After biggies misfired at the box office and economical movies hit the bull’s eye, Bollywood has woken up to the importance of a well-written script. Suddenly everyone is asking for original screenplays.
Those expressing this need include Abhishek Bachchan who wants to
explore plays written by youngsters in the interiors of India as well as
Subhash Ghai who says lack of scripts forced him to take a sabbatical
“from directing movies”.
The drought of original ideas is obvious from the remakes and sequels
that hit the screen. This year the box office has already seen four
remakes in two months – “Players”, “Agneepath”, “Ek Main Aur Ek Tu” and
“Ek Deewana Tha”.
Ghai said: “When we are remaking, it means there is a dearth of
ideas. It is not the right situation; our children should come up with
new ideas.”
“Dhobi Ghat”, “Peepli Live”, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, “Dabangg”
and “Chak De! India” were among the movies that boasted of a sound
script, but such stories are few and far between.
A script is the soul of a film, says Onir, who won accolades for strong narratives in “My Brother Nikhil” and “I AM”.
“I prefer seeing original films. At times remakes also have not
worked. We tend to forget that the script is the backbone of a film. But
many producers are not willing to put in money, unless you have huge
stars in it,” Onir told IANS.
He added: “The story, which is the essence, has not been emphasised
and I have personally experienced it. I think slowly things are
changing.”
In the thriving Hindi film industry, which churns out more than 100
films in a year, the script gets a stepmotherly treatment. Everything
revolves around stars.
“Story has to be the king, but script has to be the leader. One
should know that you need a solid script first and it should be the
backbone of the films,” Anjum Rajabali, who scripted the hit political
thriller “Raajneeti”, told IANS.
The filmmakers and actors may have come out of slumber, but
independent writers are still running from pillar to post to convince
stars and producers to support their projects.
Scriptwriters also do not get their due when it comes to payment.
Actor-producer Anil Kapoor said: “I agree, they deserve much more.
Slowly and steadily the actors and directors are understanding and
giving them their due. But they deserve much more.”
Ghai, who has stopped directing due to the dearth of good scripts,
urges everyone to give credit to filmdom’s unsung heroes – the writers.
“While promoting a film, please mention writers’ names. The solution
is to encourage the new breed of writers and make them understand how to
become writers, why to become writers. They are scared because they
don’t get money and recognition,” he told IANS.
What about those directors who prefer to write their own scripts?
Aren’t they a threat to writers who are already fighting for their
space?
“Not necessarily. Sometimes it is also a question of economics. For
instance, an independent scriptwriter like me who does not have money to
hire a scriptwriter prefers to write his own script,” Onir said.
Rajabali feels things are changing for the better.
“Now the industry is waking up. Change is coming. It will take time.
There is some comfort zone that the film industry has. Now gradually
that comfort is saying even if I have Akshay Kumar or Aamir Khan, one
still needs a good script,” he added.
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