They may be doing the most important job in the showbiz industry, but Bollywood has a fair share of instances wherein writers haven’t been given their due, and become victim to credit row. Amitosh Nagpal, screenwriter of Hindi Medium, shares his views on the fact that star intervention, improvisation takes away the essence of the work done by scriptwriter and a lot more.
Hindi Medium has got positive reviews, how much of its success credit would you give to the dialogues used?
Filmmaking is a team effort, especially when it comes to writing, everyone contributes a little to what we create, and if dialogues have worked for the film, then the screenplay has in a way helped too to support them. A lot of times when I do narrations of the films, people laugh and clap for my efforts and say "iske liye toh actor chahiye". What they mean is that they need great actors to pull such dialogues off and I think if it has worked for Hindi Medium then Irrfan bhai has contributed a lot in it making them more lively and funny. So I'd want to give credit for the success of the dialogues to Irrfan Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Saba Qamar and other actors roped in by Honey Trehan.
Rules that you keep in mind before giving dialogues for a movie?
There are no such rules or practices when it come to art. A particular thing may work for a project and it might not for another. But there is one thing I need to keep in mind while writing dialogues - they are relatable and colorful. While writing, I see that the it's not me who is speaking the dialogues, but the characters. The story, their rhythm, style and language is what I have to focus on and choose the words accordingly. A lot times it so happens that you have to write dialogues according to the actor who is playing the role. Hence, the style changes. Right now, I am working on a play Talli Tuesday in which the characters belong to different cultures and speaks different lingo. So I have to adapt the tone and create the flow accordingly.
Have you ever felt that star intervention, improvisation takes away the essence of the work done by script writer?
Well, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't, because scripts are written in a closed room and when it goes on the sets a lot changes, which paves way to improvisation. I have no issues with an actor's improvisation, but I don't want the message to get lost in the process. If the suggestions from the actors is interesting, and the director is fine with it then we incorporate.
Going by the recent controversy – Kangana-Simran credit row – are there any rights that the Film Writers Association give to protect the interest of Bollywood’s screenwriters?
Well, whoever deserves the credit for his hard work and creativity should be given recognition. It is true that in the creative field you can't trace where the idea came from, and to whom it originally belongs. Two people can have the same story, same idea and even same suggestions. It's totally valid. What we need to do is to act fast and just get our stuff registered or copyrighted, that's the best you can do in it.
Are writers and directors hopelessly vulnerable to star intervention?
Time is changing and now content is the king. If the content is fresh and nice, no one tries to intervene because they trust your instinct and creativity. However, if the ideas and content of the screenplay is run of the mill then stars do try to intervene to make it work. I feel that's both logical and acceptable. It all depends upon the dish you serve, if the dish is perfect, no one adds flavour to it to destroy its essence. I am writing a few screenplays and have narrated some of them too, where neither the star nor the director wants to change the story and that's the best respect a writer can get for his work.
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