DAY 1:
Screenwriter’s Lab.
The morning sky is
divine.
But I have earthly
things to mull over.
Anticipation is at a
peak.
Will the eminent
advisors be kind?
Will I be able to
accept somebody pointing out the blemishes in my baby? (All creative art is
like having a baby; you labour; you take the pains and you produce a bawling thing
which takes a shape of its own after a while; sometimes to grow in someone
else’s hands)
Would someone go one
step further and call my baby ugly?
Daunting thoughts!
The tight regime
leaves me with very little time to flagellate myself with self doubts. And the
sumptuous breakfast helps me forget what’s in store.
There’s a
camaraderie which has already set in among us fellows and that’s a great
relief. Neha, Terrie and I already share a special bond. My sisters in writing.
Aparna shows the
other side of herself. The smiling, welcoming, warm Aparna is almost replaced
by the swift, firm ‘Hitler didi’. I love the change in her. I have to play the
nagger everyday with my kids, so I’m luxuriating in getting mothered for a
change!
Next stop is the
Lehar Screening Room where we are going to see a documentary, “Waldo Salt:A
Screenwriter’s Journey”. This screening is only for the Fellows while the
Advisors meet to plot our fate for the day.
Waldo Salt is the
writer of ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and ‘Coming Home’.
Waldo Salt, in the
present, is shown addressing students and he quotes Picasso, “Art is the
elimination of the unnecessary”. Whoa! I understand Picasso (Most times I don’t
really understand his paintings, though I absolutely love La Guernica)
But how would I know
how to eliminate the unnecessary when I don’t know what is necessary?
Waldo Salt’s life
and journey as a writer is so inspiring and moving. A writer with leftist,
socialist leanings in America, who is ostracised for being a communist.
Sigh! You can
abolish slavery but not prejudice!!!
Waldo is practically
jobless, but he has to write. He ghost writes. Meanwhile Stalin’s brand of Communism
shatters his Utopian leftist beliefs.It takes a long time to overcome the
crumbling of one’s ideals. But get up Waldo does, and how! He makes a come back
with the poignant Midnight Cowboy. Absolutely unforgettable!
What a journey!
What a correct note
to start the Lab with!
Write against all
odds. Write period.
And so armed with
our dreams we disperse to look for the advisor who would be our Guru for the
next 2 hours.
BILL WHEELER: (The
Hoax, The Cape, The Reluctant Fundamentalist): “Empowering”
Bill
finds for us a comfortable place at the other end of the breakfast table. Bill’s
blue-grey eyes smile at me kindly. I hear Michelle’s voice in my head,
“Remember! Ask the right question”. But all I can come up with is whether he
has taken any anti-histamines (he has a bad cold). He replies politely and then
comes to ‘Tribhanga’. He reminds me that our talk is going to be a series of
‘thought experiments’. The description is so apt and so
exciting. The visual of all my thoughts in a test tube comes to my head. He asks me why I wanted to write this
particular screenplay, what was the personal inspiration behind my characters. He
listens very intently. I’m amazed at how easily I can crystallize my thoughts
in his presence. But what amazes me even more is how deeply he feels for and how
perfectly he understands the very Indian women in my script. I don’t need to
explain the cultural nuances.
He’s on my side! I’m
relieved.
He goads me into
thinking of some of the points which he thinks could be fleshed out further, a
relationship which needs to be emphasized. He asks me to write the 5 key scenes
in my film script. I begin very surely and then start thinking of so many
scenes, there are so many. But he’s very clear- only five.
I feel like a
Masterchef contestant facing a pressure test. If I say garlic, will I be out of
Masterchef?
Finally I agree on
the 5 scenes that are all important to my narrative. As I look at them I
realise that I could have chosen some others.
I’m thoroughly
confused. Bill realises that I require some time to assimilate my thoughts. He leaves
me alone to get some juice for himself (As a writer you are never alone, you
always have your characters to keep you company- your little thought
experiments!)
Bill returns. We
talk about us, generally, for awhile. He is a very committed father so
immediately we have a lot to discuss. Then he brings me back to some of the
cinematic devices used in my screenplay. Ah! The purpose of what we write is to
see it on screen.
In my screenplay, a
film that has been made based on a book written by one of my protagonists,is
used in two crucial scenes. Bill draws my attention to how little I have used
this potent device. He asks me to think of other scenes that could be shown in
the film within my film. I come up with two more situations. Bill likes the
choices I’ve made. I realise the thoroughness with which Bill has read my
screenplay, how much he has thought of each and every aspect of my writing. My
heart fills with gratitude.
I’m
not trying to demean our brethren in the Industry, but most people are
interested only in criticising, and not very constructively. They’d
rather put you down, than help you rise. The critics are no better. They have their
favoured cliques and nothing remotely critical is ever written about ‘friends’.
They usually pander to the Stars or Star directors and producers. It is so rare
to find a person who is discussing, almost dissecting your writing, WITHOUT
MALICE. Bill never once praises himself or puts down anybody else’s work. We are
part of a very sacred discussion. He is an advisor/mentor, but shares his experiences with me as if my
work is on par with his. I am completely humbled and thankful for this
experience.
The session is
over. I feel sad. I want it to continue. I don’t know whether I have thanked
Bill enough. If I were Japanese, some elaborate bowing would have shown him how
I felt. But we have to break for an hour for lunch because the next session
is going to begin immediately after.
Bhookhe pet bhajan
na hoye Gopala!
A sumptuous lunch
awaits us. What a lucky bunch of Fellows we are; food for thought and food for nourishment
in abundance. Both in conjunction is really rare.
One by one the
advisors and Fellows stream into the lunch room. Some have an extra zing to
their strides, others have slowed down a bit, some haven’t taken a break, but
continue the session at lunch (Neha and sweet, warm Sabrina Dhawan are discussing Neha’s screenplay ‘Forgiven’, they
only pause their exchanges for quick bites of food). Some mull, some chew, some
laugh, some think. Michelle, Paul, Rohit and Aparna are talking to each Fellow,
trying to make sure that nobody is unnerved, battered or bruised by the
discussion in any way. The clatter of cutlery soon overtakes all other sounds.
Before we know it,
it’s time for our next session.
JOSHUA MARSTON:(Maria
Full Of Grace, New York I Love You, Forgiveness of Blood) “Empirical”
Joshua’s steel grey
eyes look straight at me. Unlike Bill he doesn’t take charge of the discussion
right away. I try and think of a good question to ask but nothing seems to come
to me. Then he asks about how I came about these characters and what I felt the
theme was. I answered that as succinctly as possible. Then he asks me what my
story is!
Er…um....story?
Er… I seem to have forgotten to write it...I don’t seem to have one in a...umm... straightforward way.
Any which way will
do!
Er…..ok…. And I
proceed to tell him the story as I see it briefly.
He stops me and says
that he doesn’t get a sense of the story I’m telling him now from the screenplay
I’ve written.
The 10kms of rough patch before coming to the
Resort seems rosy compared to what is happening to my stomach now!
What do I do? I
don’t have a story! What am I doing here?
He tells me that any
story has to have the main protagonist/s want something, somebody has to stop
them from getting what they want and in the end they need to either get it or
not get it! Simple!
Simple? I
haven’t been able to do such a simple thing. Do I have the right to call myself
a screenwriter?
I offer lamely that
I concentrate more on the characters and theme rather than the story.
He tells me of three
approaches to writing a screenplay, 1) Start with a story, write the
appropriate characters and then arrive at the theme or 2) Think of a theme,
then write the story and then arrive at the appropriate characters or 3) Write the
characters, think of a theme and then write a story.
I identify my
screenplay with number 3)
But he reminds me
bluntly that I still have no story.
Whew! There can’t be
any further discussion really. Unless I write a story how am I going to discuss
this script with anyone?
I feel like a
student who has come for an Arithmetic test without learning her Math tables.
Joshua
then asks me to imagine various stories using my characters. Putting them in
the weirdest situations and completing 10 different stories. In the first one I
am to imagine that Anu (my main protagonist) wants to buy a house.In the next one Anu
wants something else. With each new story Joshua keeps asking me questions
about what my characters would do next to bring that particular story to rest.
Wow! I get to know my characters inside out. What an exercise that is! What a
worthwhile exercise that is for all writing!
I am exhausted
emotionally! I feel as if I have just given a very tough and intense viva and
haven’t really done very well.
Joshua suggests a
few films I could see which could give me a perspective on my screenplay
(should I call it that?)
I thank him. I am
gutted. The only time Joshua smiles is when he tells me to forget about Anu
trying to buy a house. He says that’s a horrible idea. Yup! Right!
I can see the long,
arduous distance I have to travel before I can convert my ‘writing’ into even a
semblance of a screenplay.
I walk towards the
screening room trying to avoid everyone’s gaze. I know I’ll cry if someone as
much as talks to me kindly.
I bury myself in the
arms of the large chair in the screening room.
They are showing
Kavanjit’s short film “Jagjeet” and Abhijit’s short film “Vanishing point”
“Jagjeet”is about
the effect of the 1984 riots, when thousands of Sikhs were massacred, on a
survivor who’s best friend’s family has lost their lives brutally. What an
effective, moving short it is. I am feeling really low and vulnerable
emotionally. I am trying my best not to bawl my heart out. Why are people so cruel? Does anything justify the killing of innocents? It's a beautifully created film. To capture the pain of the massacre on a shoe string budget and in such a short screen time is an amazing feat.Well done Kavanjit.
My
hyperactive emotions are kept in check by Abhijit’s film “Vanishing Point”. A
very well shot and smartly conceived film about a film director’s recce along with
his cameraman buddy which goes terribly wrong. There’s a bit of a mystery to it
when a turbanned villager keeps appearing before him time and again throughout
his journey. Is the journey real or is it an illusion? There’s a point in the
film where the director’s having a bad high (or coming out of it, I’m not sure)He
gets a panic attack and doubts whether he can ever direct anything! It is
uncannily similar to the fear that I am having about my writing. Except that
I’m not high on any substance and the possibility that I can’t write is really
very real.
As we return for
dinner, to the comfort of good food, we Fellows exchange notes about the 1st
day of the Lab. Most are really pleased with the day. I am devastated. But
Pratim looks positively ravaged. We all try to cheer him up.
It’s amazing how you
forget your own troubles when you are helping others out of theirs!
Dinner is a time for
reflection rather than revellery and the beautiful stars cast their magic.
But the night’s not
over yet.
We see a film
written by Bill and discuss it. To see one of our mentors in a position where
his work is being judged and yet accepting all the criticism with grace makes
me feel very small. There’s so much to learn!
It is way past our
bedtime by the time the discussion actually gets over and we return to our
rooms.
I’m missing my
babies so much.
I sleep like a log
till suddenly I’m wide awake at 4 am. I’ve just seen the house Anu wants to
buy! I’m grinning like an idiot. Of all the stories that Joshua made me go
through, I remember the weirdest. I understand why each one of us Fellows have to go through our trial by fire and come out of it polished, enriched,and purified.
Kabir says it so
well:
“Guru kumhaar shishya kumbh hai
Gadhi gadhi kaadhe khot
Antar haath sahaar de
Baahir maare chot”
Thank you Bill,
thank you Joshua.
Back to dreams of
the house that Anu built.
Tomorrow? Day 2 of
course J
J
