Breakdown Besties Podcast

A screenwriting classroom experience for aspiring Bollywood screenwriters. Analysing and studying the screenwriting techniques used on the page to make Bollywood films come alive on the screen. Welcome to the Breakdown Besties Podcast! We're your hosts, Akshay and Ananya, two Bollywood screenwriters having written shows like Mismatched, Inside Edge, Wedding.con, Rana Naidu, Ishq in the Air, and Grahan, amongst others. Every Thursday, we breakdown films to examine the screenwriting techniques used to make iconic Bollywood films... well, iconic. We cover logline construction, hero's journey breakdown, scene and dialogue analysis, plot and theme, and other craft devices. Just like you would in a screenwriting classroom. Once you're done listening to the episode, rewatch the movie, now noting how the techniques used on the page come alive on the screen. And know that you're now one step closer to being a professional-level screenwriter. <br

Breakdown Besties Podcast is a tv podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 30 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Breakdown Besties Podcast, a tv show with 30 episodes published.

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  Episode #30

  E30: Wake Up Sid FOOLED YOU

  Oct 2, 20261h 7m

  Wake Up Sid is often remembered as a coming-of-age film about finding yourself, growing up and figuring out what you want from life. But structurally, there’s something much more interesting happening underneath. In this episode of Breakdown Besties, we break down Wake Up Sid as a screenwriting case study, looking at Sid’s Hero’s Journey, Aisha’s parallel character arc, the film’s theme of independence, and the point where its coming-of-age story starts competing with its romance. We also examine why Sid’s transformation feels unusually easy, how the film uses supporting characters to help him grow, and whether Wake Up Sid is trying to combine two different genres. Then we get into the craft: logline, Hero’s Journey, character creation, thematic storytelling, scene construction, contradiction, callbacks, mini-arcs, meet-cute, romantic tropes and coming-of-age conventions. Written by Ayan Mukerji, with dialogues by Niranjan Iyengar, Wake Up Sid stars Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma. In this episode, we break down: How to write a coming-of-age character arc Sid's Hero's Journey Aisha's parallel Hero's Journey Why Sid's ordeal is missing How to build a strong film theme Character creation and character flaws How supporting characters help a protagonist grow Why the romance feels separate from Sid's coming-of-age journey How to use contradiction in scenes How callbacks show character progression How mini-arcs work How Wake Up Sid uses and subverts romance tropes The meet-cute and “clocking” tropes How coming-of-age films make characters see beyond themselves Chapters 00:00 Wake Up Sid: India's Coming-of-Age Film 02:10 How to Write a Strong Logline 05:30 Sid's Hero's Journey Begins 11:29 Sid Meets His Mentor 13:13 Crossing the Threshold: Sid Leaves Home 15:34 Why Sid's Hero's Journey Doesn't Fully Work 18:50 When Aisha's Story Takes Over 21:19 Sid's Resurrection and Ending 24:30 Why Wake Up Sid Feels Like Two Movies 33:32 The Theme: Do You Have to Be Lonely to Be Independent? 36:21 How to Write Romantic Tension Without Romance 38:55 Scene Craft: Using Contradiction 42:22 How Callbacks Show Character Growth 47:50 Character Creation: Building Sid and His Foils 57:48 Wake Up Sid's Romance & Coming-of-Age Tropes

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  Episode #30

  E29: SALMAN KHAN is the only REAL SUPERHERO. Bhavesh Joshi shows you why

  Sep 25, 20261h 12m

  Why are Indian heroes so often written like superheroes? In this Bhavesh Joshi Superhero screenwriting breakdown , Ananya and Akshay look at how Vikramaditya Motwane's film uses the grammar of superhero movies to tell a much more grounded Indian vigilante story . The film was written by Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Koranne , and stars Harshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyuli and Ashish Verma . We break down Bhavesh Joshi Superhero from a screenwriting perspective, including: Why Bhavesh Joshi works as a vigilante film rather than a traditional superhero movie How the film uses superhero tropes such as secret identities, masks, hideouts and training Why the film has two separate Hero's Journeys How Bhavesh Joshi's death becomes Sikandar's call to action The film's central theme: how long should you fight for what's right? How Bhavesh, Sikandar and Rajat represent different responses to systemic corruption Why the second half struggles to maintain emotional investment How to create a compelling antagonist system through specific characters Why making your vigilante physically vulnerable makes the world feel more believable How the opening sequence establishes the promise of a superhero movie How intercutting creates tension How callbacks, investigations and visual storytelling communicate character change If you're a screenwriter, filmmaker, film student or anyone trying to understand story structure , this episode breaks down the actual mechanics behind the film rather than simply reviewing whether it works. Who wrote Bhavesh Joshi Superhero? Bhavesh Joshi Superhero was written by Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Koranne . Who directed Bhavesh Joshi Superhero? The film was directed by Vikramaditya Motwane . Who stars in Bhavesh Joshi Superhero? The film stars Harshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyuli and Ashish Verma . Is Bhavesh Joshi Superhero a superhero movie? The film is better understood as a vigilante story using superhero conventions . The breakdown looks at why that distinction matters to the film's writing and world-building. What can screenwriters learn from Bhavesh Joshi Superhero? The film offers useful examples of Hero's Journey structure, character arcs, thematic character webs, genre tropes, world-building, action writing, intercutting and visual storytelling . Chapters 00:00 Why India Doesn't Make Vigilante Movies 07:59 How to Write a Strong Logline 12:04 Bhavesh Joshi's Hero's Journey 24:20 Sikandar's Hero's Journey 33:22 The Theme: How Long Should You Fight for What's Right? 38:37 How Characters Can Represent a Theme 43:03 Why the Villains Don't Work 46:28 Why Bhavesh Joshi's Death Matters 49:05 Superhero Tropes: Masks, Training & Secret Identities 56:02 How to Make a Vigilante Feel Real 58:25 How Intercutting Creates Tension 01:00:19 Why the Opening Scene Works

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  Breakdown Besties Podcast

  E28: Your romance is FAILING. Veer-Zaara shows you why

  Sep 18, 20261h 6m

  Veer-Zaara is one of Bollywood’s great epic romances, but what makes the film work at the screenplay level? In Episode 28 of the Breakdown Besties Podcast, Ananya and Akshay break down Veer-Zaara scene by scene to understand how the film constructs a 22-year love story around separation, sacrifice, yearning and the India-Pakistan conflict. The film’s story, screenplay and dialogues were written by Aditya Chopra , with Yash Chopra directing. The central cast includes Shah Rukh Khan as Veer , Preity Zinta as Zaara , and Rani Mukerji as Samia Siddiqui . We look at the film through a screenwriter’s lens, including: How the Hero’s Journey works for Veer and Zaara How Akshay maps a second Hero’s Journey through Rani Mukerji’s Samia Why the film’s theme is built around sacrifice and enduring love How Zaara functions as the film’s thematic character Romance tropes including meet-cute, forced proximity, common task, yearning, rain and meeting the parents How the India-Pakistan relationship creates the film’s central story engine Using contrast to make Veer’s transformation from young, happy man to prisoner land emotionally How to control the level of information given to characters versus the audience Trigger mounting as a way of breaking through a character’s resistance How ticking clocks create tension Using misdirection without cheating the audience How callbacks can show that a relationship or character has remained emotionally consistent How to create deeper characters by revealing contradictory sides of them Using moral choices to reveal character How to push a protagonist against a wall and then subvert audience expectations If you're a screenwriter, filmmaker, or simply obsessed with figuring out why Bollywood movies work, this episode is a practical screenplay breakdown of one of Hindi cinema's most enduring romances. Watch the episode, then rewatch Veer-Zaara and see how many of these techniques you can spot yourself. Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: FCT5MI3FDC2OAG28

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  Breakdown Besties Podcast

  E27: YJHD is broken. It's two films. Theme makes it one movie.

  Sep 11, 20261h 28m

  Screenwriter resources survey: https://forms.gle/vVFKJ6qdfAyCvF2A9 Why does Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani still work 13 years later? In this episode, we break down the screenplay, Hero's Journey, character arcs, rom-com tropes, theme, dialogue, subtext and scene construction behind Ayan Mukerji's 2013 coming-of-age film. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is one of those films that looks deceptively simple. Four friends, a trek, a wedding, a love story, a few years apart. But underneath all the Udaipur weddings, mountain shots and suspiciously energetic young people, there is a lot going on structurally. In Episode 27 of the Breakdown Besties Podcast, Ananya and Akshay break down Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani from a screenwriter's perspective. We look at why the film can almost be understood as two coming-of-age films connected by one thematic question, how its two protagonists have different emotional journeys, and why the film works so well despite having relatively little conventional plot. We also get into the film's Hero's Journey, logline, coming-of-age and rom-com tropes, character development, scene construction, misdirection, callbacks, subtext, dialogue writing and thematic storytelling. And yes, we have opinions about the opening dialogue. In this episode, you'll learn: How to write a useful logline using flaw, goal, conflict and stakes Why Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani can be viewed as two separate coming-of-age stories How Naina and Bunny have different Hero's Journeys Why emotional progression matters even when a protagonist doesn't have an obvious external goal How songs can carry structural beats in an Indian commercial film How rom-com tropes such as the meet-cute, clocking, common task and transgressive touch create romantic tension How characters can exchange ideologies through conversation How to use objects and elements of the world to create action and conflict How misdirection can prevent a romantic storyline from becoming predictable Why callbacks are useful for showing how a relationship has changed How to deepen a character without making them passive How a foil can expose your protagonist's flaws How dialogue becomes memorable when characters have strong points of view How metaphor can turn an abstract feeling into a memorable line How subtext lets characters communicate what they can't say directly Why Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani had a cultural impact beyond its story The discussion also gets into one of the film's biggest thematic questions: Can you have a life of freedom and a life of stability, or does choosing one mean giving up the other? And, perhaps more importantly for writers, does the film actually answer that question convincingly?

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  Episode #26

  E26: Chhichhore Should Be An Adult Film. The Characters Are Why It Isn’t

  Sep 4, 20261h 6m

  Screenwriter resources survey: https://forms.gle/vVFKJ6qdfAyCvF2A9 What makes Chhichhore work as a screenplay? In this episode of the Breakdown Besties Podcast , we break down Nitesh Tiwari, Nikhil Mehrotra and Piyush Gupta's Chhichhore from a screenwriting perspective, looking at the story structure, character development, comedy writing, ensemble cast, theme, conflict and world building. We get into why the film's simple logline works, how its Hero's Journey is structured, how comedy uses techniques like the rule of three and callbacks , and why the writers introduce their ensemble characters gradually instead of throwing everyone at the audience at once. We also look at one of the film's central dramatic questions: Who is a loser? And how Chhichhore keeps answering that question throughout the story. If you're a screenwriter, filmmaker, aspiring writer or simply someone who wants to understand why Bollywood films work, this breakdown gives you practical screenwriting lessons you can apply to your own scripts. In this episode: How to build a strong logline Finding flaw, goal, conflict and stakes The Hero's Journey in Chhichhore How the film establishes its central theme Using conflict to reveal character Show vs. tell in character writing Contradictions that make characters feel human The Rule of Three in comedy How callbacks strengthen relationships Different levels of comedy and why "stupid" humour can work How to introduce an ensemble cast efficiently Character entry sequences and economical storytelling Intercutting two timelines for emotional and thematic payoff Building an authentic college world through lived experience and research Using tone as a constraint in screenwriting Chapters 00:00 The comedy techniques that make Chhichhore work 01:34 Chhichhore and why its humour resonates 01:56 The logline: finding the film's central story 03:54 Breaking down Chhichhore 's logline 06:01 The stakes behind the "loser" tag 06:37 The Hero's Journey begins 09:22 Multiple calls to action 18:45 Reward, failure and the final Hero's Journey beats 20:42 The theme: Who is a loser? 29:13 The three levels of comedy 30:27 Rule of Three and callbacks 31:40 Using conflict to reveal a character 50:15 How to introduce an ensemble cast 1:02:20 Why the two timelines work 1:02:42 Building a believable world 1:03:17 Lived experience, research and tone 1:04:49 Final thoughts on Chhichhore

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