Riding the Movie Express…

Every man is an island, I say. More so, when you are riding the Movie Express to your destination, your First Film. No early morning ‘Hi’ to the Ethiopian receptionist at your corporate office as soon as you walk in, nor a hopeful lunch with Suzanne from the Human resources. All that you get to see in the early hours(9am for yours truly) is some poor writer’s face(which is nowhere close to being pretty) knocking up your door with a hope that oneday you will make him a star along with yourself. In the afternoons and later in the evenings, it is more often the sweaty poor writers/hopeful directors bouncing off their ideas, hoping to hear from others’ that their script is gonna be the next big thing after Ramu’s Shiva. Yes, it is all action films here now, action being the in genre. While on ‘action’, ironically, contrary to the popular belief about Film people, they are in fact the ones who get least action, if you know what I mean. Compared to Films, guys, corporate world is heavens bustling with angels. With that little nugget of wisdom shared, I shall now move onto other topics. Its been a long slumber since Mallika left me.

The quest here, for every one, is, for a terrific script. Now what makes a great script? That’s a million-dollar question really. A great script begins with a great idea. This idea is like the chip that you use on the roulette table to make your million bucks. In the Film jargon here, it is called ‘line’. This so called ‘line’ more or less determines your fate line, so be careful which idea/line you are toying with, because for the next few months(and not years hopefully), you are going to spend exploring it and making it into a script that would give you enough confidence to go and pitch it later with the producers/heroes. Also, remember that there are probably thousands of other hopeful writers/directors who are pitching their scripts at the same time. It is getting seriously competitive here, so to stand out from others’, make sure that your line is something that is ‘really different’ in its thematic content first, entertaining in its script form secondly, with an inherent(and hopefully unique) style in its execution(which the director in you brings in). Now, don’t mistake style for stylish looks/sets/props, it is the narrative style that is more important. I was just discussing the other day with a friend, that the days of the story per se are gone, it is all style that matters now. Last but not the least, you had better give great narrative sound bytes when the producer/hero is eagerly listening to your script. All the months of hardwork is determined by how well you narrate your film in those fateful couple of hours.

An idea is so much like your girlfriend, you got to give her all your attention, if you are really hoping to get the goodies in return. What fascinates me so much about this incubation process is that, there is so much conflict within me when I am developing an idea into a script, between the writer and the director in me, yes, I am schizophrenic. It is so easy to get lost in the writing process where the wily writer smartly deludes you with his intelligent one-liners and sometimes entertaining scenes. Don’t let him win, it should be the other way around, the director in you should constantly channel the writer into the right perspective. It is the perspective and the tone in which you narrate the film, is what makes the whole process so exciting. A tweak here, a tweak there and lo and behold, it is a whole different film than what you have begun with. So watch out! No wonder, William Friedkin once said, “If they changed all the rules and said, ‘you have got to stand in line and pay money to direct Films’, I would be the first guy in line.”

Making Films is a seriously non-trivial business, requiring tremendous amount of intelligence and hardwork, but still it is the best job in the world, no doubt about it. Film is to arts like sea is to rivers. Making a Film is like sailing an ocean; it is a long, arduous yet deLightful journey. When I was signing up for my Ph.D program in EE, they told me that I got to have a fire in the belly to do it. You gotta have a lot more than a fire to make a Film. Because Film as a mere escape medium offers entertainment at a very superficial level, whereas Film when working on a higher plane, offers experiences in multiple layers all working together to give you something more than the mere arithmetical sum of each layer. It stays with you long after you have left the theater. Sergei Eisenstein once said that a good Film furnishes you with cartridges to help yourself. That is the beauty of it. That is also the curse to the screenplay writer because it is bloody tough to achieve that. And you will know it when you achieve it, for you will feel like a pregnant lady ready to deliver after 9 months of hard but sweet labor. The urge to deliver would be so strong that you would scurry out looking for a date with the producer/hero. Now to be fair to producers/heroes, what I observed here is that more often than not, they are ready to give you a film. Only you cant go to them with seemingly outlandish ideas, like taking Jurassic Park and King Kong to a higher plane and pitching that, King Kong is head over its heels in love with a cute T-rex. Now that’s an interesting idea in itself, imagine King Kong with a bottle in its big hands, sipping, and singing ‘Jagamae Maaya’, but it would never be feasible and palatable here in India, even if you place some pepperoni pizza next to the beer carton. All that the producers/heroes are asking for here is, something that is palatable to the Indian audience yet interesting and new in itself. Now if you can do it, well and good. If you can’t you have only yourself to blame. But don’t give up, don’t disembark the Movie Express yet, even when it is going through dark tunnels. For, there is always Light at the end of the tunnel. Shining Light. You feel good when you see her. She smiles and always gives you ideas, new ideas, interesting ideas, sexy ideas, better ideas. So court her. ‘Cos ultimately, it all begins with an idea. As is said, an idea can change your life. So, Here is looking at you, Shining Light!

Other Ticket to fame articles:
Flirting with Mallika Sherawat
I am gonna be next Mani Rathnam