In mid-July, as director Venky Atluri was adding the finishing touches on his upcoming Tamil-Telugu film Vishwanath & Sons, another milestone arrived. The 72nd National Film Awards recognised him with the Best Screenplay (Dialogue Writer) award for his 2024 Telugu film Lucky Baskhar.When the announcement was made, Venky admitted the news took its time to sink in. He describes the honour as a validation of his efforts. “It also makes me more responsible,” he says.“It also makes me more responsible,” he says. “People will now pay closer attention to how I write and portray my characters.”Speaking at Sithara Entertainments’ office in Hyderabad, Venky reflects on his writing process, his approach to direction, and why he believes Vishwanath & Sons, which explores an age-gap relationship, will resonate with family audiences, especially Gen Z.Approach to writingBefore discussing Vishwanath & Sons, which marks Suriya’s return to the romantic drama genre after more than a decade, Venky reflects on what made Lucky Baskhar resonate with audiences. The Dulquer Salmaan-starrer, set against the backdrop of banking fraud, became one of 2024’s biggest Telugu hits.“One of the most-loved lines from the film is when Baskhar says, at a crucial moment, that if just half an hour of his life hasn’t gone according to plan, he doesn’t want to spend the rest of it trying,” says Venky. “That line was written on the spur of the moment.” Even today, both the scene and the dialogue continue to enjoy strong recall.Venky was also struck by how movie buffs compiled their favourite dialogues from Lucky Baskhar. Unlike his earlier films — Tholi Prema, Mr Majnu, Rang De and the social drama Sir (Vaathi in Tamil) — he says he did not consciously set out to write memorable one-liners this time.