Risk wala love

A still from Guns & Gulaabs

What did puppy love have to do with the crime-infested world of Guns & Gulaabs? A lot, as the audience witnessed in the show. Writer Suman Kumar admits creator duo Raj-DK's series - starring Rajkummar Rao, Dulquer Salmaan and Adarsh Gourav - has its roots in teenage romance. "Raj and I felt we needed to tell a feel-good [story]. He had a premise in mind: there is a small-town 14-year-old boy, who is a topper, until a city girl comes and replaces him. I told Raj-DK that we needed more. While researching, I came across opium smuggling, and thought it would be fun if this world collided with that of adolescence," recalls Kumar.

Suman Kumar; Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK

That set the ball rolling on the Netflix crime comedy that packs in several themes, from teenage romance to childhood trauma and drug trade. Kumar felt like a child in a candy store because he loves writing romance. "The theme in my mind was ‘Love hurts'. Arjun Varma [Salmaan] had [feelings for] Yamini [Shreya Dhanwanthary] that came back to hurt him. It was a similar case for other main characters too. I am more of a romantic than Raj-DK. Guns & Gulaabs was the perfect place to unleash my hopeless romantic self," he smiles.

The writer is also happy that the show enabled him to explore gender fluidity through Gourav's character, Jugnu, who comes out as a transgender person. Kumar says authenticity was key in the track. "As men who have no idea what it is to be a woman, writing this was a new experience. We spoke to gender experts and consultants. We didn't want to strike a [false] note."