Logbook of a Screenwriter
Sometimes you feel so good that you want to break things; resolutions, for instance!!! Like me, I promised myself that I won’t do more than one blog post a week. But what to do? When I spotted these films made by ‘special’ young adult filmmakers at the FTII Pune Facebook page – I just had to bring them to your…
I always thought Naseeruddin Shah looks like my father; it’s just that he looks about 10 years younger, which is understandable, as he happens to be ten years younger. I have never seen Naseer sahab in person. So when I heard his play ‘Einstein’ is coming to Delhi NCR for the first time – I booked the tickets, just to…
Aviva Field is true to her words. She took my question rather seriously, and has shared a response, which could probably be called the first step to a long journey. Now, by storytelling, one is normally inclined to think fiction; more specifically, feature films. Syd’s books, whatever I have read, are replete with a strong focus on cinematic storytelling of…
This day of freedom, feel free to write. Make your voices heard; about anything that does, or doesn’t excite you. For them who write for their rights are always right, and those who write the right things are never left out. Balderdash!! Why am I fencing with words… Let me come straight to the point. Precision and simplicity, my friend,…
I have never been to Kashmir. The only Kashmiri’s I knew were the smiling shawl sellers who used to come with the advent of winter, even 10 years back. At least in my Delhi neighborhood, I don’t see them anymore. They too have disappeared. I also don’t get to watch much of news, unless someone pays me for it,…
When I first heard about the Film and Television Institute of India conducting a smart-phone film making course for young adults with special needs, I was pleasantly excited; and somewhat frustrated. Not because they are doing something kick-ass, which they often do; but because I wanted to be the person to come up with such an idea. There has been…
I wanted to ask screenwriting guru Syd Field a question when I first read his book, two decades back. It remained unanswered, mainly because I never asked it. After starting this blog, and browsing through his books again, the question returned. Since Syd wasn’t there any more, I thought of approaching the one person that might consider responding to my…
Shankar Mahadevan has a couple of molar teeth missing. That doesn’t stop him from laughing out loud. To me, he came across as a simple man, happy with life and mad about music. If he does care about his public image or his fragmented smile, it doesn’t show. At least it didn’t show to me when I met him at…
CREATING SATIRE FOR IMPATIENT TIMES “But it’s a clear case…he was waiting with a knife…” “That’s not the question; the issue is – did he stab to kill…” “Come on…of course he did…!! there are eye-witnesses…” “They might have eyes and be a witness, but not everyone can see beyond the obvious, my dear. Look at the incline of the…
I make my living out of non-fiction screenwriting. That means I research and write audio-visual scripts for anything that needs to be sold, including ideas and people. I do that for them who prefer not to write their own stuff. Since there are quite a few such benevolent souls out there, I have been running my friendly neighborhood gymkhana of…
