The 2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference witnesses diverse range of panels 

The 2^nd Day of the 5^th edition of the Indian Screenwriters Conference (ISC) organised by the Screenwriters Association (SWA) saw an interesting and diverse range of panels which featured some of the most respected and well-known names of the media and entertainment industry.

From scriptwriting to lyrics writing to settling creative disputes, these panels covered a wide spectrum of issues and topics that concern the creative talents in the entertainment industry today.

The day began on a sombre note as SWA Executive Committee member Mr. Sanjay Chouhan informed audiences about the demise of SWA Ex-President Jalees Sherwani and a 2 minute silence was observed following this.

Towards the end of the day, Varun Grover performed a Stand-Up Act in which spoofed scriptwriters and their creative challenges, much to the audience’s delight. The day ended with a staging of the play Dohri Zindagi. The play which was directed by Gurleen Judge is based on a story by well-known writer Vijaydan Detha and deals with the issues of homophobia and same-sex love.

In the first panel, The day kicked off with ‘Dispute Settlement – Demystified and Explained’ – a panel that shed light on creative disputes, what copyright actually stands, copyright infringement, the rights of a writer, do’s and don’ts of a contract and much more.

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

Moderated by writer and SWA Vice-President Vinod Ranganath (Sea Hawks, Swabhimaan), the panel included SWA’s in-house Legal Officer Heema Shirvaikar, writer-director and SWA Executive Committee (EC) member and ISC co-convenor Sunil Salgia and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR expert) and advocate Sushrut Desai.

The panel tried to explain the functions of the Dispute Settlement Committee (DSC) of the SWA and how it tries to settle creative disputes of various kinds and help the concerned parties reach a settlement.

Elaborating on the responsibilities and strengths of the Dispute Settlement Committee (DSC), SWA Vice-President Vinod Ranganath said, “The operative word is settlement. We try and see to it that the disputes are settled amicably. We analyse the case and see if it actually needs our intervention. Our strength is collective bargaining. The large number of committee members helps us to negotiate and reach settlements amicably.”

Talking further about DSC’s roles and responsibilities, SWA EC Member and 5^th ISC Co-Convenor Sunil Salgia said, “Writers need to understand whether their case has merit or not. They also need to understand which stories and scripts can be copyrighted.”

Breaking down the concept of copyright and what can be copyrighted, advocate Sushrut Desai said, “An idea, concept or a one-liner cannot be copyrighted. But if a concept is developed into a full-fledged script or a screenplay, then it can be copyrighted.”

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

Taking about what writers need to know about entering into contracts, Sushrut Desai said, “One must be fully aware about the terms and conditions while entering into a contract. Writers must go through all of it carefully because once a contract is made, it needs to honoured.”

In the second panel, The panel ‘Writing Without Fear’ focused on the various kinds of challenges that scriptwriters face. Besides the endless storytelling opportunities, writers also face resistance from the market and the society among other external forces. The panel also discussed whether writers get enough freedom to narrate their stories or are they being forced to curb their creative freedom?

Moderated by writer Mayank Tewari (Newton), the panel comprised of writers Basharat Peer (Haider), director Rima Das (Village Rockstars) and writer -editor Pooja Ladha Surti (Badlapur, Johnny Gaddaar). Present in the audience were directors Amit Masurkar (Newton) and Sriram Raghavan (Ek Haseena Thi, Badlapur) who have frequently collaborated with Mayank Tewari and Pooja Ladha Surti respectively

During the conversation, the panel members elaborated on their fears which ranged from creative to political to fear of every other kind that could prevent them from telling their stories the way they want to and hamper their creative process.

Co-incidentally Basharat Peer works in a day job as a newspaper editor. Talking about his fears the writer of the acclaimed movie Haider said, “It’s difficult to touch big issues today and I fear that what I write may not see the light of the day if it’s against the system and too controversial. Writers today are facing several problems while writing. It’s also because we are living today in very fearful times and there is so much hatred around us.”

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

Rima Das who had directed the acclaimed National Award winner Village Rockstars is a true-blue independent filmmaker having shot, written, directed and edited the film.

Having made the film with several difficulties and worked with mostly non-actors, the writer-director said, “I want to keep making movies with honesty and integrity and that’s what I have been trying to do so till now. However, my biggest fear is I don’t want to exploit my actors who are non-professionals and have completely surrendered to my directorial vision.”

Writer-editor Pooja Ladha Surti feels writing is a far more fearful process vis-à-vis editing. For her it also extends to writing dark characters and the scriptwriting process, “I find it hard to write dark characters though they fascinate. I am also afraid whether I will be able to do justice to the scriptwriting process or not.”

For writer Mayank Tewari, his greatest fear is distinguishing between what’s political and what’s not. “I feel our existence itself is political. How do we say what’s political and what’s not?” he said.

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

He said it’s better to accept one’s fears and realise that one can never escape from it. “There will never be a time without fear. Anyone who feels otherwise is not a human being, There is so much resistance to fear. Accepting those fears will only help us to be in a better place. As Salman Khan says – Darr ke aage jeet hai.”

In the third panel

‘Pal Do Pal Ke Shayar’ – 5 of the best lyricists of Hindi cinema in today’s times talk about the challenges faced by lyrics writers from within and outside the industry and market-driven albums. How do they manage to adapt to the ever-evolving language and idioms and what drives their creative process?

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

The panel was moderated by Varun Grover (Dum Lagaa Ke Haisha, Gangs Of Wasseypur) and comprised of Swanand Kirkire (Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi, 3 Idiots), Kausar Munir (Padman), Shellee (Dev D) and Abhiruchi Chand (Kapoor and Sons).

Beginning with the topic of creative process, the panel said they do not follow any particular process. Lyricist Shellee said he often writes in a semi sleepy state with multiple servings of tea to keep him going. While Abhiruchi Chand said her process is more organic and she may need silence to churn lyrics or can hit upon the same even in a chaotic atmosphere.

The quality of songs being made today are said to have gone down vis-à-vis yesteryear songs.

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

Varun Grover however feels it’s an unfair comparison as there is a vast change in the way in which films are being made today. “The songs have to be written as per the demands of the characters in a film. We can’t compare today’s songs with those of the earlier years as today the songs are written in the context of the film and the character placed in it. A jail inmate in Gangs Of Wasseypur will not burst into poetry but sing in a certain manner as he belongs to a certain part of India and possess certain peculiarities.”

He also feels that over dependence on hooks has led to further decline of quality of lyrics writing and said, “Sukh bhare din beeto re bhaiyya, ab hook aayo re. I bid goodbye to my best lines when I go to meet a composer.”

Shellee said the filmmaking fraternity lack of knowledge and daily lingo often leads him to dumbing down his lyrics. “Several times I have been asked to not use words like Bantadhar, Avgat in my songs. People fail to understand that bantadhar is a part of the local lingo in U.P. Similarly, in the Chitta Ve song, people had a problem with the word Chitta being used to describe cocaine. But people do not know that the term Chitta is commonly used to describe cocaine in Punjab.” He said.

Talking about the ever-increasing censorship Swanand Kirkire said that, “Social Media is also a form of censorship. I have got brickbats on Social Media from the Hindu and Muslim community for using certain words. It is scary how trolls have started coming after you. Thanks to this, all of us have started exercising self-censorship to avoid troubles and it has affected our creative freedom.”

 In the fourth panel,

Some of the most prominent and biggest names of the Indian Television Industry got together to lead – ‘Where Are The New Voices In Television?’ - an engaging panel on the present state of the content being served on Indian Television.

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

A whole new breed of writers has entered the TV industry today. But they are rehashing the same old content repackaged in a new avatar. The panel discussed if the new writers have any freedom to churn fresh content and what stops them from doing so?

The panel was moderated by Zee Tv Ex-Content Head Sukesh Motwani and the speakers included Writers Purnendu Shekhar (Balika Badhu, Saat Phere), Vivek Bahl, Writer – Director Gul Khan (Qubool Hai, Ishqbaaz) and Ashish Golwalkar (Content Development and Management – Sony).

Several reasons were attributed by the panel to the decline of the quality of content being by offered by Indian Television today.

Writer Purnendu Shekhar who feels the decline is due to lack of a fresh approach among other reasons said, “You do not necessarily need new writers for emerging with new thoughts. Even experienced writers can come up with the same. Sadly, that isn’t happening as of now. Though television offers great money to writers, factors such as long working hours, lack of respect is discouraging young talents from pursuing the platform of television.”

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

He also added that Indian television needs newer initiatives like the anthology series Rishtey that aired between the late 90’s to early 2000’s on Zee TV and was spearheaded by him. The anthology series also helped to discover talents like writer – director Gul Khan who later made a mark with her serials Qubool Hai and Ishqbaaz.

Blaming the audience’s tastes and hypocrisy for the decline of television content, Gul Khan said, “Indian audiences want to see the quintessential bahu who prays to God every morning without fail, is devoted towards her husband and children and performs all household duties sincerely. A deviation from the same ends up displeasing them.”

She and other members in the panel felt that youngsters do not watch TV but are hooked to Netflix, Hotstar and Amazon Prime. And they felt that channels must look at newer ways to lure this audience segment including exploring the anthology format.

2nd day of Indian Screenwrters Conference

Journey so far…

The Indian Screenwriters Conference was started with the idea of addressing issues concerning Indian screenwriters and lyricists, while also encouraging a dialogue on the surrounding social realities, within and outside the film and TV industries.

The first Indian Screenwriters Conference, held at FTII, Pune, in August 2006, was attended by 275 writers. The second, at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, next to Film City, Mumbai, in December 2008; saw 575 screenwriters and writer-directors attending it. 3ISC at St. Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra, in February 2013, had the participation of 700 screenwriters. 4ISC, held in August 2016, was the biggest with over 900 screenwriters and industry professionals attending it.

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