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Qalam 2001 - Review

Qalam 2001 inks fresh chapter in history of Indian TV scriptwriting

If the script be the soul of a television show, Indian television could well be said to have got a fresh shot of life from Qalam 2001, Mumbai.

The first ever workshop for Indian TV scriptwriters, Qalam 2001 succeeded in teaching the rudiments of the craft to aspiring writers, in bringing together budding and veteran wielders of the pen, and in throwing up a plethora of suggestions that could bring order in an otherwise scattered industry.

Speakers who graced the podium covered the entire spectrum of television luminaries - from established writers like B M Vyas and Achla Nagar to well known personalities like Soni Razdan and Kiran Joneja. A western perspective to the art and commerce of scriptwriting was provided by Joyce Thierry, a scriptwriter and instructor from the Vancouver Film School, Canada. The 110 participants who attended the two day workshop at Time & Again in Mumbai's western suburb of Andheri, had opportunity aplenty to interact with the instructors, debate on issues related to TV in India and imbibe tenets essential to the craft from the 14 speakers over the two days. Not all attendees were freshers straight out of college with stars in their eyes and a script in their heart; there were several with a background with the television industry, and some with a published byline.

There were speeches that evoked laughter and some that provoked thought, while some raised the hackles of part of the audience. While some dissected the anatomy of a thriller, others probed the intricacies of scripting a social drama while keeping the Indian sensibilities in mind. Others extrapolated on the importance of observing one's surroundings to build interesting characters, and a few stressed the need to keep in touch with literature, both Indian and English, to get a feel of how a good script should be.The following short writeups will give you insights into issues that each of the speakers tackled.

Rekha Nigam

Former Sony programming head Rekha Nigam, who has quit the channel to focus on a scriptwriting career, charted out the 10 commandments of scriptwriting at the beginning of the workshop. One of the most vocal attendees on both days, Nigam interspersed her talk with interesting tidbits of her rich experience within the entertainment industry.
Click here to read more on Rekha Nigam's talk on The Ten Commandments of Scriptwriting.

Joyce Thierry

Joyce Thierry, a well-known name on US and Canadian television, expressed her intrigue at the number of soaps on Indian television. Unlike in the West where teens form the biggest chunk of the viewership, she noted that the focus appeared to be more on relationships within families on Indian television.
Click here to read more on Joyce Thierry's talk on Types of Television Writing, documentary, drama and comedy …

Vinta Nanda

Vinta Nanda, best known for her scripting of the serial Tara, followed up with a speech on the need for better sensitivity while scripting serials that could affect the lives of the multitudes watching them. Stressing the need for good docu-dramas, she said that any statement on society need not necessarily be only art, it could be good commerce too. Click here to read more on Vinta Nanda's talk on Social Responsibility in TV writing…

B.M. Vyas

B M Vyas, best known for his scripts of Bharat Ek Khoj, Circus and Gaatha, had the participants in splits with his wry and witty talk that touched upon the social, economic and psychological aspects of TV scriptwriting and the writer's responsibility towards viewers. The art of scriptwriting, he said, need not be shrouded in secrecy, as it has been for several years now. Drama, that forms a key element of ordinary lives, should be reflected in television writing, that closely identifies with people's lives, he said. Click here to read more on B M Vyas' talk on The Essentials of film and television writing…

Vipul D Shah

Carrying the lighter vein further, scriptwriter Vipul D Shah stressed on the need for imagination and a good memory to develop humorous characters in a script. One's surroundings often provide the best fodder in developing interesting character profiles, he said, and regaled the audience with snippets of his own experiences.
Click here for more on Vipul D Shah's talk on Developing Humour out of Everyday Situations…

Rajendra Singh

Film Writers' Association secretary Rajendra Singh brought the more serious aspects of TV scriptwriting home with his talk on the problems faced by several writers with production houses and TV channels, as also the technicalities associated with the craft. Click here for more on Rajendra Singh's talk on The Nuances and Rules and Regulations of Registering a Script and Problems faced by Scriptwriters…

Mir Muneer

Mir Muneer wound up the first day's session with a stress on an extra effort on writers' part to break out of the stagnancy TV writing has got into, with innovative ideas. The writer of Saans, Chunauti and Campus, Muneer spoke of the need to read a lot before getting down to serious scriptwriting.
Click here for more on Mir Muneer's talk on How to Address Stagnancy in Television Writing…

Bhavna Somaiya & Piroj Wadia

The second day's session started with a media panel discussion on the role of media in scriptwriting. Chaired by Screen editor Bhavana Somaya and Screen TV section editor Piroj Wadia, the talks was peppered with a lively question and answer session on whether journalists make good scriptwriters and the kind of recognition writers ought to get in the media.
Click here for more on Bhavana Somaya and Piroj Wadia's talk on The Role of Media in Scriptwriting…

Kiran Joneja

A self-confessed fan of Oprah Winfrey, Kiran Joneja, who has hosted her own talk show on Star Plus, outlined the requirements and distinctive qualities of a good script for the genre. Research skills, presence of mind and respect for the panelists and participants are the factors that make a successful talk show, she said. Click here for more on Kiran Joneja's show on The Creative Behind Talk Shows…

Sandhya Divecha

Scriptwriter Sandhya Divecha took the participatory approach in her talk, by involving attendees in developing a fictional script for a docu drama. In the process, she pointed out the nuances of documentary, docudrama and serial, the way scripts are written and how scenes are sequentially put together. Click here for more on Sandhya Divecha's talk on The Nuances of Docu-drama….

Soni Razdan

Actor turned producer Soni Razdan brought in the producer's perspective to the workshop with her insights into how a script is integrated into the entire process of making a serial from scratch. She wound up with a few tips to aspiring writers on how they should go about developing and presenting a script. Click here for more on Soni Razdan's talk on Scriptwriting from the Producer's Perspective…


Achla Nagar

Veteran scriptwriter Dr Achla Nagar brought in a more conservative note to the workshop when she said that soaps and serials need not pander to western tastes by showing scenes, which do not cater to Indian sensibilities. Click here for more on Dr Achla Nagar on TV serials with social messages….

Shridhar Raghavan

Shridhar Raghavan, who scripts the immensely popular CID, offered his insights into the makings of a script in general, and that of a thriller in particular. "Try and innovate within the standard structure, check your ideas thoroughly and counter criticism constructively", he said.
Click here for more on Sridhar Raghavan's talk on Scriptwriting for Thrillers…

 

Vivek Agnihotri

Producer-director Vivek Agnihotri provided the perfect finale to the workshop with an interesting presentation on developing a script. Vision and technique, he said, are both important tools of scriptwriting, while dreams and travels can often be a rich source of content for scripts, Agnihotri said.
Click here for more on Vivek Agnihotri's talk on How to Write Suspense and Thrillers…

Several suggestions and proposals for making it an easier playing field for scriptwriters were thrown up on both days of the workshop. Speakers agreed that data and resources be made available to writers to enable research while budding scriptwriters bemoaned the fact that channels and production houses often cold shoulder young talent. It was also suggested that channels learn to police themselves as regards the content, in order to safeguard viewer interest. Payment of development money to writers was also an issue that figured in the discussions, that centred around the financial security of writers who are not bound by contracts to either the production house or the TV channel.

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