I Wrote The Dialogues On The Set: Baby Director Sai Rajesh

For a film that’s being debated widely without respite, with many of its writing choices coming under the microscope, you’d be surprised to know that all of the dialogues of Baby were penned on the shooting spot.

In an interview with Film Companion post the film’s release, the film’s writer and director, Sai Rajesh gave a peek into his writing and directing process. “I don’t follow a pattern or structure; I just go with the flow. I take a paper or laptop and write nonstop. To tell you the truth, the film didn’t have a script,” Sai Rajesh says. 

Elaborating on his process, the filmmaker adds, “The biggest mental pressure I was experiencing for the past three years was that apart from the time I was sleeping, my mind would only think about Anand, Vaishnavi and Viraj. That’s all I was thinking about. I would get tired of thinking about their thoughts and perspectives. In the morning, after going to the shooting spot, I would write dialogues.” Explaining why he could never lock the script, the filmmaker reveals, “It would keep evolving in my head nonstop. And when the shooting day arrives, I would finally write the dialogues because it had to be done.”

Rajesh admits that this process has been demanding not just for him but his team members as well. “They had no clue about what I would ask for and would always be stressed out. They just had an online order and synopsis. Based on those, they knew what scene would be shot the next day. I would send the scene to one of my associates named Niharika at 11 at night. And then, at 2 am, I would message her to check if she was awake and send a revised version of the scene. All this was when the shoot was at 6 am. And since I had the film’s background score recorded before filming, I would listen to it in the car on my way to the shoot and imagine the whole scene. After reaching the spot, I would sit and write while Anand, Vaishnavi and Viraj waited. My team would even carry a printer to the film set."

Even all the echoes in the writing—like the dialogue about 'value' and the role an iPhone plays in the story—were improvised on set, Rajesh reveals. “I had them planned in my mind. For instance, while filming Viraj’s scene that counters Anand’s dialogue about the value he gives to Vaishnavi, I looked back at the original scene and write the new scene accordingly,” he says. “However, this process is not advisable at all, and even I don’t think I’ll follow this process ever again.”