Logbook of a Screenwriter
The amount of longing that we had about seeing our name in a book-cover when we were children and young adults might have subsided with the advent of screens of various dimensions – but still – a book is a book…is a book. It’s probably safe to presume every writer, and those who think they can write, still want to…
Asif Noor, the producer of Raakh, shared an interesting story with me, about a train journey, in 1990. It was during his stint with fashion, when, by his own admission, he did 1,80000 kms in Rajdhani Chair Cars in a single year; during one of these whirlwind tours, while travelling from somewhere to elsewhere, he met a Gujarati trader. Inevitably,…
When I started blogging, a friend of mine with whom I had lost touch called me up to give me a bit of advice. An aspiring social media expert – he told me that I have to turn myself into a ‘star’ if I hope to do anything at all in this area. He further explained to a perplexed me,…
I usually read and research a bit before I write about anyone – mostly just to find out what others think about them. I did the same with Sarnath Bannerjee, a friend from my Business India TV days. Have to admit, I was a bit surprised. Most interviewers have described him as a difficult subject, respectfully musing about his lack…
My relationship with Sanjay Singh used to be bitter-sweet; 80% bitter, I should say. That’s when he was in ‘assignment’ and me in ‘production’, at Headlines Today. That’s the norm. The assignment (input) brings in the news and thinks we are doing ‘nothing’ with it; and the production (output) believes that the assignment is doing ‘nothing’ – by not getting…
Can the principles of ‘Poetics’ apply to Indian Cinema? More specifically, commercial Hindi cinema? Is it possible to deconstruct a blockbuster hit Hindi ‘tragedy’ on the basis of Aristotle’s rules and principles of storytelling? Ever since I spent time with NSD Professor Santanu Bose, discussing the essence of ‘Poetics’, I had been thinking. Am I stretching things a bit too…
I don’t remember when and why I read Aristotle’s Poetics. Might be one of those lazy afternoons in Kolkata’s Nandan complex library, where, after college, and after a couple shots (of tea!) down – I thought maybe Aristotle would give me a dummies guide to dramatic storytelling. If I could use it, even in bits and parts, perhaps that could…
I won’t start this the usual way I do, by flashbacks to my own past. In fact, on this day, since I am feeling a bit down and depressed, a state of mind I can’t explain to myself – I am in no mood to talk about my past connection with Santanu Mitra. Perhaps it should suffice to say that…
Editing is the process where the story takes it’s real shape – but that’s what we already know, don’t we? What we probably do not know is the role that the film-editor plays during the entire creative process of a film. Yes, he is there, all along, and not just as a spectator – as an active storyteller. That’s how…
When Sreekar Prasad, the ace film editor, agreed to talk to me for my blog, I was totally baffled. I have grown up drooling at his work, from the time I bunked school to watch ‘Raakh’ till I gaped in awe at the visual opulence of ‘Ashoka’, from the understated poignancy of ‘Vanaprastham’ to the coming of age with ‘Dil…
