WHIMSIES OF THE MIND: THE WRITE DISCIPLINE

Last week was the birthday week for K Hari Kumar, and I did plan to do this post celebrating that occasion, but alas! Like much else that I have not been able to do on-time recently, this too stayed a pipe dream. Can’t blame anything or anyone else; it’s just too much on my platter and a severely lost appetite; entirely my own doing.

I know Harikumar Krishnamoorthy , better known as K Hari Kumar, as the writer of eminent director Sangeeth Sivan, and respect him a lot for being able to choose a genre early in his life and stick to it. Horror/thriller is his domain of comfort, and his bread-butter. Not the ghoulish or zombie or slasher or Annabelle type flicks (at least not yet); he loves to write psychological stuff, with a strong element of mind-bending human interactions – and I love him for that.

A seasoned writer, my friend Hari has quite a few book-titles under his belt – and as we talk, he is working on couple more. He happens to be the first (and only) Indian writer to be listed on Amazon.com’s top 50 bestsellers in the paranormal and horror category.

I had the good fortune of reading his latest book that helped him reach there, a book he wrote sometime early last year. Hari shared with me a copy of ‘India’s Most Haunted : Tales of Terrifying Places’. I loved the rush I got out of it.

His screenplays range from theatrical releases to web-series – for Sangeeth Sivan, as well as others. I read both his book ‘The Other Side of Her’ and saw the web-series that spawned out of it, “Bhram” – starring Kalki Koechlin. It’s on Zee 5.

For those of you that haven’t seen ‘Bhram’ yet, please go ahead. You will be pleasantly surprised by its multi-layered plotting and subtle, slow-burn characterization – things that are now slowly making its mark in other Indian web-shows. Hari’s book was good, but his screenplay for that web-series took it to a whole new level.

*Hari with director Sangeeth Sivan and actor Bhumika Chawla, on the sets of Bhram*

Anyways, this post is not about ‘Bhram’ – which I already wrote about a year back. This is more about K Hari Kumar and his craftsmanship. It’s about my intent of reaching out to young screenwriters with experience of cross-platform writing.

Obviously, his name cropped top-of-the-mind.

Hari’s chosen field, the genre of psychological horror/ thriller is a relatively less known genre in India. So I asked him, are the Indian audiences prepared for this kind of content yet?

I would really love to do things like this. So basically I wanted to know – with a host of streaming services bringing international content right to our handsets, stuff that puts us at ease with the mind-hunter school of storytelling – is it time now to think a bit outta-box?

“AUDIENCES THRIVE ON WHAT IS FED TO THEM”

I have felt that most of the strange phenomenon can be attributed to the whimsies of the mind. Also, I have been a horror buff ever since I can remember. Club the two and one naturally develops a taste for psychological horror/thriller.

Indian audience is a broad term. People liked Yakshi in 1968 and Ratchasan in 2018, but yes, these movies pertain to a niche audience.

I would not blame the audience though. They thrive on what is fed to them. If suddenly, Bollywood starts producing psycho-stuff then initially they might bomb but eventually the audience will start liking them and develop a taste (again, it is all in the mind). However, nobody wants to take a risk (since money is involved).

Personally, I love psychological thrillers and most of those (that I loved) didn’t even last for week in the theater (so, the dilemma is understandable).

Thankfully, we have web-platforms now that are exploring horror and thriller like never before (in India).

So how different it is to write for an OTT platform?

Do they always expect / promote a collaborative effort? Does that help? For me, the process of collaboration is compulsory and complementary. There’s no space for any ego here – believe me. Even those who write stuff alone need people to read it and suggest revisions before they bring it on a public platform.

The best of writers I have met during the course of my 25 odd years of work always wanted at least a second pair of eyes to look at their drafts. There might be exceptions to that, but mostly, it helps if someone sensible (and likeminded) reads what you wrote and provide inputs.

I don’t know about others, but I like the concept of ‘writer’s room’ a lot; and not just because I am a loner otherwise, who spends all his free time figuring out how not to be a misfit – I genuinely believe collaboration improves my writing.

“CONSTRUCTIVE SCRUTINIZATION HELPS”

When writing a book, you have inputs from the commissioning editor. When writing a film, you get inputs from the director who helms the film. But while writing for an OTT, there will be inputs from the creative folk from the platform.

The input that we receive is mostly positive (depends on how you look at it) because sometimes we, writers or directors, are so engrossed in our stories that we might not be able to perceive it from another point of view. That is where constructive scrutinization helps!

I have had the privilege to work with a couple of such platforms, and the experience of collaboration at the scripting level has been tedious (no denying that. I had to write 8 episodes of a series thrice because the length of the episodes was shortened after every month’s meeting), but the outcome is mostly positive.

I am someone who firmly believes that the writer’s room is nothing but an existence in the writer’s mind, and anyone who collaborates must be on the same page in their respective minds. The physical space is irrelevant, especially in these times of Covid. At the core is the writer’s original idea, and everything grows around it in a collaborative effort.

Most conventional schools of screenwriting root for the character based approach of storytelling. That means most stories are expected to be told around a single protagonist / set of protagonists with a single goal. This ‘unit’ – his world, his mission, his evolution and climax and his arc of growth, so on and so forth.

This does work, but I am not quite sure how. For me, I am equally comfortable with Ramayana and Mahabharata. Perhaps, in the mind of screenplay gurus – it allows the viewer to connect better if they do not have to deal with a jamboree of characters; or maybe because this single protagonist ‘super-hero’ (or at times ‘Justice League’ with a unified goal) approach has worked the best traditionally for easy viewing entertainment; perhaps it’s just because thematic approaches are far tougher to conceive and handle.

Whatever might be the reason, to get your project approved – your best bet is a single character pitch. That’s a ground rule, or your project might get nipped in the bud – at least in the Indian OTT scene. Here we love to make others follow rules set by the ‘big-brother’, and anything beyond that convention is likely to get snubbed.

Anyways, let’s not grumble. No use being unruly, especially when it might thwart you from bringing home the bacon.

I think Hari would agree with me on that.

“STRUCTURE OUTLINE DEFINES EVERYTHING”

As a writer (of multiple formats) I believe in only one rule- every story has a beginning, middle and end. It is universal (applies even if you are making a short-form AV content)!

Of course, after deciding on the number of episodes, I like to sit down on the episodic arc- a broader version- each with its own set of beginning, middle and end. It is a process that takes some time, but the structure outline will define everything that follows. Since, I have only written horror/thrillers, most of the time we prefer to begin the episode with a bang, and end it on a cliff-hanger! (You know how it is).

Intrusive or not – that depends on the individual and their personal equation with me (or the writer). However, I always stick to healthy discussions and brain storming at all points. If the agency can convince me that there is a more effective way to do something, then I whole-heartedly embrace it (And it has happened too!)

I have now started working on scripts for theatrical release and OTT platforms simultaneously – and not all of it is non-fiction. I find both these release platforms quite different – but since I am a greenhorn, I believe I should reserve my opinion for now.

But there’s this one thing I have felt – which I can share. To some extent, personally, a film screenplay seems to give me more creative satisfaction compared to series scripts; more freedom to think different – I mean.

But yes, it’s too early for me to reach any inference.

Let’s ask the expert.

“CREATIVE FREEDOM IS A FANTASY”

There is always a pressure of commercial v non-commercial when it comes to theatrical films. It has somehow streamed into the web film category as well. In a genre like horror or a psychological thriller, the line is very thin. A commercial horror might end up as a pot-boiler comedy with the song and dance routine, you know what I mean?

While writing my first feature film, I had faced that issue. It was a Malayalam horror film and there was pressure to add comedy sketches in the first act which had no link with the story. But I respect that because ultimately someone else is making the film for you. So, creative freedom is just a fantasy of the creator.

Of course, if one wants complete creative freedom then they should make an independent film, which I will do when I am ready for it.

Hope that happens soon Hari. If you ask me – now has always been the best time ever.

Let’s return to one of Hari’s works has that covered the entire spectrum – an intended feature screen play that turned into a novel which then became an OTT series. Yes, once again, we are back to ‘Bhram’.

No doubt that’s just the right example for this post. I asked Hari to tell my readers how he adapted his writing style and structuring to meet the diverse needs of these platforms.

“NEVER CHANGED THE STORY AT THE CORE”

So, when I am writing, I am writing under the influence of so many Hollywood films and foreign television series (because that was where I was watching all my horrors, sci-fi and thrillers while growing up). I was fortunate to find a mentor in Sangeeth Sivan (sir) who also worked in a similar way.

I wrote the initial script in 2016 and it was titled IRAVIL ORU NERUM (A Moment in The Dark), and we planned to make it in Tamil or Malayalam. So, the writing was suited for that industry. However, it didn’t happen in time and we all moved on life. I ended up rewriting the entire idea as an English language book called THE OTHER SIDE OF HER (2018). The whole thing was reset in an environment that was acceptable to a pan-Indian reading audience (if we can call them that). Still, the 200-page book was conceived as a 2-hour film.

In 2019, Sangeeth sir called me and asked if I can make the story into a web series. I took a week’s time and got back to him with a structure document containing 8 episodes (Initially 40 minutes each episode). I added sub plots, instead of focusing only on the protagonist (Kalki’s character, I was following into the lives of every character in the story. And some of the subplots (which didn’t exist in the book) beautifully blended with the main plot.

However, after writing the entire thing, we were told to cut down the episodes to 30 minutes each; it was taken care of. The structuring changed but never changed the story at the core (which was developed in 2016)!

Finally, the usual end question; what would be his advice to newcomers who want to get into fiction screenwriting – for OTT as well as the big screen? How should they prepare?

“TIME CAN TAKE ITS TOLL!”

We are all learning, so we should accept that and keep an open mind. One little suggestion from someone in the creative team or even the direction team can actually lift your script to a different level (vice-versa is also possible, but then you can always use your intellect to make the correct decision).

Patience; Patience and perseverance are the most important thing in writing (books or films). A project takes time, and that time can take its toll on your mind. So, keep writing and keep reading screenplays (that are available on the internet). Collaborate.

Market is always there, but we never know when and where it will take you in. We should be prepared at all times.

That helps; me, at least.

Thanks Hari, and like you always say – may the ghost be with you; and with me too. The right kind of ghost, preferably! The ghastly year-gone-by has spooked all our lives in more ways than we thought it was ever possible. However, things are changing. I need to change too.

This is my first post of the New Year. My regularity has suffered a lot in the past few months. My sense of discipline continues to maintain a social distance with me. To start with, I need to change that; and I will. The next post will be later this week itself.

That will be with and about someone who has been an indelible influence in my growing up years – and that of many others of at least a couple of generations. For now, I will retain the suspense. Keep watching this space.

This week for sure.

Unlike my prospective producers, I won’t put your patience to test anymore; promise.