Photo Flash: 5th Indian Screenwriters Conference Concludes

The 3rd and final day of the 5th Indian Screenwriters Conference (ISC) concluded on a beautiful note as 3 living legends Gulzar, writers Javed Siddiqui (Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Zubiedaa) and Kamlesh Pandey (Tezaab, Rang De Basanti) paid heartfelt tributes to 3 late legends - lyricist Shailendra (Guide, Mera Naam Joker), writer Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza (Mahabharat) and writer-filmmaker K. A. Abbas (Saat Hindustani, Mera Naam Joker).

The Screenwriters Association (SWA) posthumously awarded the late Shailendra, Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza and K.A Abbas for their stellar contribution to Indian cinema and television. These legends were conferred with awards for Lyrics writing, Writing for TV and Writing for Films respectively.

The atmosphere on the final day of the 5th Indian Screenwriters Conference was emotionally charged as THE FAMILY members of these literary legends came to accept the awards and thanked the SWA members which also included the peers of these late legends.

Actor and great granddaughter of K.A Abbas - Neelima Azmi broke into tears as she came on stage to accept the posthumous award on behalf of the late legendary filmmaker. Nadeem Khan - cinematographer and son of Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza and Parvati Khan - singer and daughter in law of Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza also got emotional while accepting the award on behalf of the late writer.

Actor Randhir Kapoor presented the award to Neelima Azim, while Kamlesh Pandey presented the award to Nadeem and Parvati Khan.

Lyricist Shailendra's sons Manoj Shailendra, Dinesh Shailendra and daughter Amla Shailendra flew to Mumbai specially to accept the award bestowed to their father. And while accepting the award from Gulzar, they said that they were touched by this wonderful gesture of the SWA.

Talking about his association with the late Shailendra, the legendary Gulzar said, "It was thanks to Shailendra that I came into the film industry. He egged me constantly to write and that's how I ended up penning my first song - Mora Gora Ang Layle for Bimal Roy's Bandini. He was my friend, philosopher, guide and I learnt a lot from him."

Talking about Shailendra's writing prowess, Gulzar said, "He wrote from his heart and his writings were an ode to the common man. It clearly reflected from his songs."

Actor Randhir Kapoor who fondly remembered the famous collaboration of his father and filmmaker Raj Kapoor and lyricist Shailendra said, "Shailendra ji's contribution to Mr. Raj Kapoor's films is invaluable. These films are still known today thanks to Shailendra ji. I would like to thank his family members and acknowledge Shailendra ji's contribution towards my father's films. I am really grateful to it as we are still reaping the benefits of his work."

While talking about the late K.A Abbas, Writer and SWA ex-general secretary Kamlesh Pandey said, "K.A Abbas played an important role in bringing sense and sensibility to Hindi cinema. He also helped to give the business of cinema the much-needed respect which till then was looked down upon by the society. His films are also ingrained in my DNA and have influenced my work. Most importantly he also played a pivotal role in helping writers get their much-needed respect."

Writer Javed Siddiqui while paying a tribute to the late Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza said, "Rahi saab was a multifacted personality and the writing he did for television only provided a glimpse of it. He was also a great poet and never lost his values and integrity even while working in a completely commercialized Hindi film industry."

The award ceremony was followed by the closing ceremony of the 5th Indian Screenwriters Conference.

Present at the closing ceremony were Mr. Sanjay Chouhan - SWA Executive Committee member and Convenor of the 5th ISC. Also present were Mr. Sunil Salgia - SWA Executive Committee member, Co-convenor of the 5th ISC and Mr. Zama Habib - General Secretary of the SWA and scriptwriter and SWA Executive Committee member Anjum Rajabali.

The ceremony began with a closing note by Anjum Rajabali and a vote of thanks by SWA Executive Committee member and Co-convenor of the 5th ISC Mr. Sunil Salgia.

Sunil Salgia, SWA Executive Committee member and Co-Convenor of the 5th ISC was extremely pleased with the response to this year's editon of the ISC and said, "The success of any conference lies in the quality of sessions and I think we had great speakers and moderators on every panel. They were experts in their field and shared their views from the bottom of their hearts. The audience too was wonderful in seeking answers to their queries. Lot of them met us post conference and said 'We are taking home a lot and wish SWA organizes more of such events frequently. We feel proud to be part of SWA."

Equally pleased with turnout was Mr. Sanjay Chouhan - SWA Executive Committee member and Convenor of the 5th ISC who said, "The response was huge. We had to stop online registrations two days before the conference. Around 1000 screenwriters, directors, producers, broadcasters, film lovers, historians, writers, academicians and film and tv students attended it. The highlight was that on stage Mr Aamir Khan agreed to help SWA for minimum basic contract between Screenwriters and Producers body."

The final day of the 5th ISC included a host of exciting conversations on South Indian Cinema, challenges of scripting for web and digital space and the poor quality of the daily television soaps and the reasons for the same.

The day began with 'Southern Waves' - a panel that spoke about the wide variety of pathbreaking and fresh films being made by the South Indian film industry in the recent times. From big budget mainstream blockbusters to quirky, experimental films to low budget crowd pleasers, the industry has churned a wide variety of films that has caught everybody's attention. The panel tried to explore this phenomenon and understand what makes this industry tick?

The panel was moderated by scriptwriter and SWA member Shridhar Raghavan (Khakee, Bluffmaster) and included filmmakers Vetrimaaran (Visaaranai, Aadukalam), writer-director Gayatri Sivasubramaniam (Vikram Vedha), writer-director Pushkar AKS (Vikram Vedha) and Aalif Surti (Former Chief Creative Officer - FOX Star Studios)

The panel attributed the emergence of the out of the box films especially in Tamil cinema to varied reasons including stories rooted in the local milieu, an enthusiastic audience and the lack of pressure of catering to a Pan-India audience.

But directors Pushkar AKS, Gayatri Sivasubramaniam and Vetrimaaran also said that there is a dearth of dedicated scriptwriters as a result of which the most of the directors also end up writing their films.

Despite this, director Vetrimaaran said that the industry treats their writers fairly. "When the remake rights of Tamil films are sold, even a new writer gets a minimum of 30 - 40% as royalty in the absence of a contract. But in case of a contract, a writer gets 50% royalty."

The 2nd Panel of the day was 'Has The Daily Soap Format Reached its Dead End?'

Writer and SWA General Secretary Zama Habib (Sasural Genda Phool) moderated the panel which comprised of Yubaraj Bhattacharya who launched the popular TV channel Star Jalsha, producer-director Rajan Shahi (Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hai), writer Shanti Bhushan (Pratigya, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo) and Sharad Raj (Formed Programming Head - Sahara TV and faculty - Whistling Woods International)

For a long time now, Indian Television has come to be recognized and associated with Daily Soap format. What seemed like the next big and fresh thing over a decade and half ago, has now become dull, clichéd, stereotyped, silly and regressive. In recent times with several shows having garnered lesser ratings and many have winded up in a very less time due to poor writings.

The panel which comprised of some of the best and biggest names of Indian television discussed whether the daily soap format has stifled creation of better content and the future of television?

The highlight of the day however was the final panel - 'Web of Digital Writing: Fearless Or Frivolous'.

In the last 4 years with the advent of players like The Viral Fever and DICE Media, the web and digital content space has truly become a force to reckon and has offered pathbreaking and innovative content. This has also helped to discover some fresh and promising talent. Furthermore, with the advent of VOD platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Voot and Alt Balaji, the webspace has become bigger than ever.

The panel spoke about whether the increasing popularity and success of the digital space has actually given writers the freedom to write fearlessly or things are still the same? An interesting mix of some of the brightest and promising names of the Indian web space led an engaging conversation on the same.

The panel was moderated by author and film critic Mayank Shekhar and comprised of writer-actor Sumeet Vyas (Tripling, Love Per Square Feet), Sameer Saxena (Head Of Development - TVF), Tanveer Bookwalla (Former Chief Creative Officer - Balaji Motion Pictures), Dhruv Sehgal (Little Things) and Smita Singh (Sacred Games).

Speaking about the evolution of the web and digital space, Mayank Shekhar spoke about how the web which began as a space for unscripted content from the early days of Youtube has come a long way today with some really innovative and pathbreaking scripted content finding their way to this space.

One of the earliest players to revolutionize this space was The Viral Fever (TVF). They began by creating short, funny and topical spoofs that grabbed major eyeballs and later revolutionized the web space with shows like Permanent Roommates and Tripling.

Talking about the advantages of the digital space, the panel said that the biggest advantage was the TRANSPARENT interaction it offers to audiences and content creators. The other advantages the panel spoke about included the freedom of expression it gave to writers, directors and how it has made the process of content creation and scriptwriting much more organic.

Elaborating on the free-flowing screenwriting process, Smita Singh, one of the writers of Netflix's acclaimed series Sacred Games said, "The whole screenwriting process was very organic. We were really pampered. The only thing expected out of us was that we should come up with a good story and create an engaging narrative."

Actor-Writer Sumeet Vyas said the freedom of expression which the medium of web offers makes it unique. "The web and digital space offers you complete freedom of expression which makes it such a unique platform. The manner in which you choose to express your thoughts only adds to the uniqueness."

The web space has also opened innumerable opportunities for screenwriters. This was aptly expressed by Tanveer Bookwalla, former Chief Creative Officer of Balaji Motion Pictures who said, "This is the greatest time to be a writer as there are now so many platforms offered by the webspace and OTT platforms. So you have a writing dream, go pursue it now."

Journey so far...

The Indian Screenwriters Conference was started with the idea of addressing issues concerning Indian screenwriters and lyricists, while also encouraging a dialogue on the surrounding social realities, within and outside the film and TV industries.

The first Indian Screenwriters Conference, held at FTII, Pune, in August 2006, was attended by 275 writers. The second, at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, next to Film City, Mumbai, in December 2008; saw 575 screenwriters and writer-directors attending it. 3ISC at St. Andrew's Auditorium, Bandra, in February 2013, had the participation of 700 screenwriters. ISC, held in August 2016, was the biggest with over 900 screenwriters and industry professionals attending it.

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