Bollywood’s women screenwriters

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Did you know that Hindi film screenwriter Shama Zaidi, who has written the screenplay for 15 films and series, including Garm Hava, Umrao Jaan, Mandi and Suraj ka Satvan Ghoda, studied at the Slade School of Art, London, and was apprentice at the Berliner Ensemble? Her very first screenplay, Garm Hava (Scorching Winds, 1974), the landmark Partition drama, co-written with Kaifi Azmi, was all guns blazing - it was India's entry for the Oscars; screened at the Cannes Film Festival; won the National Award/ Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration and Filmfare Award for best writing. Zaidi also introduced Satyajit Ray to the idea of a colour palette in films while he was making Shatranj ke Khiladi. Anubha Yadav's absolutely fascinating book Scripting Bollywood: Candid Conversations with Women who write Hindi Cinema, teems with such insights. Published by Women Unlimited (an associate of Kali for Women, R675), it is a rich treasure trove for both lay people and academics.

The book is a must-read for anyone remotely interested in Bollywood, and Indian cinema, even though it focuses on women screenwriters of Bollywood/Hindi cinema, whose work spans about 50 years. It is packed with rich Bollywood film history, insightful conversations, observations on the craft of screenwriting, delicious anecdotes, some of which are also funny, big bonus for me. You know it is a fab book when the page margins are covered with my excited pencil notes, exclamations and hearts. And yes, I'm not at all surprised, it shows us - this may or may not have been intended - how backward Bollywood is today, compared to what some women creators had achieved earlier. Altogether, women screenwriters write less than 10 per cent of Bollywood films released annually, according to Yadav.

Anubha Yadav, an academic and writer, has researched screenwriting studies for a decade and taught broadcast studies for 15 years at the University of Delhi. She is also author of the novel The Anger of Saintly Men. She interviewed 14 women Hindi film writers - Shama Zaidi, Sai Paranjpye, Juhi Chaturvedi, Honey Irani, Sooni Taraporevala, Tanuja Chandra, Sabrina Dhawan, Kamna Chandra, Kalpana Lajmi, Urmi Juvekar, Bhavani Iyer, Shibani Bathija, Devika Bhagat and Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh. Sai Paranjpye did the screenplay and direction for 23 works, including Sparsh and Chashme Buddoor; her Disha won awards at Cannes and 17 film festivals.

Certainly, Bollywood has top actresses who also double up as producers. These include Priyanka Chopra (The Sky is Pink, Ventilator), Deepika Padukone (Chhapaak, '83) and Anushka Sharma (NH10, Paatal Lok), among others. But Yadav reminds us that pioneering, multi-tasking women in cinema in the silent and pre-Independence era had notched up considerable achievements, yet were often denied screenwriting credit. Actress Fatma Begum is credited as India's first woman feature director; in fact she was an actor, director, producer and writer; she wrote, directed and produced Bulbul-e-Paristan, 1926, a silent film. Starting as an actress in 1922, she established her own production company Fatma Films by 1926, directing and producing seven films in four years. Jaddan Bai was screenwriter, director, producer, actor, singer and music composer. She established her own production house Sangeet Movietone and made seven films. Bold, she had three children by different partners; her daughter includes the actress Nargis. Actress Protima Dasgupta wrote/directed three films; she divorced her husband and continued to live with her sister-in-law Begum Para; they threw wild parties and made films together.

Dasgupta produced, directed and acted in her films, and Para acted too. Ismat Chughtai wrote the screenplay/story/dialogues of eight films, and directed Fareb. In fact, I would add that it is unheard of for today's Bollywood actresses who are also producers, to also carry the films as writers, directors, music composers or singers. Devika Rani was a founder of top studio Bombay Talkies with her husband Himansu Rai, and a top star; she trained in film in Germany; as scripts produced by Bombay Talkies would be tailored for her, it is likely she actively participated in story discussions with Niranjan Pal and Rai. But women's work, including screenwriting, is traditionally invisibilised and continues till today. That's why, when I write about film, I usually highlight women's contributions before and behind the camera.

UN Women proposes Planet 50-50 by 2030, asking governments to commit to women and girls having equal opportunities and rights by 2030. I'd say extend it to 50 per cent Hindi women writers by 2030. In a deep-rooted patriarchy, it will take determined, systemic, institutionalised efforts to support women writers, directors, producers and distributors. The Screenwriters Association (SWA), that has been negotiating screenwriters' rights and credit, may like to consider organising women writers' workshops, including having the more experienced women writers nurture younger women writers. Continued in Part 2 next week.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com