Shri Vighneshwar began cracking on Rim Jhim Barse Zindagi immediately and Hiten Anandpara kept me posted about the scenes in progress collaborated by Pritesh Sodha and him on phone and finally came the day when I was invited to attend the play rehearsal. I was excited to meet the artistic and the technical who were going to give shape to my story and waited with bated breath for the narrative to unfold. Director Jayant Bhatt told me that what you watch is only 20 percent because the effect of light/ sound/ music/ costume / sets is the essence of stage and I trusted him. A week later as I got ready to trek to Tejpal Auditorium for the premier of my debut play I sensed an adrenaline rush but it was different from the   anxiety I went through as an author on her way to a book release. As an author I am forever being judged and have to prove myself but as the story writer of a play I was calmer because the entire team put together was going to sparkle my brain child. And that’s exactly what happened.  What unfolded on stage was magical!

To be continued…

@bhawanasomaaya

Initially I was talking about Rim Jhim to a lot of people and a lot of them liked the idea but at the last minute changed their mind. Some asked me to change the protagonist, change the girl into a boy and make it a hero film but I refused. A filmmaker was keen but he wanted me to reduce the role of the parents and change it into a love story, I refused again. There were times I sat down to change the story, to reduce the sorrow but it was not convincing and shut the computer. Some more months went by and then one day, out of the blue, writer Hiten Anandpara phoned to ask, ‘Do you have an original Bhawana ben we are looking for a story for our new play. We met the following week and I narrated a story close to my heart. They heard me in silence and it was evident they were not impressed. ‘Do you have another story? They asked. I narrated Rim Jhim and their eyes sparkled, ‘This is it’ they said and disappeared for four years. In January they got back and they said they were ready to roll. I did not believe them but this time it was for real.

To be continued…

@bhawanasomaaya

Who are you talking to I asked my intern at home, she looked at me and said Rim Jhim. ‘Rim Jhim?’ I repeated making action of raindrops. Yes, she replied, ‘My cousin was born in the monsoons and her parents love the sound of the rain. I love it too and the name Rim Jhim reverberated in my head for days at end. I had decided that irrespective of the  course of the story the title of my film will be Rim Jhim  and slowly I had found my protagonist, a young girl who was going to take you through the story, introduce us to her parents, other characters, their back stories, interactions and attachments. When I penned the synopsis, it was meant to be a film script and then on the advice of a filmmaker friend, I wrote the character sketches, their past, their present, their fears and anxieties and finally the beat sheet – which is a scene break up. I was ready to write a full-length screenplay but not before I had found a director to own my story so I waited…

To be continued…

@bhawanasomaaya

It was in the early 2000 when I was walking on the road and found a poor woman sobbing on the street mourning the death of her six-month-old infant.  On my way home I kept thinking about her life, her husband, her parents, her in-laws. There was nobody around her and she was wailing unable to get a grip of herself. I kept thinking about her husband and his reaction to the tragedy, will he empathize with her that she had to handle this crisis single handedly or will he blame her for what had happened even though it was not her fault. Weeks passed by but the incident was still hovering in my head, unknowingly I began making notes. The subject had the potential of a dramatic narrative but the details were taking long to form a pattern. I was certain that it had to be the story of a family but what kind of a family I didn’t know and so I decided to wait till the story in my head was ready to lead me…

To be continued…

@bhawanasomaaya