Scripted! Munna bhai on bookshelves

How the writer saw it

Yet this is precisely what professional screenwriter Anjum Rajabali (The Legend Of Bhagat Singh, Ghulam) wishes that screenplay books weren't. "Don't get me wrong; a film's screenplay is very useful," he points out, "But the draft by the original author is equally valid, especially to see how the screenplay has been reinterpreted. It's great for aspiring writers to see how a film was conceived.

"A director often goes beyond a script and enhances it, but you need to see the structure. Sometimes, a bad film has the writer complaining how his work was misinterpreted. So this is not a true example of learning a narrative. It's the difference between looking at a blueprint and looking at a finished building."u00a0u00a0u00a0
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Anjum is the head of department of screenwriting at both the Whistling Woods film school and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). He reveals that his students presently watch Hindi films and transcribe the screenplays.

"We don't have a tradition of writing screenplays, much less publishing them. It's in the last decade or so that we've had screenplays written on more than just scraps of paper," says Anjum.

He lists works by Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal and Vijay Tendulkar as some alternative cinema works available, on their "literary merit", so he welcomes the move to release screenplays. "Of popular Hindi cinema, there are less than five published screenplays. I'd love to own Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Deewar, Ganga Jamuna, Mughal-e-Azam, Satya and Lagaan's screenplays."

Gandhigiri and gangstergiri

Anjum feels that Lage Raho Munna Bhai's simplicity sets it apart. "If someone told you the bare premise of a gangster attempting Gandhigiri, you would think it a corny idea. And yet, they made it accessible."
While he sees no perfect screenplay, Anjum says it all depends on the collaboration between the writer and director and that they are always open for reinterpretation.

Are there any of his works published? Anjum laughs, "I don't think I'd push for a single work of mine; it's not good enough. Jokes apart, I have been asked about The Legend of Bhagat Singh, yet even that I felt was competent only in parts!" With Lage Rahou2026 kicking it off though, we could see a screenplay publishing revolution.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0