Indore (Madhya Pradesh): “The young generation has to be ruthless and brutal if they want to be good screenwriters,” said actor, director and screenwriter Ananth Mahadevan in a conversation with Free Press. Known for his writing in several television shows and films in different languages since the 1980s, Mahadevan shared his trunk of knowledge and wisdom with the young aspiring screenwriters of the city.
Tête-à-tête with Ananth Mahadevan
What is the future of screenwriters in the Indian film industry?
Any suggestions for aspiring screenwriters?
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Current Landscape: The Indian film industry has a significant portion of screenwriters stuck in outdated formulas, largely influenced by the traditional "formula films" that have dominated for decades. This approach has left a deep impression, making it difficult for many to break free from these clichés. Modern Influences: The new generation of screenwriters is increasingly influenced by international filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and James Cameron.
However, these attempts often fail because the socio-economic and cultural contexts of these films differ vastly from India's. Challenges and opportunities: Hindi cinema, particularly in the past two decades, has often seemed half-hearted in its attempts at innovation. In contrast, regional cinemas like Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and Malayalam are experimenting and achieving interesting results. Learning from global cinema: Films like "Monster" by Kore-eda from Japan showcase innovative screenwriting structures. Indian screenwriters need to think beyond commercial dictates and challenge themselves to create something unprecedented in Indian cinema.
Why would you opt for screenwriting as it is not a glamorous job and people opt for the industry for glamour?
Well, I disagree with this that the film industry is a glamorous industry. It is a ruthless industry and is the most difficult profession and it is a misconception that screenwriting is easy and acting will make you rich. Filmmaking is a science and art which is misconceived by people. If one has to become a director then one has to be a writer or if you feel like becoming a screenwriter then the starting point is writing. Just like if you want to be an actor then theatre helps you in grounding as an actor. People feel that screenwriting is very easy as it does not entail any cost, as no one has to stand in long lines as emerging actors have to. Today, everyone wants a good script and unfortunately people feel screenwriting is an easy task, people getting influenced by films start writing stuff in a cliché manner and think they know writing.
Indore has prominent theatre groups with a number of aspiring screenwriters.
What are your suggestions for them?
Mostly, theatre artistes want to be in performing arts but later graduate to other platforms as I started with theatre, moved to television and started writing for TV and doing writing and directing in cinema. It is a whole process from school to college to graduating. One should move slowly from one platform to another as these are all different but interconnected platforms.
What are the basic differences between writing for a film and theatre?
When one is writing for film he has to be minimal as it is a visual medium, while theatre plays with words. In theatres, we do not have close-ups so we need to write harder dialogues to convey the emotions and the message but film can showcase emotions visually, in films we can express just with the blink of an eye.
How was the experience of visiting Indore?
If you get a chance to shoot in Indore will you do so and do you have a specific place in mind from Indore? Indore is very raw, real and full of life. Adding to the whole thing is that it is the cleanest city in India which gives it a lot of status. About shooting in Indore, I need a perfect subject. I would love to shoot in the city. It has great locations like Ahilyabai’s palace to temples to character-driven streets.
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