Has the Indian script arrived? The Indian Screenwriters’ Conference 2008
iView Author: Saket Chaudhary
(screenwriter Asoka, director-screenwriter Pyar Ke Side Effects)
Email: saket74 [at] gmail [dot] com
HAS THE INDIAN SCRIPT ARRIVED?
THE INDIAN SCREENWRITERS’ CONFERENCE 2008
Mumbai, December 13 & 14, 2008
Organised by the Filmwriters Association
Introduction
There is little doubt in the mind of anyone associated with Indian cinema – film industry, audience or the media – about two clear facts.
That the script is the bedrock of filmmaking. The ability of a film to connect with its audience depends firstly on the quality of its script. In that sense, a film derives its primary creative force from the script.
That scriptwriting has been the most neglected craft in Indian filmmaking.
However, there is another emerging fact that everyone is beginning to acknowledge. That the quality of Indian screenwriting is rising rapidly, with a large infusion of fresh professional talent into the field that takes screenwriting very seriously. This has been especially evident over the last few years. Every year we’re beginning to see a number of films that are courageously exploring newer themes, that are re-interpreting screenwriting craft, and that are frequently and convincingly challenging the adage that without certain fixed conventional elements and techniques scripts can’t work in India. These precedents are increasing in number and are beginning to expand the bandwidth of screenwriting aesthetics.
And yet, and yet, screenwriting quality continues to be a cause for concern to directors and producers. This is hardly the time for the screenwriting community to rest easy. If anything, it is imperative for us now to be much more concerned about our work. We must identify, acknowledge and confront the issues that we face – on the creative and professional fronts. We have to squarely address the issue that knowledge and skill of screenwriting craft does tend to lag behind often. What can be and should be done about that? This is also a forum where writers get a chance to look at problems bogging down the profession, where senior writers share their understanding of the craft, where we all examine ways to expand the bandwidth of creative possibilities for us today.
Likewise, the time has come for us to seriously address the issue of our professional rights. What are a writer’s legitimate rights? What should be the standard of remuneration? What about credit protection? How does one deal with royalties? What are the problems confronting the writer-director and the writer-producer relationship?
This conference is the very first of its kind for any craft in Indian cinema. It is very significant not just for screenwriters but also for filmmakers, especially directors and producers, since we do seek here to strengthen the creative and professional collaboration between writers and them by identifying and discussing important contours of these relationships in a straightforward and constructive manner. In short, Indian screenwriters are taking their work very seriously. It is also time to get the world to take us seriously!
At the last conference at FTII in August 2006, many of these issues were raised and addressed to an extent. It’s time we took these forward now. Keeping that in mind, the following topics will be covered during the conference.
The entire programme is divided into 10 sessions. The format of the discussions will be like that of a seminar – with one chairperson, three speakers and an observer on stage. After the presentations by the three speakers and a discussion on stage moderated by the chairperson, the topic will be thrown open to the gathering for interaction and Q&A. Most of the panelists have been confirmed already.
This year’s conference is dedicated to late Shri Vijay Tendulkar and his work.
Programme details in brief
1. Opening session:
Introduction, welcome and keynote address. Plus an update of happenings between the previous conference and this one, including FWA elections and several initiatives that have been taken thereafter.
2. Vijay Tendulkar and his work:
An exposition of and discussion on the screenwriting work of Vijay Tendulkar. His art and craft, so to say, with a special focus on his ability to take up socially relevant themes and incorporate political observations, insights and critiques into dramatic situations within the story.
Chairperson: Govind Nihalani
1st speaker: Dr.Jabbar Patel
2nd speaker: Amol Palekar
3rd speaker: Imteyaz Hussain
Observer: To be finalized
3. The uniqueness of the Indian script:
Its evolution from indigenous narrative traditions, how the accent on screenplay is increasing, modern structuring, the use of music, song and dance, the Indian melodrama, contemporary influences including those of Hollywood on Indian screenplays, the segmentation of the audience and its implications for the script, etc. How the Indian script differs from its international counterpart. Also using examples of recent films that have reworked traditional elements and how these films have connected or not with the audience.
Chairperson: Kamal Haasan
1st speaker: Nasreen Munni Kabir
2nd speaker: To be finalised
3rd speaker: Vinay Shukla
Observer: Being finalised
4. Writing for Television – in the post-Doordarshan era:
With the addition of over 100 cable and satellite channels, TV programming has undergone a sea change. Even the culture of TV viewership has transformed from the family-viewing days. Indian TV today has become a neverending rat race for TRPs. How have the social trends affected the subjects and content of television programming over the last two decades? After the rise and fall of the saas-bahu and saazish age now, where is television headed? Barring a few new shows based on challenging subjects, by and large TV programmes seem to be getting more and more regressive. The general feeling among writers is that the audience would welcome shows like the old classics such as Malgudi Days, Buniyaad, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Mahabharat, Chanakya.. Even if there are no simple and easy insights emerging from this transitory stage, it is certainly time to take a good hard look at television content as a whole and reclaim it as a writer’s medium. Reality TV is the big thing now. How influential is the writer in developing and shaping these programs, most of which unfortunately are just adaptations of foreign shows? How dedicated are writers to creating original wholesome content here? Also, TV is big now and growing faster than ever. Hence, it is imperative that writers begin formulating a clear position on current working conditions, rights, remuneration, schedules, creative control, etc. Though each writer and each production house has their own method and procedure for dealing with each of these issues, it is time to organize and make these practices basically uniform throughout the industry. The model Writer’s Agreement that is being worked out FWA seems an opportunity for a breakthrough in this matter. In short, it is time to take a good hard look at television content as a whole and reclaim it as a writer’s medium.
Chairperson: To be finalised
1st speaker: Aatish Kapadia
2nd speaker: Vinod Rangnath
3rd speaker: Rajesh Dubey
Observer: To be finalised
5. Are Indian screenwriting standards a cause for concern?:
There is a frequent complaint about script quality. Despite being a civilization with the richest and longest of narrative traditions, the script has been a neglected aspect of our cinema. Are we lagging behind in evolving and developing modern screenplay structuring, which seems to be the need of the hour? It is often true that we see many really wonderful and original ideas, but often the script-crafting seems to let them down. What should we be doing about this? Do our writers need to upgrade their understanding of and skill in writing? If so, is regular training or education in the craft the answer? Should there be other more modular creative ways of making new writers more aware of the uniqueness of the craft of Indian screenwriting? How has FWA taken cognizance of this? Do we have any initiatives planned to at least address this lacunae and help younger/newer writers?
Chairperson: Rajkumar Hirani
1st speaker: Abbas Tyrewala
2nd speaker: Abhijat Joshi
3rd speaker: Subhash Ghai
Observer: Imtiaz Ali
6. The politics of the script:
Does the screenwriter have a social responsibility towards the themes that s/he takes up or does everything go under the overriding objective of entertainment? How does one approach the issue of ethics of storytelling in cinema? Catering to the dominant ideology of the public seems to have usually been the guiding purpose of popular culture. Fulfilling superficial impulsive desires and addressing knee-jerk anxieties was always justified in mainstream films, as it was argued that it is not the purpose to popular cinema to give a message or to educate or to raise disturbing questions. It is to ring box-office registers. And yet, we have had always had successful mainstream films that have taken up political themes and seem to have generated considerable debate about their content. Of late, ‘Gangaajal’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Black Friday’, ‘Aamir’, ‘A Wednesday’ among others come to mind. What has been the impact of these? It should be interesting to hear the writer’s point of view on the politics underlying the story.
Chairperson: Prakash Jha
1st speaker: Atul Tiwari
2nd speaker: Jahnu Barua
3rd speaker: Anurag Kashyap
Observer: Kamlesh Pandey
7. Writers’ Rights:
What are our rights really? An extensive discussion on what governs the professional status of the writer and what are his/her legitimate rights? An educative session on copyright with intensive Q&A. Plus and elucidation of the model contract that FWA has been drafting. Also, a brief introduction to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) which is the apical body that oversees 22 unions within the film industry and an understanding of the unionization within the film industry.
Chairperson: To be confirmed
Legal speaker: Two senior lawyers
1st panelist: Robin Bhatt
2nd panelist: To be finalised
Observer: FWICE President/Secretary
8. The Writer-Director Relationship:
A moderated interface between three writers and three directors exploring the contours of the relationship, creative collaboration, evolving a joint vision, roadblocks and problematic dimensions, mutual expectations, issues of credit and protection, and the need to form a joint force.
Three writers: Shridhar Raghavan, Shibani Bathija and Pubali Chaudhuri
Three directors: Rakeysh Mehra, Anurag Basu and one more (to be confirmed)
Moderator: Sriram Raghavan
9. The Writer-Producer Relationship:
What has this relationship really been like all along? Apart from fees, the producer also governs several aspects of the writer’s working conditions – including writing schedules, creative instructions via interpreting audience expectations, making a writer write to a given production budget, etc. It has traditionally been regarded as an uncomfortable or even inimical relationship, and yet we’ve seen some heartening durable collaborations. Moreover, given that many producers are now beginning to hire writers first and get the script written before engaging a director, it is important to see how this new relationship is shaping up. What are their mutual expectations, mutual frustrations, complaints on either side? How are producers (who are not directors) providing feedback and instructions along creative lines? What are the new systems that are forming within production houses to deal with the creative part of this relationship?
Three writers: Amole Gupte, and two others (to be confirmed)
Three producers: Rohan Sippy, Vipul Shah, and one other(to be confirmed)
Moderator: Anjum Rajabali
10. The way forward:
An intensive discussion of FWA’s plans and initiatives for the next one year. Participants’ suggestions regarding what needs to be done now, and how it can be possibly done. Points that they feel should come onto FWA’s agenda urgently.
Chairperson: Javed Akhtar
On stage: The Executive Committee of the Film Writers Association
Conference Convenor: Anjum Rajabali
E-mail: anjumrajabali [at] gmail [dot] com
If you have difficulty getting through to me, please contact
Robina Gupta, Conference Coordinator
E-mail: screenwritersconference [at] gmail [dot] com
Tags: Indian Screenwriters Conference, ISC, ISC 2008, Issues, Rights, Screentwriting, Workshop, WritersPFC Note: Dear reader, please spread the word around and extend your support to the writers’ conference.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I am passing this around, as requested. Wish I could be there. Will there be Web video for us overseas wannabes?
Robina Gupta, Conference Coordinator
E-mail: screenwritersconfernce [at] gmail [dot] com
FYI: mail bounced back on this id.
i see a spell error with the word conference.
please confirm.
We will be recording the proceedings and hopefully an edited version would be telecast as well as uploaded
Magik, thanks! corrected… hopefully it right now.
Evelyn, we were thinking of webcasting, but it comes in quite close on the heels of PFCOne. Next time perhaps… this time, PFC Bombay will take the videos from ISC and put them online.
Wow.. This is amazing stuff !! Am sure the word will spread fast, and how! Thanks Saket, PFC!
hi ..
this is something ive been waiting for long to attend. can anybody let know wat is the registeration process and how one attend this conference ..
thanks for the information
You have to be a member of FWA and register yourself at the FWA office for the conference
Hi,
I’d love to know who can really attend this conference. Can a writer who hasn’t had a script registered with the FWA, etc., but is looking to work on screenwriting attend this conference? Just need information about the same.
Thanks and regards.
Well the conference is for working and aspiring screenwriters but membership to the FWA is necessary, but I don’t think you need to have ascript registered to be an associate member
@ Saket
Sounds great.How is it possible to attend the same?Any requirements for registration?And where is it happening?
A correction about the membership to the FWA
Anyone with a wish to write can become a Fellow Member. An associate member is one who has a contract under his belt or an affirmation of the same in writing from a producer, or a trained writer
All members including fellow members are welcome to the event.
Event Details
13th and 14th December 2008
Location:Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research
Street: Film City Road, Goregaon (E)
Town/City:Mumbai, India
Registration at FWA office
201/202 Richa Building
Plot No B- 29, Off New Link Road
Andheri (W), Mumbai – 400053
Phone: 26733027/ 26733108
okay, so FWA membership is required. Thanks Saket, seems like something I’d love to do. Let’s see if I can. I know I’m very new to this, but I believe it could help me hone my craft. Thanks.
Thanks for publishing this conference program. It looks very interesting. I am especially pleased at Session 3, the uniqueness of the Indian script. I am glad to see that the conference organizers recognize that the Indian film script has its own unique history and contribution to make to world cinema. Overall, a very thought-provoking program.
So, in order to attend, a person (such as myself, with an interesting in writing, but no connections to the film industry) must first become a Fellow member of the FWA? How does one do that? Can you please give an email contact for the FWA for those of us who are overseas?
I have just attended the Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, and will be in India in time for this. It would be very interesting for me to compare the two conferences.
Thanks for posting this announcement. And Evelyn, thanks to you, too, for spreading the word, as I came here by seeing your post in another forum.
Can the slides/transcripts of speeches be posted online?
Wow!!!
Is there any chance of discussion; regarding writing for “Animated Feature Films”?
The topics are already set, so I dont think any new ones will be added and we’ll definitely consider ur suggestion about the transcripts
hi saket,
This is a great Idea by FWA. I have one query. you’ve listed ten seperate sessions up there. Could you elaborate on which sessions would be conducted on what dates. I’m sure you’ll split the whole agenda over 13th and 14th december. some of us might not be able to be there for the whole thing. Is it posiible to have the split timings of each of these sessions? would be a great help. Thanks and regards.
Friends,
You must encourage the efforts taken by the new EC (Executive Committee) by participating in ISC (Indian Screenwriters Conference)in largest number. Please spread the word around. Seats are limited and registration is on first come first basis.
Kumar Gautam
(Member, EC, The Film Writer’s Association)
the list of esteemed speakers still looks incomplete without sudhir mishra, farhan akhtar, vidhu vinod chopra, and over and above all else – JAIDEEP SAHNI!!! get ‘em on board sir i request with all humility…
The only exposure that PFC had of the last conference was via Karthik’s entry. It would be easier to track the event better if a website is floated.
Shall spread the word around… and hopefully we can see some of the proceedings too…
For those, last time’s events were covered by Kartik Krishnan here
http://desitrain.com/2006/08/23/when-the-gods-of-screenwriting-met-part-1/
and
http://desitrain.com/2006/08/24/when-the-gods-of-screenwriting-met-part-2/
And an inside khabbar…this article sowed seeds of starting something like pfc…NOSTALGIA!!!!!
Thanks Saket. Could you also give the timings and which sessions on what dates info?
Saket – why post an edited version? Understand that streaming may not be possible, but why not tape every panel it its entirety and post those on YouTube and here on PFC?
That would be fabulous!
Thanks for sharing the links for the earlier event OM. Was a refreshing re-read.
Especially now that I saw this there
“On a sidetrack, I met Sriram Raghavan in the restroom (would u believe it ???). Told him I loved Ek hasina Thi. He said he’s making another new thriller called Johnny Dead or Johnny Grandpa (I don’t remember which one he said)”
We know which one this turned out to be
wow! this is great! Where can we see any video of this? I would like to catch up on the discussions through internet, etc.
Is the conference still on as scheduled? I ask because a lot of events in Bombay are getting canceled/postponed due to the terrorist attacks.
Will this conference end after some ‘talk’ about screenplays? Hope it gives some inputs regarding increasing the exposure of amateur writers to the film industry. Even some competitions would do the trick.
i am a member of FWA. how do i register for the conference. Will it be on the spot or it has to be done prior, if prior then where will the registration for the conference take place ?
please send me the details.
There will be on the spot registartions for FWA at the venue but its first come first served basis and they are also being done at the FWA office
Is there any change in schedule after terrorist mayhem!!!
The event is on schedule
I am sure, but i could not find the detailed timings for the different sessions in the conferece.
it wud be of great help to us if organizers can arrange a time-table for our convenience.
Hi how about having a scriptwriting contest right here on PFC?
is anyone covering the recent 2008 screenwriters conference in mumbai thru blogs, podcasts, daily updates – any info on this would be appreciated – thanks