1. Could you describe your journey into the film industry as a screenwriter? What inspired you to pursue this career path?
As a 14-year-old boy growing up in a small town in India, I watched Jurassic Park in a tiny theater in Bhubaneswar. Spielberg’s dinosaurs took my breath away, and the idea that a human being could create something as magical as that opened my eyes to the possibilities my future could hold. As the movie ended and I walked out, I knew I HAD to be in the business of movies, telling stories, creating illusions, and magic.
While desire is one thing, being born into a family of historians in Odisha, I had no actual connection with the movie world and had no idea how the industry worked in Mumbai. Consequently, I decided to take the long route to Bollywood. I joined advertising as a copywriter, hoping to find my way into the movies via the 30-second ads that I wrote.
Although it was a fairly stupid idea, as writing ads has nothing to do with screenwriting, it worked for me! After 15 years of writing stories to sell washing machines and mobile phones in Delhi and Mumbai, I managed to sell a 14-hour-long rambling gangster story for a web series to the Czarina of TV, Ekta Kapoor. Although the story became a show I would rather not talk about, it kickstarted my career as a screenwriter.
Over the last 10 years, I have been training to be a screenwriter, trying to learn from my mistakes and make fresh ones with each new project.
2. Can you share the journey of your most challenging or rewarding screenplay project in the industry so far?
My most challenging and indeed my most rewarding project to date has been adapting Mike Bartlet’s BBC UK production, "Press," into "The Broken News" in India for Zee5. It was a challenge transporting Mike’s ideas about media and its responsibilities to the people it serves from a liberal UK to a rather conservative India. While "The Broken News" story deviated from the plot that Mike had created, we made sure that at no point were the big ideas of the show lost in the process.
The fact that the second season of "The Broken News" would be an absolutely original creation (unlike the adapted season one) bears testimony to the fact that the story we told using the characters we created struck a chord with the audience in India.
3. What do you find most rewarding about working as a screenwriter?
I am an atheist. And yet, I believe that a screenwriter is the closest a human being can get to playing God. As a screenwriter, I have the power to create worlds out of thin air. I have the power to populate the world that I create with people I like. I even have the power to make the people I have created do anything I want; fall in love, rob banks, launch spaceships. Anything. In what other job in the world would anyone have the power and the freedom that I have as a screenwriter?
4. What's your favorite genre to write for, and what attracts you to it?
I believe that genres are artificial creations to pigeonhole creativity into narrow confines. I love to tell stories that transcend genres. A sci-fi story that explores human emotions? A crime thriller that is also a love story? Having said that, the ideas that really get my creative juices flowing are those that explore the interaction of humanity and modern science. Thanks to AI, we would soon be moving into a world where machines would have the capability to perform almost everything that humans can. In such a world, what would make us humans different from a machine or an algorithm? The answer to this question opens the doors to many stories set in the near and distant future. It’s another matter altogether that science-based narratives have few takers in the industry these days. Perhaps that will change in the future. Who knows?
5. What advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters?
I sincerely believe that the human mind is an amazing idea-generating factory. All we need to do is feed it with proper nourishment, and great ideas will take shape in our minds automatically. Therefore, I would advise young writers to read as much as they can, interact with interesting minds, learn to listen, and not be scared of feeling difficult emotions. For these are the raw materials that your mind will one day distill into an award-winning screenplay.
6. What is a book that you would like to recommend to our readers and why?
In this age of shrinking attention spans where we spend hours chasing instant dopamine hits, scrolling through short tweets and shorter reels, reading is fast becoming a forgotten pleasure. Having said that, there is no better way to relax the brain while nourishing it with fresh new ideas than reading.
Coming to the question of what must you read? I would say anything that takes your fancy. Just walk into your nearest bookstore (it’s a far richer experience than buying online), spend a few minutes walking the book aisles. Take in the new book smell. Browse through the blurbs as you would read bios of people on social media sites and go home with the one that you would want to spend a week with.
If you seek recommendations, I have been reading a lot of sci-fi these days and can’t seem to get Cixin Liu’s Trilogy ("The Three-Body Problem," "The Dark Forest," and "Death’s End") out of my mind. Do give it a looksee if you can.
BIO:
A Screenwriter in the Mumbai Film Industry since 2017, I have written shows like The Broken News (Zee5), M.O.M: The Women Behind India & #39;s Mission To Mars (Alt Balaji), Cartel (Alt Balaji), Miya Biwi aur Murder (MX Player) and Tere Liye Bro (Bindass).
Currently, I am working on a few shows that are in various stages of production. Some of them include, The Broken News (Season 2) for Zee5, Gunmaster Geetu for Ding, Gobar for RKF and Lakshmi Ink for Ding.
PS: I was an advertising writer from 2002-2017. During that time I worked on most big brands in the country (Maruti, LG, Samsung, Nokia) across Delhi and Mumbai.
Interviewed By - Shreya
Edited By- Pragya Lamba
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