The Script of Manorama Six Feet Under
Thanks to Navdeep, we have the script of Manorama Six Feet Under
We produce two versions of the script. One, where the dialogues were written in English. And the second where the dialogues are now in Hindi (written in Roman script).
This is more or less the final version of the script though Navdeep does mention that there were some changes mading during the shooting of the film and the Voiceovers which were done in post production.
As per your response to the script of No Smoking, we’ve put this one in Flashpaper.
As a request, may we ask those who link to scripts on PFC, to not directly link to the scripts on your own websites but to the post containing the scripts.
Meanwhile… here’s Manorama Six Feet Under written by Devika Bhagat and Navdeep Singh… Enjoy!
- Manorama Six Feet Under (English Dialogues) by Devika Bhagat and Navdeep Singh
- Manorama Six Feet Under (Hindi Dialogues) by Devika Bhagat and Navdeep Singh, Hindi Dialogues by Abhinav Kashyap and Manoj Tapadia
Coming next week… Suparn’s amazing script of Chhal…
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
Thanks Navdeep & Oz!!!!!!!
Thnx
Amazing- Thanks Navdeep and Oz!!
friday surprise! thanks navdeep,oz.
Nandri.
wow,
amazing script!! when i watched the movie, i had to watch it twice to get exactly wat was happenning and to get all the nuaunces of the script. But i dindt understand one thing…why is the title Manorama six feet under? Manorama is not under six fee of earth, its the little girl Deepthi right?
This is great, thank you Navdeep and thank you Oz bhai. I just picked up the DVD… so now I have to choose whether to read the script then watch the film or vice versa. I think I’ll watch the film first then go back and read the script while visualising how that scene played out…
navdeep bhaaai/oz thaaanx…
jeeeyo mere LAL….
Thanks guys..Navdeep and Oz..you guys made my morning and also the day.:)
Thanks:)
Wow, thanks Navdeep and Oz. We asked, and you gave!
I keep checking my mailbox for the DVD so I can make my friends and family watch it.
Oz, maybe you can encourage a director sometime to share his or her marked up script — or even just a critical scene or two. That would be the ultimate educational tool.
To save others some struggling, here’s what to do if you can’t open the screenplay. Download Flash Player 9 and then restart your Web browser. Then open screenplay using the File > Open from the browser.
Thank you and a request…can a link to the scripts, No smoking and now MSFU, be provided in the sidebar…would be easier to access later on.
Thanks Navdeep n Oz.
Awaiting Chhal eagerly……..
Long live PFC!!Thanks navdeep.
O balle balle.Eagerly awaiting for the script of “P” Paanch.
CAN’T GET BETTER… THANX
thats was PFC is all about… I have many scripts of hollywood movies but this is first time I m having a Hindi movie script. Thanks alot I needed them…
Navdeep Bhai thanks a ton for sharing the script…thanks oz bhai..jeeeyo
@ Navdeep & Devika –
I humbly offer my congratulations on a well written screenplay. I have only read the first 5 pages and don’t need to read more to know that it is well written. I have not watched the movie yet, I was afraid that it would suck. I will come back to the screenplay after watching the movie.
cheers
Thanks a million man…..this is just great….^:)^^:)^^:)^
thnxxx
Kya chalu kiya hai boss. Thanx
raat phir toofani thi ke..
Oz, thank you so much for providing these scripts. These, together with the script of No Smoking will keep me busy for a while. Since I am primarily interested in the writing aspect of films, I really appreciate having an opportunity of reading these.
Now, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but can I ask why the scripts for Hindi films are written in English? Is it for as mundane a reason as that the screenwriting software can’t accommodate Hindi fonts? Is it for the more disturbing reason that the writers don’t know Hindi well enough to write in it? If it is the latter reason, how do you think that affects how well the screenwriter can connect with the milieu from which the story must arise, and how accessible the final film will be to the non-English-speaking Hindi audience? These are questions I have wondered about for a long time. If anyone can shed any light, or share their experiences, on this topic, I will be grateful.
SM, Good question.
Some writers do write in Hindi. However some don’t. The reasons are myriad. Ranging from the writers comfort in writing in Hindi to the fact that most people in the Hindi film industry (Actors, producers, etc) are just more comfortable reading in English.
Using Devnagri fonts in a screen writing software is not very difficult and that’s not the primary reason.
Speaking of myself, while my Hindi is good enough at the conversational level, it’s not particularly eloquent at the writing level. Does this affect my understanding of the milieu that I live within? Perhaps but I hope not.
Navdeep,
The hindi screenplay is pretty long at 172 pages. Lots of scenes seem to have been edited especially in the first half. And people still found it slow!?
D&C,
The jump from English to Hindi was crazy in terms of the sudden length expansion! The first edit of the film clocked in just under 3 Hours!!! Lots of stuff went out.
I think it was a first film mistake on our part.:(
Navdeep, thank you very much for your response, and for not being offended by my question. It emboldens me to ask some more.
1. I wonder if this general greater comfort with English in the industry also means greater distance from Hindi? By this I mean not only the spoken language, but gestures, body language, ingrained attitudes, cultural references?
2. Is the preference for English part of the reason for the great reliance on being “inspired” by Hollywood films? Why is there practically no film based on Hindi literature?
3. Aside from those philosophical type of questions, at a practical level, can you, as the writer of the English dialogues, feel sure that the Hindi translation of them by another writer is accurately reflecting the character as revealed through his/her lines? The dialogues convey not only information necessary to the story, but also a whole host of subsidiary information such as the character’s background, level of education, place of origin, etc. How closely do you work with the Hindi dialogue writer to make sure your conception of the character is being adhered to?
4. Is the increased length of the script when converted to Hindi due to an inherently lengthier construction of Hindi versus English to express the same thought, or merely that writing Hindi in Roman script rather than Devanagari takes more space?
Again, thanks for your response, and hope you don’t think these are nitpicky questions. As a non-Hindi speaker myself, you can see that these questions are of great interest to me if I should ever want to write a script for a Hindi film.
SM,
1. It’s part of the Macaulay’s children syndrome. Our school education and interaction with people from non Hindi speaking states necessitates the use of English, so much so, that for a certain portion of the population, English becomes their first language. As to how much this alienates a person from the much larger audience is, you’re right, a philosophical question which probably depends on the individual in question.
Conversely, having a slight outsider perspective has produced some of the best films the world over. So…
2. I think the primary reason for ‘lifting’ from Hollywood is the easy availability and accessibility of material. Recently we’ve seen a lot more Korean films getting ripped as they make their way to the local DVD store.
Bollywood doesn’t even use Western literature as source material much. That’s because the effort involved is substantially larger than in watching a DVD. A book has to be read then adapted into a screenplay, etc. A process which could take months/years.
The lack of easy access to Hindi/vernacular literature in original or translation is also an issue. For instance, in Bombay there’s a general lack of good book stores and an even greater lack of stores that carry Hindi literature.
3. We worked closely with the dialogue writers to ensure that things stayed in character and reflected the general intent of the English dialogues while using a local idiom.
4. A bit of both really but it does seem to take more words to express a complex thought in Hindi than in English though I think it’s to do with the fact that the vocabulary in spoken, everyday Hindi is smaller as compared to spoken English. Using complex Hindi words is an issue with the audience at large. Another reason I bemoan the death of Urdu in our country since it’s such an expressive language.
Anyhow, hope that helps.
Navdeep, thank you again for your thoughtful and patient responses. They do help a lot for me to understand the writing process in the present day.
If I can just ask a follow-up question to your answer number 4: By “complex Hindi words” do you mean what is referred to as “shudhdh Hindi”? I am also surprised that you refer to the “death” of Urdu. I seem to hear quite a lot of it in current Hindi films, but aside from that, aren’t there millions of Urdu speakers still in India? How can the language be dead? I am truly puzzled by this statement.
But thank you for your answers.
SM, What we refer to as spoken Hindi or Hindustani doesn’t really use a lot of Shudh Hindi words (which always remind me of DD news in the 80s).
As far as Urdu goes, the words you hear as parts of dialogue are just a part of Hindustani as a whole. Songs tend to use a lot more Urdu in their lyrics but I don’t think the audience at large is very aware of what these words mean with any degree of precision.
Urdu is not taught in mainstream schools and as a consequence the mainstream (myself included)is ignorant of the language in any meaningful sense.
Navdeep,
Thank you for explaining about your Urdu and Hindi comment. Now I will go off to finish reading the script.
Navdeep,
I must say that the Hindi dialogues are first rate. They are not just a translation but we can see that they go much beyond that. I think its very importatant that the dialogue writers understand the mood and pace of the movie and what the director is trying to achieve in terms of his vision and style…?
I think its very tough for an English medium educated person to do justice to Hindi dialogues in such a movie and not just in terms of the vocabulary.
I mean there’s the protagonist’s hindi, the housewife’s hindi, a politician’s hindi and Rajasthani Hindi etc. The language we speak in India reflect our class, education, even profession. I don’t think that that is such a problem one has to struggle with when writing in English…
D&C, I do think English language can be written very differently based on class, education and profession, although it’s probably not as clearly demarked.
When I lived in Philadelphia, I could tell what neighborhood someone lived in based on the words they used and their accent. In my area, the word for you in the plural sense (e.g. addressing two people) was still “you.” In another neighborhood, the way someone addressed more than one of you was “yous.” And in yet another neighborhood, the way to speak to more than one of you was “yiz guys.” As in, “Yo, yiz guys wanna roll downa shore for the weekend?”
I’m supposed to be completing my literature review for my doc right now, but this is more fun. As part of my procrastination, I had started reading the Manorama script and wondered if the opening had been shortened, so it’s good to get that confirmation. The DVD came, but if I checked that now, I’ll never get my review done.
If I am recalling correctly, the opening shots in the script are condensed in the movie, and I think it’s more subtle this way. Necessity is a great concentrator. In the movie, does Sarika appear any time before she comes to Abhay’s door? I’m not remembering that she did. Also, I prefer seeing Yana Gupta in the desert. :-)
Don’t talk about procrastination, Evelyn.. I should be doing more productive things right now as well.
The library scene (unrevealed Sarika) was dropped in the film. It just didn’t work besides adding to the length. You can check it out on the DVD though, in the extras.
Also the film had too many openings; the fish, SV on the tank, etc. Loved some of those shots/images but they too had to go.
And yup, Yana RULES!!
It was a good film and a great story Navdeep
Evelyn- You are right but I was talking about writing in English dialogues for a Hindi movie. It’s not possible to make those changes then. One has to be just careful when the dialogues are being translated into Hindi that the dialogues represent the true character and is not a simple translation…
Thanks so much for the script. Navdeep’s answers in the comment’s space makes the experience of reading the script even more worthwhile and precious.
Hope to read more and more scripts at PFC.
Navdeep…finally completed reading the script. awesome… generally i used to see movie fist without reading or listening reviews, synopsis. but this time first read the script visualise it and now i will watch the movie. let’s see at what level my visulisation / imagination matches Navdeep’s visualisation of script.
thanks PFC
Navdeep,
I tried to open it script but could been able to get it.
I am student in New York film Academy, LA. Wondering you have help with script .
I am really impressed with your work, I would say you are a good bollywood reply to hollywood directors, Keep it up man.
Thanks
Nitish
Thanks! this was very helpful to me. Is it possible for you to submit script of any of the latest films. I am halfway through with my first movie script…Still need to learn a lot.
Thanks again.
Dear Navdeep,
Forgive me for sleeping through MANORAMA 6 FEET UNDER-but I missed the part where you’ve admitted that your soporific screenplay is a Lock, Stock and Barrell copy of Robert Towne’s ChinaTown.
The biggest mystery in Manorama is not who killed who and why but HOW you could turn one of Hollywood’s most celebrated classic noir scripts into a cold rajasthani turkey.