My Experiment with Experience

THE KAMAL HASSAN INTERNATIONAL SCREEN-WRITING WORKSHOP

1600 Applicants - 250 short-listed candidates. 5 day workshop and 1 day seminar…which means one week with the Padmashri, Doctorate-holder, Universal Star ( hate this title…sounds like a bakery name) ….the legend of Kamal Hassan. And alongside would be all the renowned script-writers, screen-writers and how can one forget all the stalwarts of Indian cinema, who as guests, would pop-up often now and then. The workshop was conducted from the 29th May to 3rd June at the IIT-M, Chennai. After finding my name in the privileged list, suddenly it felt like life again, as if I had been dead for 1 year and had just woken up to see Shankar S, Secunderabad flashing in the selected-list. It indeed was a City moment of success (The IPL was on then when the list was displayed).
On the 29th Morning, landed in the city of South-Indian culture and Sweats. The IIT-M was simply beautiful; spotted the spotted deer as soon as I entered and was struck with awe. The leaves from the trees, the serene silence, the chirping of the birds, the deer moving around- all put together was simply the ideal heaven for any naturalist or romantist. After discovering my accommodation in that huge campus and setting myself right in that congested meter room, I set forth to hit college one more time, perhaps one last time. When I saw few students flocking in front of the auditorium, my fickle mind pulled me back in memory, to the 16th August, 2006, the first day of coll. in Manipal. Still, fresh in some corner of my mind - all the first-time interaction and encounter with all those individuals, who for me would remain angels forever. While most angels stay physically around me (in diff. cities), a few left … doesn’t matter, all those moments might be dead but not in memory.
After all the preliminary checking at the entrance, the crowd was seen flowing towards the seminar hall door. Entered, to find the hall full with people almost like a mini-stadium. In the centre was a short, fair man with a beard, standing. It took me few seconds to realize it’s the man himself. Meanwhile my friend (Adithi Mathews) would push me forward forcing me to walk further to occupy the seat in the first row. It left me in tenter-hooks, as I just walked past the man who… (now we all know all; don’t we?).
Alongside him was Mr.Atul Tiwari, Script-writer of Mission Kashmir and various other films. He was important and special to me as he had adjudicated me winner of a short-film competition one year back… aneways nice to see him again.

On the dais were Mr. Anjum Rajabali ( Screen writer – Dhrohakaal, Ghulam and the Legend of Bhagat Singh…also teaches in FTTI, pune)
Mr. Hariharan ( Dir. of L.V Prasad Inst, Chennai.)
Mr. Atul Tiwari and The Big-Small man himself.

DAY- 1

“One can’t teach screen writing but one can definitely learn this art” started Mr. Anjum. No doubt, the immediate reaction amongst all the 250 students, would have been “What the ……?”. Anjum, a smart man and a brilliant orator which he is, backs it up talking about the reaction his earlier statement would have evoked amongst all of us, thus laying path to an excellent session of introduction. After 1 Hr, we would break for tea and would come back for an interesting session on the elements of screen-writing …the idea, the premise, the theme, the plot, the structure, the character …and specification on each means we are ready to break for lunch.
The lunch had the Vasantha Bhavan special. Never in my previous visits to VB, I ever imagined I would end up eating this goat’s favorite delicacy- the spl. Chennai Meal. Thanks to the Big-Small man, I ended up doing the unimaginable (No doubt the workshop was a success).
Post-lunch the session on the specification required while writing. Mr. Hariharan spoke about having a reality-based check when scripting. *Like listing out the Characters Name/ Age/Gender….. Parentage/Sibling/Family/Marital Status…..Language/ Social Status –precise….Qualify/ Aspiration…Artistic Skills….Friends/Work. Colleagues…etc.*
____This process can help a writer in getting to the point of specification and would throw clarity while doing scripting.___
Film-screening is mandatory in every film school and workshops and would roll after 6p.m
“At the water-front” was shown and boy wasn’t Ghulam a bad remake of this.


*Write to me or ask me if you want more details as in what more…I am 100 % ready to share with you this crucial piece of info.*

DAY-2

Was 10 mins late (Now Old-habits die hard, don’t they?). Somehow, found a seat for myself in some corner of that huge hall as plots, sub-plots were discussed. Different films were brought-in to understand plots and sub-plots and its significance in story-telling. Holding myself back, I listened to the different ideas which our budding screen-writers had. Must say, throughout the session Mr. Anjum would do very well to manage and put up with questions related to rocket-sciences. A doubt occurred and I raised my hands up in the air, the mike was handed over and I was in a flash surrounded by a photographer, cameraman, volunteer, it was so evocative that I nearly forgot the question I had in mind.
The Lunch came and went.
The Session post-lunch saw the Big-Small Man on stage. He threw the option to the audience to talk about one film of his. Our Tamil-tigers would not wait as they would grab the mike to ask him questions, trying to impress our Big-Small man with their self-acclaimed nuance observations. There was a rift developing in the auditorium between the Hindi’s and the Tamil’s, thanks to our Big-Small man’s multi-lingual skills he kept all the jokers at bay. The discussion was on “Hey Ram” and the man showed what an actor he is not just in reel but also on stage. (With no offence, as one of my friends puts it: The man knows that you know that he is a star)…he is a star…a super star indeed.

The film screened was Hritwik Ghatak’s “Meghe Dhaka Tara”
Ghatak, one of my fav’s; had seen the film for the second time and simply relished the cinematic treat. Much to my surprise, few of our budding screen-writers thought otherwise. Doesn’t matter; remember the dictum, “Opinions are like ass-holes, everyone has one” and our budding screen-writers definetly have more than one.
[Part-2 to be continued... ]