Bhawana Somaaya

The idea of forming an association of film writers first originated at the Sunday cultural and literary meetings held at the residence of Shri Anil Biswas, the music director, in the year 1950.

Towards the end of 1950, a meeting of film writers was held in the Shree Sound Studios to form a film writers association, electing D.N. Mandhok as it’s President, Mahesh Kaul and Pt. Sudarshan as Vice Presidents, Madhusudan as General Secretary and Shakeel Nadayuni as Treasurer. The members of the executive committee were, Kamal Amrohi, Dr. Safdar Aah, Narendar Sharma, Inder Raj Anand, Arjun Deo Rashik and Ramanand Sagar.

One of its earliest actions is related in a news item in Screen, dated November 9th, 1951 and published immediately after the release of film industry commission report:
“The Film Writers’ Association, Bombay, passed a resolution deploring the lack of representation for Screen Writers on the proposed film council. It asked the Central Government to provide adequate representation to them”

Story, script, song and dialogue writers of all languages belonging to the Bombay film industry were invited to attend a meeting organized by the Film Writers’ Association to be held at Shree Sound Studios on Saturday, May 29th, 1954.

Thus on August 7th, 1954 the newly formed Film Writers’ Association of Bombay elected the following executive council for 1954-1955: “Ramanand Sagar (Hon. General Secretary), Vishwamitra Adil and C.L. Kavish (Joint Secretaries), Pt. Sudarshan (Treasurer).

“The Executive Council members are: K.A. Abbas, D.N. Mandok, P.L. Santoshi, Mahesh Kaul, I.S. Johar, Rajendar Singh Bedi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhanvi, V.P. Sathe, Shakeel Badayuni, Krishna Chandra, Kamal Amrohi, Rajendar Kishen, Ali Raza, Nabendu Ghosh.”

One of the earliest and most important objectives of the association was to ensure a minimum wage for screen writers. A letter dated 3rd January 1961, signed by the then President of F.W.A., K.A. Abbas, addressed to I.M.P.P.A. records the fixed minimum wages as follows: Rs. 2500 for a story, Rs. 2000 for a screenplay, Rs. 3000 for a dialogue and Rs. 500 for a song.

In keeping with changing economic conditions these rates were, of course, revised from time to time. The first such revision came in August 1962 after a rather arduous struggle.

In the following years the members of the Association seemed to be divided on the question of registering the body under the Trade Union Act. This issue was discussed in the meeting of the organization committee of the Association held on May 15th, 1955, but it was only on February 26th, 1960 that the General Body meeting of the F.W.A. decided to register the F.W.A. as a Trade Union. The members authorized to complete these formalities were K.A. Abbas, Qamar Jalalabadi, Sahir Ludhanvi, Shashi Bhushan, Vijendra Gaur, C.L. Kavish and S.R. Basar.

Over the years the Association has given the film fraternity many talented writers and these writers have built the credibility of the association. A dramatic change has taken place in the lyrics and screenplays, as in the levels of payment for this work. Gradually writers became more aware of their rights and slowly began to speak in a collective voice.

The year 2007 saw the first seminar held by the Film Writers’ Association, at F.T.I.I in Pune, where prominent writers spoke on a variety of subjects. In the following year 2008 the Association held a two day seminar at Mumbai’s Film City, dedicated to the greatest Indian poet of the Twentieth Century, Vijay Tendulkar.

This year FWA holds a seminar at FTII, Pune on ‘The Uniqueness of the Indian Film Script’ to be held in August 28-29, 2010

India is today the world’s largest film producing nation with a total output, in various languages, of more than 1000 films annually. The film industry led by the Bombay based Hindi film now has a global reach, and Indian films are screened and released in more than 90 countries worldwide. Its expansion has been so widespread that mainstream Hollywood film companies like 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Warner Brothers have begun to invest in the production of Indian cinema.

It is noteworthy then that the development and form of Indian cinema has continued to retain its identity as distinct from the dominant form of Hollywood cinema. Right from its genesis and early influences to its flowering into an independent and full-fledged economy, Indian cinema has had a unique identity, almost a different language of film, in terms of content, form, presentation and performance.

The reason being that in its early form, Indian cinema was largely influenced by local and indigenous traditions of performance that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th century. These would include Parsi Theatre, Sanskrit Dramaturgy, Nautanki, Tamasha, the Ram Lila, the Raas Lila, and folk cultural forms of various regions. Mythology and Indian epics also provided inspiration for early Indian cinema.

The first full-length motion picture in India, made by Dadasaheb Phalke, brought together elements from Sanskrit epics in his Raja Harishchandra (1913). It is largely agreed that the Bombay-centred Parsi Theatre played the most influential role in the genesis and early form of the Hindi film. The first Hindi and Indian cinema talkie, Alam Ara (1931) was based on Joseph David’s popular Parsi Theatre play. The phenomenal success of Alam Ara made it mandatory for Indian cinema to have music, song and dance.

Following its success, playwrights from the Parsee Theatre became much in demand: amongst them, Agha Hashr Kashmiri, proved to be the most influential in shaping the Indian film. His comic sub-plots, and the use of rhetoric became so popular that they, too, became mandatory for the Indian film.

By the time of Indian Independence, the essential features of our cinematic form (song and dance, rhetoric and melodrama, comic subplots) had been firmly entrenched and were considered obligatory for the box-office success of a film. Hindi filmmakers like Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt, Bimal Roy, and K. Asif, to name a few, integrated all or most of these features into their stories and gave Bombay cinema an indigenous identity.

Following this, the journey of Indian cinema has been rapid and reflective of developments in Indian society, economy and politics. The content and form of films have transformed, but without discarding entirely its earlier and original facets. Newer kinds of cinema have emerged during this almost 100-year journey with films from the ‘parallel cinema movement’ that strove for an almost opposite expression to the more ‘mainstream’ cinemas. We stand today, the largest and most dynamic film industry in the world with films being regularly produced in up to 13 languages, with a wide global reach. We make a variety of films that are diverse in every way and reflect a far wider range of influences than ever before.

It is at this juncture, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the Film and Television Institute of India Pune that FTII and the Film Writers Association Mumbai (FWA) are organising a seminar. This conference is an attempt to revisit our legacy, reflect over our current conditions and gauge the future of the Indian film.

The film script is the foundation of any cinematic presentation, and this includes not only the story, screenplay and dialogue but music, song-n-dance, emotional impulses and likely mis-en-scene as well. In short the term script is used in its broadest sense to include all aspects of film form and content.

Conceived as a series of talks and panel discussions with scholars, academics and practitioners, the conference will broadly make the journey of Indian film from its genesis to its current phase. The seminar like the previous years promises to examine the early form of Indian cinema and its major influences. It will analyze current trends (1995-2010), explore what the future holds for the Indian film script and examine the contribution of significant individuals who have made indelible marks on the Indian script. The seminar is set to focus on two distinctive features of Indian cinema- Music and Melodrama.

More when I get back from Pune.

Bhawana Somaaya
blog.bhawanasomaaya.com

This week has two releases. The much talked about Peepli Live and Bobby Deol starrer Helpline. I dislike horror films so I will only talk about the first.

Aamir Khan Productions Peepli Live is the story of two brothers and farmers Natha and Budhia who unable to pay a government loan have lost their land. They seek the help of a local politician who suggests that the only way to recover their losses is if one of them commits suicide because a newly established government scheme aids the families of indebted farmers who have killed themselves. The brothers are tempted by the idea and elder brother Budhia inspires younger brother Natha to end his life for the good of the large family.

Their drunken conversation in a bar is overheard by a journalist and makes morning headlines. The news story sparks a chain of events and challenges India’s political machinery. What makes Peepli Live special is that it takes a burning issue and turns it into a political satire sprinkled with drama, wit and humour. It is not just a deliciously written story by Anusha Rizvi or an unusual format but reflects a consumerist, callous society made up of ambitious politicians, indifferent citizens and unethical journalists. It is about a changing rural and sinking urban India.

Made on a shoe string budget already recovered via music and satellite rights the film is shot on real locations. Full marks to cinematographer/ Shankar Raman, production design/ Suman Ray Mahapata, costumes/ Maxima Basu, music/ Mathias Duplessy and pungent, peppy dialogues/ Anusha- Faroqui. This is easily the most perfectly cast film of the year by Sudhir Chohey comprising mostly newcomers-Omkar Das Manikpuri, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shalini Vatsa, Farrukh Jaffer, Malaika Shenoy with the exception of Raghuvir Yadav and Nasseruddin Shah in a cameo.

The actors dissolve into their characters and surroundings and it is often difficult to determine whether it is a feature film or a docudrama.Usually such realistic portrayals tend to get pedantic and boring but Peepli Live proves to be thoroughly entertaining. Usually films with tongue lashing dialogues and abusive language tend to become offensive, Peepli Live makes you crack up particularly when the old woman rises from her bed to lash out at the family. Usually films profiling professionals become didatic but Peepli Live makes us- the media look into ourselves and do some serious soul searching!

This film could only have been directed by a media member- Anusha Rizvi and backed by a courageous producer- Aamir Khan. Go for it- it is more than worth it for the spectacular ensemble performances, the lively songs, an absolutely original soundtrack but most important for a new vision and a new tradition in Hindi cinema.

Bhawana Somaaya
blog.bhawanasomaaya.com

It is that time of the year when Enlighten Film Society brings special festivals to the members and film buffs. This month’s festival focuses on biographies of great directors, who made moviemaking possible. Five masterpieces in their own right include Nine, The Aviator, Harishchandrachi Factory, Chaplin and Jaquot De Nantes.

Nine is a musical romantic film by Rob Marshall based on Federico Fellini’s semi-autobiographical film 8½. In a way, the film is a reinterpretation of Fellini’s inner world drawing from the original 1963 masterpiece. The film is unapologetically brash and erotic depicting the Italian director’s fantasies.

The Aviator is a great example of one mastermind paying tribute to another. Here the greatest living director Martin Scorsese depicts the life of an industrialist, philanthropist and above all a great director Howard Hughes. Both actor Leonardo Di Caprio and
director Martin Scorsese are at their peak creating a spectacular film about a great artiste unable to deal with his demons. The film was nominated for 11 Academy
Awards.

Harishchandrachi Factory is a gem of a film by Paresh Mokashi depicting the life of Dadasaheb Phalke father of Indian cinema. Unlike most biopic that tends to become verbose this one is an amusing look at one man’s passion which finally resulted in
the world’s largest film industry. Highly acclaimed by critics, it was also India’s entry to Oscars.

Richard Attenborough who made Gandhi in 1982 directed Charlie Chaplin in 1992 film. Robert Downey Jr. gave the performance of a lifetime in enacting the life of most famous tramp on this planet. An endearing homage and a film to cherish, it’s all about Attenborough’s tribute to a great legend.

Jaquot De Nantes is a documentary on French director Jacques Demy by the director’s wife Agnès Varda. A loving account of Demy’s childhood and his lifelong love of theatre and cinema, the film dissolve the ideal and the real in a magical creation.

When I was growing up many summers ago, my school friends and I only read Enid Blyton books. We were familiar with every character in her novel and in the summer holidays played detective games unraveling stories of residents in the building. Those days she was the only writer of children books and we impatiently waited for her new edition. My older siblings’ well versed with authors introduced us first to the Secret seven series, then Famous Five and finally Five Find outers. My favourite character in the last series was the brave and spunky Georgina who the boys in the gang referred to as George.

The publisher of Enid Blyton after all these years is revisiting the series. Hodder is “sensitively and carefully” revising Blyton’s stories after researching with children and parents. Hodder will publish 10 contemporary Famous Five books starting with Five on a Treasure Island, originally published in 1942. Tony Summerfield, who runs the Enid Blyton Society opposes the changes in the author’s work and believes we must not underestimate the intelligence of children.

I agree with Tony. Enid Blyton has been an inspiration for a generation of children like me and it is undermining her talent to be edited or altered when other authors from the same era are still appealing to the readers. It makes me wonder that perhaps these things would never happen in India. Can you ever imagine somebody tweaking the works of Sarat Chandra or Premchand Munshi? It would be blasphemy. I read some where that playwright Mujeeb Khan has been adapting a Premchand story into a play every week for five years now. Actors at his Ideal Drama and Entertainment Academy (IDEA) spend five days rehearsing the play, perform it on the sixth day and move to the next story at the end of the week. Maybe somebody ought to do that with Enid Blyton stories as well. May be Shailey Sathyu champion of children theatre can conceptualize a production and prove that sometimes, young is golden too.

Before I sign off I have to share an extremely polite mail from a young filmmaker whose name I forget. He says that while animation is still in a nascent stage in India, and so far never been a success at the box office, new directors like him venture into it whole heartedly. He says Lava Kusa is not only India’s most expensive animated film costing 20 CR but will be the biggest release-more than 200 screens across India. It is the first time live music instruments are used for the background score in Indian animation films and the sound recording done at AR Rehman’s studio, Chennai.

It seems like it is going to be a year of animation films. Ketan Mehta’s dazzling Ramayana worked at Maya Animation Films, Abhimanyu Singh’s Warrior based on the life of Arjuna and Iskcon’s ambitious project Krishna worked at Anil Ambani Animation films.

Bhawana Somaaya
blog.bhawanasomaaya.com