IN ‘QUARANTIME’, THE PEN IS MIGHTY IN BOLLYWOOD
Scriptwritters are using this time of self-isolation to churn out stories
Awriter craves solitude, and times of social distancing, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, are turning out to be fruitful for writers in Bollywood. Whether it’s writing something new or revising scripts, the show is going on for them.
Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) writer-director Aditya Dhar had already earmarked this period to work on his ambitious project, The Immortal Ashwatthama, and no social distractions means more concentration for him. “Writing keeps my equilibrium intact. It has helped me keep my perspective positive. I’m concentrating on fine-tuning this project now,” Dhar says.
Directors Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari are busy scripting their next movie — a biopic on NR Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murthy. “Writing requires a lot of discipline. We work with a group of writers and all discussions about the screenplay happen on video call. We’re giving our complete attention to this till we’re allowed to get back to shoot,” says Iyer Tiwari.
A few days ago, Javed Akhtar’s wife, actor Shabana Azmi posted a picture in which the veteran writer was seen “doing what he does best — writing”. And from what he hinted to us sometime back, we can expect “a couple of good scripts” soon.
Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra calls it a “blessing” to be able to sit down with “almost no sounds around and concentrate on the art of storytelling”. As for director Omung Kumar, he’s trying to coordinate with his writer, who shares script pages via email. Director Anees Bazmee is polishing Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, and Thappad co-writer Mrunmayee Lagoo is developing stories for films and the web.
Filmmaker Anurag Basu is certain that “the best scripts will come out in the next couple of years” considering the time people now have to let their creative juices flow, uninterrupted.
Banners, too, are reaching out to writers to make the most of their “quaran-time”. Producer Shiladitya Bora says, “For the next three weeks, I plan to finish reading as many pending scripts as possible to prepare for future endeavours.”
However, sometimes, a time of crisis can quell a writer’s appetite, too. Jai Mummy Di writer-director Navjot Gulati tweeted, “How do you write anything new without any hope of it seeing the light of the day? Who knows when this will end!”
And Sanjay Gupta, who is trying to write his new project, Shootout 3: The Gangwars of Bombay, at his home in scenic Khandala, says, “Being there when one needs to write is a norm, not an exception.”
But, while he’s usually “completely calm and focused”, now he feels “distracted by all that’s happening around”.
Writing requires a lot of discipline... We’re giving our complete attention to this till we’re allowed to get back to shoot.
ASHWINY IYER TIWARI DIRECTOR