Logbook of a Screenwriter
Non-fiction Screenwriter of award-winning documentaries and TV shows from India. 25 years of experience and still learning. Loves writing scripts and copy and articles - everything non-fiction.
Ever since I started watching cinema as an art form, with as much seriousness I could garner – I have always had a special place for the cinema of the South of India. Might be because I am ‘regional’ myself, and even after close to three decades of stay in the national capital, I have never grown out of that…
2 CommentsThe premise (and the practice) of film criticism has always fascinated me. Although I have never felt confident to venture into that field myself, since I fancy myself of being from the industry – and I also believe it requires a lot of hard work to be able to aptly evaluate the work of other people. But now that I…
4 CommentsSometimes, an idea gets stuck in your head. It’s like that fragment of a tune or those staggered images that continues to play in a loop – and refuses to budge unless you do something with it. A musician will probably create a symphony out of it; an artist will paint his heart out; a performer will throw it at…
16 CommentsFor the past few weeks I had been pushing people to write about Gautam Chatterjee – and now I don’t know what to write myself. It’s tough. He touched lives in multiple layers – and did so with such fondness and integrity, that you can’t pinpoint on a single thing, or even a couple of aspects, that would define the…
26 CommentsWhen Subhash Ghai came to the Subah Savere studio to promote ‘Taal’ – he had a preconceived notion that he might be meeting a bunch of arty-intellectuals who are neither aware not appreciative of his work. But Nilendu Sen, the producer of the show, soon convinced him that this was not the case. The way he did that was a…
17 CommentsTo be honest, I never had the opportunity to work directly under Nilendu-da. During my early years in the Delhi News TV circuit, I might have seen his signature gallis-mounted frame a couple of times during my not so frequent visits to the Moving Pictures office at Jangpura, where I used to go meet my friend Laura Krishnamurthy. I remember…
17 CommentsMy introduction to Hemant Chaturvedi could be best described as accidental. By his own admission, accidents are somewhat frequent with him, and more often than not, they have happy endings. I should include the one with me in that list. It was during the initial days of the first phase of lock-down – don’t ask me the date, I have…
19 CommentsTake a wild guess – what could be the silliest question that one can ask ace cinematographer / director Santosh Sivan. Especially when, being one among the busiest Industry professionals, whose comeback film in Malayalam Jack and Jill is ready for release – he is not likely to give you much time. Top of that, in all likelihood, staying at…
1 CommentNo, I can’t wait any more. This self-imposed exile from blogging is gnawing at my ligaments like a regiment of termites; the wobble in all my joints are asking me, can you really do anything at all about the ‘situation’ out there? If you can’t, why don’t you do what you can? Just write, without spreading misinformation; let the experts…
8 CommentsIt does seem a bit odd to write a piece on a film that I consider to be a cult-classic even while the cinema halls are closed, and the nation is under a lockdown. While that’s true, certain things can’t wait, like anniversaries. Let’s revise a old snippet of wisdom a bit then. Instead of saying the show must go…
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