To tell a story about a city and its people is one thing; weaving the city into the very fabric of the story, as an almost flesh and blood character, a silent spectator to the greed and desires of its inhabitants, is another. In Amazon Prime Video’s Gulabo Sitabo, scriptwriter Juhi Chaturvedi manages to do both. With her master storytelling skills and crafty use of imageries that evoke a sense of smell, taste, and touch, the Lucknow-born writer breathes a leash of life into even the inanimate objects. Perhaps that is why, it feels like Fatima Mahal – the property that spawns both nostalgia and endless bickering – is as much a part of the plot as Mirza, Baankey, the Begum or Guddu. In conversation with MAKERS India, Juhi takes us behind the scenes, into the old-world charm of Lucknow and shares how she and her team comprising director Shoojit Sircar and cinematographer Abhik Mukhopadhyay were able to capture its history and eccentricities on screen.