the characters’ wits and warmed by their relationships! In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class experience, we analyze the techniques used in the script, to make the film come ali...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Koi Mil Gaya! Written by Rakesh Roshan, Honey Irani, Robin Bhatt, Sachin Bhowmick, and Javed Siddhiqui,  and starring Hritik Roshan, Rekha, and Preity Zinta, this heartwarming dramedy with a friendly furry from another planet was a delight for children and adults alike! In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Munnabhai MBBS! Written by Raju Hirani, this family-friendly comedy, starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, and Boman Irani, is an evergreen Bollywood film that elicits laughs even today as we go on the gunda-with-a-heart-of-gold’s ride to become a doctor. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriti...

Welcome to the screenwriting breakdown and analysis of Bollywood film Band Baaja Baaraat! Yashraj Films’ genre-defining romcom starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma, written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Habib Faisal, and Maneesh Sharma, set the stage for new-age, young romcoms to take Bollywood by a storm. In this episode of the Breakdown Besties, your film-school level screenwriting class experie...