What is wrong with Indian script writting?

What is wrong with Indian script writing?

Origionally posted on Indiafm.

By Gaurav Malani, August 24, 2006 - 09:00 IST

The script is the hero of the film. How many times have we heard some film personality quoting this line while speaking about their film! Ask any actor what made him or her sign a particular movie and pat comes the reply, The script of the film. Ask a director what is that one unique factor that anybody should watch his film and the regular reply will be The script is the USP of my film. But how much truth do these statements hold in the world of Hindi cinema. Almost nil! This unarguable fact came out as a conclusion to the All Indian Screenwriters Conference that was held at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune last weekend. This one of its kind attempt was the first ever endeavor in the film industry where prolific writers throughout the country came up to speak about the plight of screenwriters and the quality of screenwriting in India.

Anjum Rajabali, writer of films like Drohkaal, Pukar and The Legend of Bhagat Singh was the brainchild behind this conference. And from the very outset, the conference appeared to be a genuine effort since the speakers in the seminar included some established writers and directors like Javed Akhtar, Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Sudhir Mishra, Kundan Shah, Jahnu Barua, Shekhar Kapur and some new-age storytellers like Anurag Kashyup, Madhur Bhandarkar, Abbas Tyrewala, Sriram Raghavan with some prolific names from the South film industry like Adoor Gopalkrishnan and Balu Mahendra, as well. And if one notices, all of them have indulged in some superior quality original work as filmmakers in their career. So when I first got an invitation for the event, it was the writer in me who wanted to attend a seminar on the social issues relating to screenwriters rather than a regular media journalist who would mechanically go and cover any film event. To have all such talented personalities under one roof, speaking on an important but long ignored issue in the industry was an enriching experience in itself.

Producer is the villain; Writer is the Victim

Anurag Kashyup, writer of films like Satya, Shool and Yuva, started the event on a rebellious note speaking about the current scenario of screenwriters in Bollywood. He took direct names of industry people in his speech to substantiate his claims about the plight of writers. He brought out the point that writers are inadequately paid in the industry citing the example that a production company was paying 5 crore to AR Rahman for music and 1 crore to Kareena Kapoor as the lead actress but were only willing to pay 5 lakhs to the scriptwriter claiming that that was all they could afford for a writer. Ironically the script is supposed to be the foundation of the film and nobody is willing to make it strong. How can one expect the building to stand tall for long?

Producers are not open to innovative ideas. When Kashyup approached Boney Kapoor around 8 years back with a script, Boney replied saying, Go back to the planet you have come from. Fortunately today Kashyup is making a film on the same script. Also producers want to resort to commercial clich's in cinema and have a lot of creative interferences with the writers. Kundan Shah, director of the cult black comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro recently made a film called Three Sisters that dealt on the social issue of dowry. He approached a prolific producer to take over the project and the producer could even identify with the film as he himself has three daughters. But then he wasn't willing to finance the project since he felt it wasn't economically feasible. And this despite the fact that Shah had completed the entire shooting, editing and even the subtitles of the film on a shoestring budget of 52 lakhs. Add a star, include 4-5 songs and I can think of buying this film, even if it costs 1.5 crore then, replied the producer. Anurag added, The Hindi film industry starts and ends at Juhu. The other end is at Manhattan.

The Hindi film industry starts and ends at Juhu. The other end is at Manhattan Anurag Kashyup
By the time Anurag concluded his speech Sudhir Mishra reverted saying, Like always, Anurag has invited trouble for him again. And that is the reason we love him. Sudhir's comment is (unfortunately) corroborated by the fact that the two films directed by Anurag Kashyup, Paanch and Black Friday have still not released due to censor and social issues. And Sudhir Mishra wasn't wrong because Javed Akhtar was quick to retort saying, Anurag's is one of the most incoherent speeches I have ever heard. I would just suggest writers to stop complaining and better themselves.

Copy-cut-paste to Indian taste

Well, Javed Akhtar wasn't wrong on his stance either. In the present scenario when writers are blatantly copying foreign DVDs and transcribing it to Hindi screenplays, why would anybody pay the writer? How much originality exists in his work that he should get credits and recognition?

Referring to Kundan Shah's Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Sudhir Mishra commented, It was a great spoof of its time. Actually much ahead of its times! But you cannot make a spoof today. Why? Because the current scenario is already a spoof. So if somebody has to make a spoof today, he will, in fact, have to make a realistic film. He added, Mahesh Bhatt often says in his trademark style Nothing is original. My answer to him is Arth was original.

Mahesh Bhatt often says in his trademark style Nothing is original. My answer to him is Arth was originalSudhir Mishra
On a hilarious note, Madhur Bhandarkar added, A DVD librarian at Juhu is more aware about which filmmaker is remaking which movie than anybody else.

Rajan Khosa also brought out the point that Bollywood stars should be more ethically responsible. Why should Amitabh Bachchan play a Denzil Washington in Ek Ajnabee when he can get 10 writers to write a role for him.Point to be noted!

Learning the craft

While any writer should have an inbuilt flair for sketching out a screenplay, it's also important to learn the craft. While the new bunch of writers has learnt it on their own, they didn't deny that training and guidance on writing could add to the skill. However some felt that it was necessary to move over from the age-old Aristotle principles applied in learning the craft of screenwriting. One can explore new methods in scriptwriting than sticking to the standard books of Syd Field (Syd Field is to scriptwriting, what Newton is to the science of gravity)

Shekhar Kapur went over the craft of writing stating, The 3 essential elements for a good script are craft, passion and hunger. The hunger pangs in stomach make creative juices flow in your brains. That's the reason most successful people dont make good films.

Cynical Critics

Cinema is always said to be a directors medium. But Javed Akhtar objected saying, That's not completely true. Whenever a film turns out to be good, critics credit it to the director's vision. Whenever it turns bad they blame it to the writers. A good script can be made into a bad film, but a bad script can never me made into a good film.

A good script can be made into a bad film, but a bad script can never be made into a good film
Javed Akhtar
Madhur Bhandarkar blames back to the critics lamenting, Critics should learn to appreciate. This ignoramus bunch of the so-called trade pundits go on to declare that a film worked in metros but didn't do business in the interiors. They should understand the fact that if a movie was targeted at the multiplex crowd, it's purpose was successfully achieved since it reached its target audience. If I had to make a Corporatefor masses, I would have rather titled it as something like a Business Ka Saudagar. So the concept of a pan India script is almost redundant. If one goes out to write a film for every category of the audience, he wouldn't be able to please all and would end up disappointing most.

Film Writers Association (FWA)

There is a Film Writers Association (FWA) in India but primarily not of much help to aspiring writers for several reasons.

The only office that the FWA has in India is in Mumbai. So if a writer from Patna wants to register his script, he has to personally come down all the way to Mumbai.

In the jet-age, the FWA still doesn't have a website either, from where people can send in their scripts for registration.

Despite getting your script registered at the FWA, it still doesn't come under copyright. To gain a copyright, one should get the script published somewhere. So registering your script is of no legal help.

Finding a way out

While writers so far brought out the flaws of the screenwriters and the system, Abbas Tyrewala (writer of films like Munnabhai MBBS, Main Hoon Na and Maqbool) was smart enough to chalk out some ideas that could lead to the solution of these problems.
He pointed out that while all other technicians in the industry from the makeup men to the stunt masters have a union of their own, the writers happen to be the only members of the crew who do not have any association that will take up their issues. The FWA existed but wasn't of any major help either. So the need of the hour was to have a strong and solid writer's association.

The copyright laws in the country are so fallacious that any person can turn a writer and opt to remake a DVD. The laws have to be made stringent enough so that no writer dares to copy a foreign film and thereby producers have no easy alternative but to hire original scriptwriters who will subsequently get their due.

Writers in the industry are grossly underpaid. There should be a resolution passed by the above formed writers association wherein the writer should get, at least, 1.5% of the budget of the film as his remuneration. On an average, any film is made on an approx budget of 3 crores; so the writer will get a minimum amount of 3 to 4.5 lakhs as his fees for a movie.

Indranil Chakravarthy who played a major role in the success of this conference stated that transcriptions of this conference would be brought out in the form of a book. This book can immensely help a new writer to know the issues and intricacies of a scriptwriter in the industry.

This wasn't a conference of the kind where the speakers just keep cribbing about the problems. At the end of the second day, there were extended open sessions held between the panelists and the audiences where various issues and concerns were discussed in detail and some way out was also instituted.


Anjum Rajabali, who played a major role in the entire seminar, was instrumental in forming a volunteering committee of 11 people. The committee includes sensible names like Javed Akhtar, Abbas Tyrewala, Jaideep Sahni, Anurag Kashyup, Akash Khurana, Kundan Shah and Anjum Rajabali himself. This committee will volunteer to get a clear understanding on the legalities involved with copyrights of scripts and other varied issues relating to scriptwriters. This will be subsequently conveyed to aspiring writers.

As things work out, the volunteering committee might form an association of its own that will take up issues related to screenwriters or might ask the FWA to revise themselves and come forward with more accessible help.

It's also important to have the reality check. On their own merit, this association won't be able to change much in the industry. So it also plans to coordinate with the FPGOI (Film and Television Producers Guild of India) for control over the industry. Since FPGOI has a wide reach in the industry they would be influential in helping the concerns of writers. For ex: the FPGOI can stop a producer from financing a plagiarized script.

If everything goes fine and smoothly, the association can consider taking up further issues like registration of scripts, a website for scriptwriters and possibly a library that could give access to screenplays of Hindi movies.

Happy end

The two-day conference was no less than any Bollywood film with all masala ingredients of action, emotion, drama, social cause and an interesting climax with an end that though cannot be tagged as a happy end (there is a long way to go), was surely an inspiring and promising conclusion. Here's looking forward to the sequel of this film in the form of more original scripts and duly credited scriptwriters in India.

Mirchi Movies competition

Mirchi Movies came up with a competition this year. I believe you should bookmark this page and keep your eye if this competition will be announced next year as well. You can use their contact page to get further information.

"Date : 14 March, 2008

Source : http://www.indiaenews.com/

Would you like to script a film? Do you have engaging stories to tell? If yes, then the Mirchi Movies story hunt could help you make it big in Bollywood.A nationwide hunt for writers kicks off April 1 and entries - in English or Hindi - will be accepted until April 30. The top three stories will be converted into screenplays.While the country has a lot of original writing talent, filmdom certainly doesn't get to see much of it. And that's where Mirchi Movies, a production company which is a subsidiary of Times Infotainment Media, is stepping in. Kamlesh Pandey, who scripted the Aamir Khan starrer "Rang De Basanti" and will be on the judges panel, says: "We can't go on waiting for a good writer to land up, and the industry will benefit from this talent hunt initiative. "We need a lot of writers. We are making more than 1,000 movies every year. Writers are the first need to make a movie. Everything begins with them," Pandey told IANS on phone from Mumbai. Ask him the important elements he would look for in a story and he says: "The story should be good. By good I mean that it should have a beginning and an end. It should have well defined characters. There should be a conflict between the main characters because without conflict there is no good story. These are the basic minimum requirements. "Also, it has to be refreshing. For instance, an old story can be presented with a new touch. A good writer can hail from the remotest part of the country. A small town writer can provide interesting stories as they are living in an environment where stories are emerging every day." Well-known filmmaker Aziz Mirza too will be on the judges panel along with eminent actors and directors. The pan-India story hunt will cover 20 cities and towns - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Baroda, Kanpur, Indore, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Visakhapatnam, Raipur and Thiruvananthapuram. Each story has to be between 1,000 and 3,000 words. Munish Purii, chief operating officer, Mirchi Movies, said: "We are excited on the Mirchi Movies Story Hunt initiative. Three top story ideas will be converted into screenplays and might be made into feature films."Apart from being converted into films, the three winners will get a cash reward respectively of Rs.1 million, Rs.500,000 and Rs.300,000. To participate, one simply has to log on to mirchimovies.com, print the form and post the story to any of the 20 Mirchi offices across the country. "

Aamir Khan at Bafta

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts a series of events in BAFTA Goes Bollywood, a mini-festival designed to celebrate and explore contemporary Bollywood cinema. Actor/Producer, Aamir Khan is one of Bollywood's most respected actor's. Renowned for picking his parts carefully and not afraid to shy away from the more challenging roles has earned him the repect of the global film industry. In this interview Khan talks about why he has chosen to work on certain projects, using his films as a platform for a greater cause

Here is the video:

BAFTA Goes Bollywood: Aamir Khan in Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir

Interview: Jaideep Sahni

Jaideep Sahni is a very talented writer, and here is an interview where he explains how he got into the film industry, and what advice he gives to aspiring writers.

Another talented name in the world of Indian screenwriting. From Jungle to Aaja Nachle, Jaideep Sahni has always been synonymous with originality. His movie Company was highly acclaimed and now he has his film Khosla Ka Ghosla all set to release.

Have you had any professional training in terms of screen-writing?
Nothing besides reading books and screenplays and the newspaper. I got interested in screenwriting few years back on reading the screenplay of Gandhi by John Briley, but there was no screenwriting courses here then, so the only option was to teach yourself by watching films (which I don't do often enough), reading screenplays and narrating your stuff to others to see what gets them and what bores them. I've more or less learnt on the job from people I've worked with-directors, actors, producers, other writers and so on.

Do you think any professional training for screen-writing is necessary?
Not really, Salim-Javed never went to a screenwriting school but still ended up becoming a screenwriting school for all of us. Too much education can kill a perfectly smart brain forever. But it's desirable in terms of craft, in basic things like creative writing classes in every university which most people in the west take for granted. We spend our childhood dreading our Physics-Chemistry-Math scores and hundreds of entrance exams instead, which is a pity for those who are not so inclined. It's strange, I always say I never went to a film school, I went to Jungle instead-and recently Anurag told me the same thing-that he never went to a film school, he went to Satya instead.

How did you get your first break?
I came to the business as a tourist. After quitting my advertising job I was working as a communications consultant to ad agencies and corporates. At the same time RGV was looking for a new writer and somebody told him about me. We met, I told him that I hadn't written an actual screenplay before but I'd love to give it a shot if he didn't mind having a new guy. And him being him, he said that's exactly what he wanted. So the first film I did was Jungle. And then Company.

Do you thinking writing in team helps or writing alone is much better?
Its different strokes for different folks, I guess. I prefer working alone because I feel more ownership, motivation and responsibility that way. I like being responsible for what I put on paper. As it is while writing your head is crammed full of so many characters, you don't need any more in your life while writing! But that's just my way; it doesn't have to be everyone's way. Salim-Javed wrote the greatest stuff together for years. Vishal (Bharadwaj) writes great scripts with other writers, though he does his fantastic dialogues himself. So it's different for different people.

What is the difference between a story, screenplay and dialogues when it comes to screen-writing?
The way we work in Hindi films, the story is really the idea-hopefully a big idea-which can be hopefully put in a page. A screenplay in Hindi films is what is known as the Step Outline in Hollywood-a clear description of what happens in each scene, sometimes with indicative dialogue, sometimes without, with some clarity of where you want songs to play a role if at all. And dialogue stage is very often where it all comes together, what characters are saying to each other, whether they are sitting or standing or walking or swimming, what's the background score or editing pattern you imagine as the writer, the look, feel, pace, vibe of the film.

Do you agree with the fact that script-writers in India don't get their due credits as much as in Hollywood?
Yes and no. Very often writers put in a lot of work and don't get enough credit, but equally often they contribute too little and expect to be known as the living force behind the film. But I have also noticed that mostly the reason why they haven't contributed enough is that nobody let them or trusted them.

Also don't you agree that there is hardly any original writing going in India? Writers just adapt from foreign DVDs
Writers mostly are not responsible for that-it's the many directors and producers who operate that way. Every writer gets up in the morning wanting to create something original that he or she can proudly call his or her own. But writers are people too, it's unfair to expect every writer to be a great revolutionary when he's not getting paid enough to even survive and everybody else is partying at the Marriot. Also the people you work with play a big part in this-I have been lucky to always have worked with directors and producers who take great pride in doing their own thing-and I have mostly been paid fairly-though I know that's not the usual story with every writer.

How original is Khosla Ka Ghosla. Any inspirations?
It's original. It's inspired by our original experiences as people who grew up in middle class and something that happened with my own family when I was little.

Do you think the scene off lately is changing for writers in India and is getting a little better?
It definitely is, and more so because writers are coming forward and being accountable for their work, investing in learning the craft, refusing to do shit, the audience is paying to see new stuff, and the new directors and producers are listening to the audience intelligently and not with cynical fear or loathing. For example, studios like Yash Raj Films treat writers with great respect and pay them fairly. But it's not changing fast enough, and still a long way from being great.

Which Indian writers do you admire?
Salim-Javed and Gulzar saab. Among my contemporaries, I've always liked Anurag's, Abbas's, Shridhar's, Victor's and Habib's writing, though we all have different styles-it's a great set of guys to hang out and talk craft and general rubbish with. I love how Raju Hirani writes. I love Vishal's writing and Nagesh's too, I wish I remember to tell them this often enough. I liked the work of the RDB team too.

Which foreign writers do you admire?
Strangely I like Michael Crichton for his talent for simplifying, demystifying and energizing almost any subject on Earth-I guess that appeals to the science freak in me-though most people I know here don't seem to feel that way. I like John Briley (Gandhi) and John Bailey (Moulin Rouge, Chicago) and Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) and Nora Ephron (when Harrry Met Sally), Richard Curtis (Bridget Jones, Love Actually), Mark Norman (Shakespeare In Love, The Aviator), Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare In Love), Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) and Sooni Taraporevala (Salaam Bombay) and Woody Allen a lot too. I have learnt a lot from the work the great TV guys Steven Bochco and David Kelley too-they were my first great writing heroes.

Can you earn a living out of writing or are writers grossly underpaid in India?
You're not about to get super rich anytime soon, but you can live reasonably well if you don't do ugly short term deals with bad films and bad directors and screw up your head and your reputation soon after.

What advise do you give a writer who has a script in hand? How should he approach a producer?
If you have a script in hand, get it registered at the writer's association, if possible get a copyright, and then just distribute the hell out of it. Even if it doesn't get made, if you write well you'll be noticed and offered work. And if it gets stolen, complain to the writer's association and begin writing the next one.

Do you write a particular script keeping an actor in mind or an actor is roped in depending on the script?
I think writers are better off thinking about of characters rather than actors; otherwise they end up doing disservice to the actors too. In my case, the scripts have mostly been written first, at least a decent draft with full dialogue, and then actors have come in at different stages from then onwards. But that's also because I've been working with producers and directors who take pride in working that way. Though sometimes if you know a particular actor is playing a part you have written and you have time before the shoot, you go back and give the character another pass to enhance their pluses, or sometimes protect it from their minuses-though in my case I've always been lucky to work with actors who have mostly added value to my effort. I hear all these horror stories and I know a lot of them are true, but for some reason they've never happened to me.

What are your forthcoming projects?
Script and lyrics of film based in the world of women's sports for Yash Raj Films directed by Shimit Amin, starring Shah Rukh Khan and an entire team of fresh actors, which is currently in production. And after that another two projects with Yash Raj Films.

Wouldn't you want to direct your own script?
Not unless I really very strongly feel that a Director wouldn't get what I'm trying to tell. I don't have the patience and the attention span of one and a half year that directing a film demands-I get bored and restless and want to do other things. So as of now it sounds like a bad idea to me.

Just recently, you were selected as a member of the 11-member committee formed under the guidance of Anjum Rajabali in the screenwriter's conference at FTII, Pune. Can you tell us what has been the progress on the committee and do we see better prospects for upcoming writers? Any new initiatives taken by the committee?
There are many things being planned, but it all has just started. But yes, I see better prospects for screenwriters, few in the short term, some in the medium term, and many in the long term.

Article originally on oneindia.in

Hello World

Hello Everyone.....

I am a bollywood 'fanatic', and I have created this blog to help anyone who visits here, sell their screenplay. The process isnt very simple, since I am located in New York, USA and the industry is primarily in India. But somewhere somehow I might get lucky, or atleast I can hope to get lucky!

My primary objective is to collect useful information so that people from around the world, who are interested in selling their screenplay can come together and help each other fulfil their dreams.

I hope this Blog will be useful to all.

Needless to say, if you have any information that you would like to share, please dont hesitate to mention it in the comments, and I'll pick them up to post it in the blog. Please do share the link to this blog with other enthusiasts so that we can all benefit from it.

Thank you for your visit, and I hope you enjoy your stay.