MUMBAI MANTRA SUNDANCE INSTITUTE SCREENWRITER'S LAB 2013

                      

 

                                          DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL?

 

I got a mail from my film editor sis-in-law Jabeen in April 2011. The mail told me about the Mumbai Mantra Sundance Institute screenwriter’s workshop. Jabeen felt I should send in the screenplay I was working on. She sent me the link to the Mumbai Mantra Sundance Institute Screenwriter’s Lab. I went to their site and found a typewriter with a question in bold written over it. ‘Do you have a story to tell?’ it asked.  

Wow! I sure did have a story to tell. In fact I had lots of stories to tell. Were they screen worthy? I really didn’t know. Was I a writer? Could writing by default be considered writing? I started writing because I wanted to direct the stories I wanted to tell. And who better to write the stories than the one who has thought them, right? I wasn’t so sure. Writing for screen is definitely not a random, need based act. I had seen many masters falter, so a whimsical writer like I, would; most definitely! My first screenplay was adapted from my mom’s beautiful novel and I found that pretty easy to work out. But to write for the screen based on my own ideas was already posing to be a problem. I would start with some fantastic ideas, themes, and characters. I proceeded to write. But half way through the screenplay, I ended up hating the very idea, theme or character I had started out with.

Sigh! I needed help. I needed guidance. So this screenwriter’s workshop with its impeccable reputation (The venerable Sundance Institute and the Mahindras who started Mumbai Mantra) was just what the script doctor ordered. But submissions were just around the corner and being a full time mom to two young boys would make it difficult for me to make the deadline in time. So I didn’t try. But the visual of the typewriter against a yellow background with the caption “Do you have a story to tell?” beckoned enticingly. I decided to try the next year.

The story I wanted to tell was unconventional for two reasons: 1) It was completely women centric and 2) The women were intelligent and talented. Only people who looked at film not just as something by which you make money, would want to have anything to do with a film like this.  So I logged on:

 

THE YEAR 2012: Did I have a screenplay almost ready? Yes I did! Or did I? The story I wanted to tell was unconventional for two reasons: 1) It was completely women centric and 2) The women were intelligent and talented. Only people who looked at film not just as a lucrative business, where the only quality to admire is entertainment, entertainment and more entertainment, would have anything to do with a film like this. 

Only one way to find out!

Rush, write, be mom, be wife, be daughter, be employer, rush, write, write at all costs; write against all odds; write period.

Whew! Managed to send the first five pages, synopsis et al……ab kyaa? Ab waiting! I plodded through the script at a less frenetic pace. I kept out thoughts of not being selected for the Lab and convinced myself that even if I didn’t get selected I would make it into a movie……”Tribhanga”......that’s what it is named. Felt strange that some nameless and faceless people all over the world were reading my ideas at that very moment.

20-7-2012: Got a mail to say my screenplay idea was selected.  Can’t describe the joy I felt. My first 5 pages were liked. But now I had to submit the other 90!!!

Rush, write, be mom, be wife, be daughter, be employer, rush, write, write at all costs, against all odds, WRITE!!!

NO NAME ON THE SCREENPLAY. Just a number. Wonder how many screenplays have been selected? Doubts. Self- doubts.

They were supposed to get back in December.

December’s nearly over.

Guess I have not been selected.

They said they’ll mail us a rejection.

Check spam.

No acceptance mail L

But no rejection mail either J

Sigh! It’s the new year.

I’m bipolar. L

All writers are bipolar. J

You can only write if you are bipolar. J J

Ya! Ya! Happy new year and all that!

 

24-1-2013. I’ve got mail from Mumbai Mantra.

I’m hyperventilating! I’ve been SELECTED!!!!!!

My elder kid gets a huge packet of Lays and my younger one a huge sundae! Mere saath unki bhi lottery lag gayi.

Things move faster after the selection. I want to know who the advisors are, who the other fellows are. I have to take off for 5 days. Five, whole days? Five whole, luxurious days?

We are invited to a dinner at Mahesh Lunch home on the 9^th of March. An ice breaker right before we’re cocooned at the Club Mahindra resort Tungi near Lonavla.

I meet the face behind those wonderful mails, Aparna Purohit, in person. I feel the warmth. It feels as if I’ve known her for years!!!

 

Some of my advisors-Anjum Rajabali, Marti Noxon, Carlos Cuaron, Paul Federbush, Michelle Satter. Wow! And at last, my fellows, Sarthak Dasgupta who has got the Global filmmaker’s award this year, Kavanjit Singh from Pune, Abhijit Mazumdar, Pratim D Gupta from Kolkatta, Nitin Kakkar and the lovely Neha Sinha. Terrie Samundra, our 8^th fellow was flying in from LA and would only be with us the next morning. We had a meal full of hope, happiness, laughter and anticipation. And stories about how Kavanjit sliced his finger and nerve on a sharp knife. By the end of the evening I had heard 6 different versions that were all very entertaining; a version for every new person who asked.

What did I expect? I was among writers!

10-3-2013: I still suffer from separation anxiety. Each day when I drop my kids to school I feel a little knot in my stomach. Today I had to tear myself away from them. I was not going to see their innocent morning faces for the next five days (it’s strange how the same faces take the shape of little monsters as the day changes to darkness-but that’s another story!)

Destination J W Marriott:

We are introduced to what to expect from the Lab in general and from today, specifically. Wow! I'm in the presence of Michelle Satter from the Sundance Institute!And Paul Federbush! And our amazing creative advisors!

We are expected to introduce ourselves and especially our screenplays very briefly. Whew! What does one say about oneself and one’s scripts succinctly? How does one share one’s journey in just three minutes? Yet, as each one of us clears our throat and talks about our work, it flows easily and we get to know a piece of ourselves.

Michelle: “It’s not about getting answers, it’s about asking the right questions.”

Would I be able to do that?

Excitement overshadows all self-doubt for the moment.

Fellow! I’m a Fellow! Wow! It almost seems as if I’ve been honoured with an award already. And I realise I have! We are told- Out of 500 first five pages, 200 were selected, of which only 30 screenplays were chosen for the final perusal and our screenplays were judged worthy of the final 8! I felt lauded already.

THE PRESS MEET: I’m glad we were given a chance to speak about our screenplays earlier.... we had to do the same in front of the press this time. My turn came. I’ve never been so nervous facing an audience in a long time. I remembered the first time I went onto the stage to perform. I spoke about my doubts about myself as a writer and I spoke about ‘Tribhanga’. It was over as soon as it began! Now I could relax! J

 

 

 

THE BRUNCH: I am not a very crowd friendly person. I like small, intimate get togethers and the brunch was anything but that! After the photo ops and interviews I went looking for Jabeen, who was there to see me off. It took me half an hour to find her! There were people from the film and TV industry, as far as my eye could see. It looked like the Kumbh Mela! I took refuge with my other fellows who looked equally lost. There was a huge spread but I just didn’t have the stomach for it. I wanted to run home to my kids.

Could I do that?

‘Renuka Shahane-Screenriting Fellow’ the tag around my neck drew my attention to itself. I held it like a child holding her mother’s hand. Onwards to Club Mahindra Tungi! If this doesn’t help me grow ‘literally’, nothing else ever will!

Every journey has a reason. There seemed to be no reason to the last 10kms before reaching the beautiful Club Mahindra resort. The road was so excruciating! It seemed as if all the supremely bad BMC contractors from pot-holed Mumbai had conspired to build this stretch of road. Why was the road leading to heaven(that’s the way the resort was described to us) so rocky? We were beyond looking for any reason! Paul Federbush tried gamely to keep his countenance pleasant even though his face had changed into unimaginable colours. Luckily 10 kms is not a lifetime. I see the villagers walking that stretch with learned ease and when the decrepit building we pass announces itself as a ‘Primary School’for the village kids, I feel the guilty weight of my conscience berating my snootiness. Every journey has a reason!

At last we’ve reached the Club Mahindra resort, our home for the next five days. We are greeted by eight 'nagadaas' beating the typical Marathi rhythm. Michelle, Sneha and I are gifted small shawls, a mark of respect, on our arrival; while Paul is made to wear a ‘saafaa’,a traditional Marathi turban. I must say Paul is remarkably at ease as his head is being tamed under the expert hands of the turban dresser.

            

A glorious view awaited us on the other side of the lobby. Lake Pavna on one side and the Tungi watch tower on the other. Chhatrapati Shivaji once ruled this rough land. Tungi was a watch tower for his army. Historic!

We are shown to our respective rooms. Everything is thought of. Rohit Khattar,Aparna Purohit-deep respect! You put in so much love and passion in the most mundane things, the experience becomes truly elevating. The room’s beautiful!

One by one the cars bring in my other fellows and creative mentors, all looking ravaged by the 10kms preceding the destination.

Dinner is a time to be mesmerised by the canopy of stars above our heads. We are getting closer to the dream that has brought us all here. Our screenplays. Tomorrow it will be about that.

Tomorrow I will post about Day 1 of our Lab.

Picture abhi baaki hai mere doston!