Breaking the rule is filmmaker Prakash Jha who has consistently tackled
political themes in his films be it rural oppression in Damul, women’s rights
in Mrityudand, or mob-justice in Gangaajal. Other writers to address political
issues in films are Atul Tiwari and Anjum Rajabli in films like Drohkaal,
Mission Kashmir, Netaji and The Legend of Bhagat Singh.
The idea of forming an association of film writers first originated at
the Sunday cultural and literary meetings held at the residence of Shri Anil
Biswas, the music director, in the year 1950.
Towards the end of 1950, a meeting of film writers was held in the Shree
Sound Studios to form a film writers association, electing D.N. Mandhok as it's
President, Mahesh Kaul and Pt. Sudarshan as Vice Presidents, Madhusudan as
General Secretary and Shakeel Badayuni as Treasurer. The members of the executive committee were,
Kamal Amrohi, Dr. Safdar Aah, Narendar Sharma, Inder Raj Anand, Arjun Deo
Rashik and Ramanand Sagar.One of its earliest actions is related in a news item in Screen, dated
November 9th, 1951 and published immediately after the release of film industry
commission report:
"The Film Writers' Association, Bombay, passed a resolution
deploring the lack of representation for Screen Writers on the proposed film
council. It asked the Central Government to provide adequate representation to
them"
Story, script, song and dialogue writers of all languages belonging to
the Bombay film industry were invited to attend a meeting organized by the Film
Writers' Association to be held at Shree Sound Studios on Saturday, May 29th,
1954.
Thus on August 7th, 1954 the newly formed Film Writers' Association of
Bombay elected the following executive council for 1954-1955: "Ramanand
Sagar (Hon. General Secretary), Vishwamitra Adil and C.L. Kavish (Joint
Secretaries), Pt. Sudarshan (Treasurer). "The Executive Council members
are: K.A. Abbas, D.N. Mandok, P.L. Santoshi, Mahesh Kaul, I.S. Johar, Rajendar
Singh Bedi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhanvi, V.P. Sathe, Shakeel Badayuni,
Krishna Chandra, Kamal Amrohi, Rajendar Kishen, Ali Raza, Nabendu Ghosh."
One of the earliest and most important objectives of the association was
to ensure a minimum wage for screen writers. A letter dated 3rd January 1961,
signed by the then President of F.W.A., K.A. Abbas, addressed to I.M.P.P.A.
records the fixed minimum wages as follows: Rs. 2500 for a story, Rs. 2000 for
a screenplay, Rs. 3000 for a dialogue and Rs. 500 for a song.
In keeping with changing economic conditions these rates were, of course,
revised from time to time. The first such revision came in August 1962 after a
rather arduous struggle.
In the following years the members of the Association seemed to be
divided on the question of registering the body under the Trade Union Act. This
issue was discussed in the meeting of the organization committee of the
Association held on May 15th, 1955, but it was only on February 26th, 1960 that
the General Body meeting of the F.W.A. decided to register the F.W.A. as a
Trade Union. The members authorized to complete these formalities were K.A.
Abbas, Qamar Jalalabadi, Sahir Ludhanvi, Shashi Bhushan, Vijendra Gaur, C.L.
Kavish and S.R. Basar.
Over the years the Association has given the film fraternity many
talented writers and these writers have built the credibility of the
association. A dramatic change has taken place in the lyrics and screenplays,
as in the levels of payment for this work. Gradually writers became more aware
of their rights and slowly began to speak in a collective voice.
The year 2007 saw the first seminar held by the Film Writers'
Association, at F.T.I.I in Pune, where prominent writers spoke on a variety of
subjects. This year, the Association held a two day seminar at Mumbai's Film
City, dedicated to the greatest Indian playwright of the Twentieth Century,
Vijay Tendulkar.
Born on 6th January, 1928, Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar grew up around the
printing press that his father worked at, The exposure he had to books,
literature, and to the artistic atmosphere of Kolahpur inspired him to write
his first story at the age of six. At eleven, he had written and directed his
first play, and by the age of fourteen, had displayed signs of his intense
social conscience by plunging into the ‘˜Quit India Movement'. Thus began a
journey that included the running of a printing press, journalism, a public
relations job, social activism, and most prominently, his writings.
The first of these writings was a radical play called ‘˜Srimanta' in
1956. He continued with noteworthy works such as Gidhade, Shanata! Court chalu
aahe, Ghasiram Kotwal, Sakharam Binder, Kamala and many more. In 1971 he turned
Shantata! Court chalu aahe into a screenplay for Satyadev Dubey, and over the
years there were many more like Manthan, Akrosh, Nishant, and Ardh Satya among
others.
The opening session discussing Tendulkar as the man and as the writer
included eminent speakers like Govind Nehalani, Dr. Jabbar Patel, Amole Palekar
and Imtiyaz Hussien offering their interesting insights on the genius. In the
following session, Kamal Hassan, who has been producer, director, screen writer
and actor at various times, stressed the emphasis on structuring in modern
screenplay.
The speakers delved on the myth of falling standards of script quality.
They discussed whether the script is the most neglected aspect of cinema. While
some agreed, many disagreed and argued that recent years have given some
striking screenplays in every possible genre but these instances are not
sufficient to usher in a change.
Day two discussed more controversial topics. Is the only purpose of
popular cinema to entertain? Examples were cited when many story ideas were
abandoned in the concept stage because the theme was too serious. Breaking the
rule is filmmaker Prakash Jha who has consistently tackled political themes in
his films be it rural oppression in Damul, women's rights in Mrityudand, or
mob-justice in Gangaajal. Other writers to address political issues in films
are Atul Tiwari and Anjum Rajabli in films like Drohkaal, Mission Kashmir,
Netaji and The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Jahnu Barua, after making a dozen films
in Assemese explored a serious issue in Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara and more
recently, Har Pal. Anurag Kashyap's gritty incisive style is reflected in Black
Friday and Aamir, for which he was creative producer, while Kamlesh Pandey's
dramatisation of the tragic consequence of the apathy of the public in Rang De
Basanti struck an instant chord with the young.
The producer and director play an important role in their relationship
with the writer. Without a foundation of trust the script or the song can never
attain the quality that the writer desires for his work. The producer is a
replication of the patron of the feudal system who, apart from paying the
writer is responsible for his working conditions. Directors Abbas Tyrewala and
Amole Gupté spoke at length about their experiences with various production
houses.
Two years ago, at the end of the seminar in Pune, those present agreed
that the writers would get involved with union work. This year's seminar was a
result of that commitment. The film industry though professionally run has to
still clearly define the writer's professional rights. Young writers are at sea
when negotiating a contract, which has undermined what is an integral part of a
contract. But not any longer. Times are changing. Today's writers are asking
pertinent questions concerning legal rights of a screenwriter. Questions about
the copyright act, contracts and other matters of importance. The time has come
to strike.
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