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Epic lines by Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino, Neil Gaiman, and more Image: Freepik No soul can be braver than a screenwriter or filmmaker putting their labours of love out there into the world for everyone to see. It’s a risk like no other. Audiences either lap up your work or reject it outright. It’s rare to find any in-betweens these days. As if that worry isn’t enough, we also have to bite our nails over film critics’ and other reviewers’ views about our movies. While more reviews equal more coverage (and, thus, more publicity), it’s still a clammying experience when we see a scathing takedown of our best efforts. Some of these powerhouse experts hold the final word in film recommendations and can sway public opinion. Yet, there’s also the increasing disconnect between what critics prefer and what audiences do. And so, we wonder whether it’s worth pleasing a select bunch of highbrows at the cost of a larger viewership. I’m all for having the necessary conviction while writing and making a film, without worrying about what critics say. No point in making a movie that critics fill up with praises while box-office counters go empty, right? I unabashedly admit my inclination towards creating commercial entertainers over arthouse cinema. For more inspiration and strength, seek them out in these 50 quotes by some of the finest screenwriters and filmmakers of our time. You’ll automatically develop the much-needed grit and gumption, without the need for validation. Not saying that film criticism shouldn’t exist—though it can be way better than the hotchpotch it has become. Simply spelling out that it depends on us what we do about it. “If film critics could destroy a movie, Michael Bay and Adam Sandler would be working at Starbucks. If film critics could make a movie a hit, the Dardenne brothers would be courted by every studio in town.” ―Alonso Duralde “There was a cultural war going on, the ’60s was going on. All the film critics were square.” ―John Waters “Someday, I’ll make a film that critics will like. When I have money to waste.” —Francois Truffaut “You highbrows writing on movies are nuts! In order to write about movies, you must first make them.” ―Orson Welles “To see a film once and write a review is an absurdity.” ―Stanley Kubrick “There’s not much in a critic showing off how clever he is at writing silly, supercilious gags about something he hates.” ―Stanley Kubrick “No film critic’s going to say it, but Madagascar 3 is better than The Artist.” ―Chris Rock “I despise the phony, fancy-pants rhetoric of professors aping jargon-filled European locutions— which have blighted academic film criticism for over 30 years.” ―Camille Paglia “What critics call dirty in our pictures, they call lusty in foreign films.” —Billy Wilder “Of course, the French are making very credible movies and it is still one of the greatest nations in terms of world cinema, but the real problem is the decay in film criticism.” ―Wim Wenders “I would never have guessed that the profession of film criticism would be going the way of the dodo bird.” —Quentin Tarantino “One thing I don’t do anymore is read or pay attention to the critical response…” ―Casey Affleck “In some cases, the critics just didn’t like the film—fair cop. Others, I think, didn’t understand it.” —Guy Ritchie “In this age of consumerism, film criticism all over the world—in America first but also in Europe—has become something that caters for the movie industry instead of being a counterbalance.” ―Wim Wenders “Reviews, although they feel devastating in the immediate moment, are not remotely as significant as the significance you endow them with on the day that they appear.” —Tony Kushner “The culture of independent film criticism has totally gone down the drain…” ―Wim Wenders “Plays can outlast even the opinions of the chief film critic of The New York Times…” —Tony Kushner “Many, many critics say to me that my films are not good because they are too unbelievable, but this is my style.” ―Dario Argento “It’s hard to see a film one time and really ‘get it’ and write fully and intelligently about it.” —Richard Linklater “I never think anyone will like what I do.” —Terence Davies “A lot of the films I do go down brilliantly critically and win awards, but not a lot of people see them.” —Martin Compston “I'm always terrified the critics won’t like my film and of course you always count the people who leave at the screening. They are on your death list. The people who stayed, stayed because they wanted to. You see it in a different way with an audience.” —Terence Davies “They used to criticize happy endings, but really, what’s the point of going to a film if you have to come out hating your fellow man?” —Ray Harryhausen “Critics are not aware of it, but (directing) is hard, physical work.” —Roger Corman “I’m sad that so many critics so uncritically use words like franchise, which should be reserved for your local Burger King.” —David Edelstein “For the film to ‘earn’ the right to be criticized on a scientific level is a high compliment indeed.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson “I don’t have any bone to pick with critics … Most of my bone is I would be a better film critic than most of the film critics I read.” —Quentin Tarantino “In America, even the critics—which is a pity—tend to genre-ize things.” —Francis Ford Coppola “You can get critically acclaimed and go to various film festivals around the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the majority of people are going to hear about it.” —Hugo Weaving “The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I’ve made, you get the impression that they’re all about themes, or problems, or ideas. But those are actually things that develop out of characters, out of images, and out of other things. These more abstract things develop while working on the material, and out of it. It’s not a theoretical exercise from the outset.” —Michael Haneke “A theatrical on a tight budget really only becomes about generating critical reviews for you and your film, not revenue.” —Aurora Guerrero “I don’t have a very high opinion, actually, of the world of criticism—or the practice of criticism. I think I admire art criticism, criticism of painting and sculpture, far more than I do that of, say, films and books, literary, or film criticism. But I don’t much like the practice. I think there are an awful lot of bad people in it.” —Tom Robbins “Would it be nice to win a film award one day? Yes. But the critics are going to have to wait till I’m ready. Right now, my gift is making big movies that audiences want to see.” —Brett Ratner “Making judgments on films is in many ways so peculiarly vaporous an occupation that the only question is why, beyond the obvious opportunities for a few lectures’ fees and a little careerism at a dispiritingly self-limiting level, anyone does it in the first place.” —Joan Didion “I think films are about having a good time, so I don’t know that there’s a message. The message of a film is always what a critic writes, and the fun of a film or the emotion of a film is what the audience feels.” —Steve Martin “The artist doesn’t have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews, the ones who want to write don’t have the time to read reviews.” —William Faulkner “Film criticism became the means whereby a stream of young intellectuals could go straight from the campus film society into the professionals’ screening room without managing to get a glimpse of the real world in between.” —Judith Crist “Does the critic wish to influence the kind of film that costs more than £250,000? It is as if he were to send a postcard to General Motors explaining that he would like them to make a raft next year, or a helicopter, instead of a car.” —Kenneth Tynan “Sometimes, it occurs to me that the job of a serious cultural critic mostly consists in telling the generality of people that their opinions—on films, on books, on all manner of widgets, gadgets, and even the latest electronic fidgets—simply aren’t up to scratch.” —Will Self “People think I’m against critics because they are negative to my work. That’s not what bothers me. What bothers me is they didn’t see the work. I have seen critics print stuff about stuff I cut out of the film before we ran it. So, don’t tell me about critics.” —Jerry Lewis “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” —Neil Gaiman “In city after city, newspaper after newspaper has diminished its staff of critics, sometimes to zero. Film and TV critics have been dropped and not replaced. Maybe they’re deemed unnecessary because nobody cares if anything’s good or not.” —Tom Shales “Critics sometimes appear to be addressing themselves to works other than those I remember writing.” —Joyce Carol Oates “I’m telling you, every film I’ve ever made has been hated by the UK critics.” —James Gray “What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism.” —Octavio Paz “Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.” —Jean Sibelius “Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck.” —Eli Wallach “There are many critics who invite me on their show, and I (tell) them that (whenever) my film releases, you … give it (a) one-and-a-half-star rating. That’s fine. There’s no issue because stars will matter when I’m planning to open a five-star hotel. When I’m making films, I don’t need stars.” —Rohit Shetty “Critics in particular treat CGI as a virus that’s infecting film.” —Peter Jackson “Ignore critics.” —Anne Rice

The writer-actor-filmmaker demystifies the process behind the art Image: IMDb If there’s one 2022 movie that has done the unthinkable, it has to be Kantara. It’s no mean feat to be a regional-only film and go so viral that the entire country wanted it dubbed in multiple languages. Kantara now boasts a worldwide box-office collection of more than INR 400 crore in 5+ languages. It has become the second-highest-grossing Kannada movie of all time (the first being K.G.F: Chapter 2, also from the same year). (Also read: These 5 screenwriting lessons by K.G.F’s Prashanth Neel are pure gold for your WIP) It just didn’t stop there. Netflix acquired the folk thriller’s Hindi version for an undisclosed but definitely whopping amount, giving it a wider showcasing opportunity. Kantara (Hindi) released on the OTT platform on 9 December 2022. You can watch it here. The film is available in its original language, Kannada, plus Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, on Amazon Prime Video; click here to stream. For a movie made on a relatively minuscule budget of INR 16 crore, these are unbelievable stats. Surely, it’s the film’s content (especially its out-of-this-world climax) that has resonated with the masses. My theory, on the other hand, is that Rishab Shetty—the movie’s writer, director, and lead actor—has always been equated with quality cinema everywhere. We were just waiting for him to bring out his next theatrical. What happened with Kantara, while incredible, was also inevitable. So, if you’re a screenwriter/storyteller, you simply cannot miss out on Shetty’s secret recipe for an uber-successful blockbuster. The filmmaker has dished out these ingredients in an interview with Film Companion’s Anupama Chopra. I’ve laid them out for you in an easy-to-read format. Do let me know in the comments how they have helped you in any way. Tell rooted stories Just like how SS Rajamouli’s time-tested advice, “Art should lead the commerce,” should be framed on your wall, so should Shetty’s now-famous quip, “More regional is more universal.” Region-specific stories are surprisingly more relatable. “Aise kuch rituals doosre roop mein Bharat ke har kone mein hain,” he says. “Sab log ka belief ek hi hai.” (“Rituals similar to those shown in Kantara exist in other parts of India. We all share the same beliefs.”) Shetty offers another practical reason for telling rooted stories. “Audiences are getting updated faster than storytellers as they consume content on various OTT platforms. Storytellers, on the other hand, work on the same story for years.” By opting for rooted stories that are unavailable on any platform, storytellers, therefore, are guaranteed to bring something fresh to viewers. And people tend to like anything that’s new. (Also read: 5 screenwriting lessons from SS Rajamouli that will make your WIP soaRRR) Do your research Shetty says he properly understood the dos and don’ts of executing the Daiva scream in Kantara to avoid controversies of any kind. “Yeh sab (maine) real Kola mein dekha tha. Woh jo Daiva, woh jo spirit aane ke baad jo energy hota hai, woh (maine) dekha tha ... (Phir) jo yeh karte hain, unse help leke, yeh sab (kiya).” (“I’ve heard those screams and felt the spiritual energy in real-life Kola performances. Those observations helped, along with inputs by Kola performers.”) That’s how Shetty’s actions came out perfectly in the film. Provide narrations Applying Shetty’s method, narrate your story to people to see how they respond to it. Watch their expressions. “Kidhar-kidhar bore ho raha hai, yeh sab samajh mein aayega.” (“You’ll see if they’re getting bored at any point.”) The old-school way of dictating a story to another writer and making them read it back also helps you get a better idea about it. Visualise your story “Floor (pe) jaane ke liye poori picture mujhe visualise (honi) chahiye. Woh visuals hi mujhe push (karte hain) ki story aise jaana (chahiye ya waise) ... Woh free flow mein chhod deta hoon main. Usko main force nahin karta hoon.” (“Before my film goes on the floors, I need to have it visualised. These visuals guide me on whether a story needs to move in a certain direction or another. I let serendipity dictate the process. I don’t force it.”) Shetty adds that he sometimes doesn’t need the actual screenplay on set, except for dialogue. To sum it up, thinking in visuals is important for your screenwriting, whether you use storyboards or simply imagine them in your head. They’re truly indispensable if you want to make a movie like Kantara that breaks all box-office-collection records. Nothing’s impossible “I don’t take ‘It’s not possible’ as an answer. I push my people to make the film happen,” says the writer, director, and actor. Observe what’s going on around you “I don’t read much. I don’t study much. Main ek below-average student tha. Main duniya ko dekhta hoon, society ko dekhta hoon—idhar kya ho raha hai, kaise ho raha hai.” (“I was below-average in studies. I observe the real world and society—what’s happening, how it’s happening.”) This approach, Shetty says, helps keep your story realistic. He adds that all stories already exist in nature in some form. “What is new in nature? We’re simply recreating whatever exists. My story isn’t anything new either. The (unique culture depicted) sets it apart and gives it depth and solidity.” Be receptive to feedback “Bad film hota hai ego se. Agar hum log ego (ko) baahar rakhke ek film ke liye kaam (karte hain), to ek achha product (banta hai).” (“A bad film is the result of one’s ego. If we keep our egos aside while working on a film, we get a good end product.”) Be open to criticism, and don’t get offended when your friends and well-wishers give it to you. Read these tips to interpret feedback well. Don’t lecture your viewers “Audiences pay to watch your movies for entertainment,” Shetty says. “Don’t bore them with a message. They’ll get pissed.” Given Kantara’s out-of-the-world box-office collection, it all makes sense. Tap into your inner muse Remember Elizabeth Gilbert’s famous TED talk on your “elusive creative genius”? (If you don’t, watch it here, along with 6 other inspiring TED and TEDx talks.) That’s similar to what Shetty channels, too, while writing his films. He mentions a mysterious push—a positive force and external energy—that made him write and complete Kantara. “That energy has transferred onto the screen,” he says. It’s important to give your thinking mind a break and write down a story as your muse dictates it. “I don’t think much. I go with the flow,” concurs Shetty. Get it out anyhow “When I think of a story, I don’t hold back. I make it happen,” Shetty says. “I lack patience that way.” Here’s the full interview: Do let me know in the comments how these tips have helped you in any way.

Your customised binge list, as per your go-to streaming platform and choice of language Images: IMDb Now that the 80th Golden Globe Awards are done and Team RRR is bringing home the Best Original Song trophy for the pulsating and energetic Naatu Naatu, it’s time to binge on all the movies and series that competed in the race. Here’s a list (including RRR) arranged by streaming platform and further in alphabetical order. The languages in which these works are available have been spelled out in case you’d like to watch them dubbed. All titles have been directly linked to their respective streaming pages. (Also read: 5 screenwriting lessons from SS Rajamouli that will make your WIP soaRRR) Not all contenders are playing in India, though (looking especially at you, Everything Everywhere All at Once). But the list will stand updated as they drop online on our shores. For now, here’s your readymade Golden Globe Awards 2023 watch list in place, as per your go-to OTT platform: Amazon Prime Video Argentina, 1985 (Spanish, English, Hindi) Elvis (English, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish) (The) Flight Attendant* (English) (The) Staircase (English) Top Gun: Maverick (English, Hindi, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish) Yellowstone* (English, French) Prime Video Rentals Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (English, Hindi) She Said (English) Where the Crawdads Sing (English, French, Italian, Spanish) Lionsgate Play (via Prime Video) Gaslit* (English, German) Netflix All Quiet on the Western Front (German, English, Hindi) Better Call Saul* (English) Blonde (English, Hindi) (The) Crown* (English, Hindi) Dahmer—Monster: The Jefferey Dahmer Story* (English) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (English, Hindi) (The) Good Nurse (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema (English) Inventing Anna* (English) Ozark* (English, Hindi) RRR (Hindi, English) Wednesday* (English) White Noise (English, Hindi) (Also read: 10 Downton Abbey moments that make it the best TV show ever) Disney+ Hotstar Abbott Elementary* (English) Alaska Daily* (English) Atlanta* (English) Barry* (English) (The) Dropout* (English) Euphoria* (English) Fleishman Is In Trouble* (English) House of the Dragon* (English) (The) Bear* (English) (The) Menu (English) (The) Old Man* (English) Only Murderers in the Building* (English) Pam & Tommy* (English) (The) Patient* (English) RRR (Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam) Turning Red (English) Under the Banner of Heaven* (English) (The) White Lotus* (English) Zee5 RRR (Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam) YouTube Movies The Banshees of Inisherin (English) Mubi Decision to Leave (Korean) (Also read: #5SlideMovies: Parasite) *TV series

Until there’s a disruption in the industry, try taking any optimistic trends with a pinch of salt Image: wirestock | Freepik Last month, a renowned media company called me regarding a full-time copy-editing position. I declined the role, as it wasn’t part-time or freelance work. In the course of our conversation, though, the HR executive revealed the pay. The amount I heard took me aback. The monthly salary for this role was lower than what it was 8-to-10 years ago for the same level of experience. This wasn’t the first such shocking instance of its kind in 2022. The year was all about crappy pay rates offered for writing, editing, and content-strategy jobs in both freelance and staff capacities. I had to summon all my calm while reminding a few recruiters and prospective clients that 50 paise per word was my lowest copy-editing rate and not my highest rate for writing. And I foresee doing the same in 2023, I’m afraid. While the obvious solution to this situation would be to try better-paying international waters, considering most of these issues are endemic to India Inc., it’s far from easy. The competition beyond our borders is more intense than one may think. But why are companies not even offering industry-standard rates? Is budget the issue or something else? If business owners don’t have the bandwidth to hire writers/editors, why not do the work on their own until they start earning enough to pay a decent remuneration? I have 3 guesses: The most obvious explanation is that companies offering low-paying writing gigs aren’t taking content marketing with the seriousness they should or are doing it wrong. (Or maybe they think and have, deep down, accepted that content marketing is dead.) More than quality, their focus is to churn out content, no matter how it is, and get it up online. Even those seeking quality but actually lacking the budget usually have a needlessly aggressive content strategy that makes it time-intensive for entrepreneurs to execute it by themselves. So, if a novice with a laptop in tow can do the job for a few bucks, why spend five-to-six digits per month on “over-experienced,” “overpriced” professionals? With the advent of AI writing, writers are an even more replaceable and disposable commodity now. Some experts are confident AI will help writers instead of doing away with them. But if increasing displays of AI writing on social media are any proof, companies are likely to use it as an excuse to slash their writer-hiring budgets even more. If writing as an industry has been corrupted more than disrupted, writers and editors themselves are to blame in several instances, especially those who accept any gig that comes their way without negotiating or sticking to their rates. Until writers and editors collectively form a union and press for uniform rates, I don’t foresee any real change. Even with established rates, there will be people who will continue to give into exploitation for a host of reasons. So, where do these developments leave qualified, talented professionals who always insist on their worth? Will these phenomena spell the death of the deserving writer in 2023? Are higher-paying but extremely saturated corporate markets their best bet? Will their SEO prospects remain intact if ChatGPT indeed throttles the search engine? How do writers cut through the competition, gatekeeping, and other issues that plague the publishing world to make their mark in it? If movie industries, too, are in a state of post-pandemic flux, where are writers going to find work that, like them, pays so much that they never have to look back? I firmly believe that when one door closes, another opens. The year will belong to writers and editors who not only practise their craft daily but flaunt it on various platforms (think blogs, social media, YouTube, podcasts). It’s important we have a finger on our readers’ and audiences’ pulse and create content that not only solves their pain points and meets their needs but also makes for a nuanced copy and pleasurable reading experience. Upskilling for strategy, content management, sales techniques, and other areas is a bonus—so is having a niche with tremendous market potential. All these measures are sure-shot ways to stand out from the crowd, boost demand for our expertise, and enhance our bargaining power. Besides, blogs, YouTube, and podcasts are promising avenues for affiliate marketing and sponsored posts, which help generate passive income and scalable business opportunities in the long run. Eventually, a course correction is in order for the industry. Audiences are getting smarter by the day, and so are algorithms. Subpar content has to see rejection (look what’s happening with Bollywood films right now) and pave the way for unique, well-written pieces. But to accelerate the process and make it a reality faster, it’s essential to pay heed to Rancho’s advice from 3 Idiots, prioritise “excellence over success,” and hone our skills regularly. Yes, the system needs an overhaul, but on the part of us writers, there should be zero tolerance for complacency. Because the much-needed disruption is coming from the writer who stays their ground and insists on being compensated for their true worth. No matter what the next big innovation is, it’s ultimately going to seek out only the bloody best writers out there. But until that writer-friendly disruption occurs, it’s advisable to take all optimistic trends and projections with a pinch of salt.

Wish I could book my seats for these right away The year 2022 was a great one at the movies, with Kannada cinema turning out to be a pleasant surprise. I ended up watching not one but two Kannada films in theatres (albeit Hindi-dubbed). Both impressed me equally with their writing, intelligence, and conviction. While I’d love to watch every single 2023 offering on the big screen, that’s only feasible financially if I’m compensated for these outings. Until that happens, I’m reserving my money and seats for these 7 right now. Let me know your picks in the comments: Salaar Image: IMDb K.G.F: Chapter 2 stands as my 2022 favourite, thanks to its disciplined writing and strong emotional core underlying even the most adrenaline-pumping action sequences. Its rumoured sibling is hitting cinemas this September, with Prabhas in the lead. Considering both films share Prashanth Neel as their director, Salaar obviously has me excited. Especially when the filmmaker’s screenwriting tips have resonated with me. Plus, it’s the scale that’s simply irresistible. If the buzz is true and “Rocky Bhai” Yash does make an appearance in this Tollywood actioner, it’s just the cherry one needs on top of this larger-than-life icing. Salaar Written & directed by: Prashanth Neel Cast: Prabhas, Shruti Haasan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jagapathi Babu Releasing on 28 September 2023 Jawan Image: IMDb Tamil mass cinema is truly a genre of its own. Few can replicate those killer action set pieces accompanied by well-suited background scores. Directors such as Shankar, Lokesh Kanagaraj, and Atlee have emerged as masters of this genre (pun unintended). And now the latter auteur has teamed up with the king of Bollywood, promising a quirky yet wholesome combination. Exuding Vikram vibes, especially with Anirudh Ravichander’s signature compositions, this pan-India Bollywood film looks like a feast best enjoyed in the theatre. And if SRK and my current favourite Vijay Sethupathi are poised to have an out-of-this-world on-screen face-off as news reports go, it completely seals the deal. Jawan Written & directed by: Atlee Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Sanya Malhotra Releasing on 2 June 2023 Watch the title-announcement teaser here: Pushpa 2: The Rule Image: IMDb One of my biggest regrets this year was my inability to watch Pushpa: The Rise in cinemas. Ill health was to blame, but the high-octane, high-energy tone of the film when I viewed it on Amazon Prime Video helped boost my recovery. No wonder I call this Allu Arjun-starrer my “healing film”. To repay the unwitting favour, I’m catching Part 2 on the big screen. Though, it’s also my intrigue about what happens next between Pushparaj (Arjun) and Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil) that puts this much-awaited Telugu flick on my list. Yes, the women characters deserve better treatment, and I especially cannot wait to see how badass/wicked the antagonist Daksha (Anasuya Bharadwaj) can get in the sequel. But the overall writing and flow I’ve witnessed in the first instalment are enough to drive my decision. Pushpa 2: The Rule Written & directed by: Sukumar Cast: Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna, Anasuya Bharadwaj Release date unannounced Oppenheimer Image: IMDb When a film assures a nuclear-blast scene captured using IMAX cameras minus any VFX or CGI, it’s just the hook needed to make you book your theatrical spot for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Also, it’s Christopher Nolan who’s helming this one, with the underrated Cillian Murphy in the lead. No need to say anything else. Oppenheimer Written by: Kai Bird & Martin J Sherwin (official adaptation of their book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer), Christopher Nolan (screenplay) Directed by: Christopher Nolan Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon Releasing on 21 July 2023 Watch the official trailer here: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Image: Screengrab from video by Paramount Pictures’ YouTube account Despite my best attempts, I’ve never watched a Mission: Impossible film in theatres. I’m all set to rectify my mistake this year by heading to this one. While I avoid watching trailers, I’m glad I made an exception in this case. Good locations, check. A suave Tom Cruise in control, check. Killer visuals, check. Whether the writing falls in place or not is something that can only be found out upon watching the film. But given the history of MI’s bang-on screenplays, this one looks slicker than ever. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Written by: (Late) Bruce Geller (official adaptation of his television series Mission: Impossible), Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay) Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson Releasing in July 2023 Watch the official teaser here: Merry Christmas Image: Instagram account @katrinakaif Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi is the pairing we’ve always wanted. And if they’re playing a couple in this one, it will truly be one of Bollywood’s most interesting moments. Besides, the director is Sriram Raghavan, whose Andhadhun was a blast. As long as the film isn’t out-and-out horror, I’m totally jumping on this ride. Merry Christmas Written by: Anukriti Pandey, Sriram Raghavan Directed by: Sriram Raghavan Cast: Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupathi, Vinay Pathak, Sanjay Kapoor Release date unannounced See updates here: Kabzaa Image: IMDb All set to continue Sandalwood’s winning streak at the pan-India box office is this gangster drama, starring Upendra, Kichcha Sudeepa, and Shriya Saran. While the film is strongly reminiscent of K.G.F, particularly with BGM king Ravi Basrur’s score, I find it more similar to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes ventures. The scale and canvas are large enough to opt for an in-cinema screening. Kabzaa Written by: R Chandru (story & screenplay), M Chandramouli (dialogue), Ram Lakshman (dialogue) Directed by: R Chandru Cast: Upendra, Kichcha Sudeepa, Shriya Saran, Kabir Duhan Singh Releasing in February 2023 Watch the official teaser here:

Mining out the best nuggets of advice from the filmmaker’s interview Image: IMDb No movie is perfect, they say. Except if it’s Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara. Followed by Hum Aapke Hain Koun at least for me. [Read: How Hum Aapke Hain Koun was way ahead of its times] And then comes K.G.F: Chapter 2. I watched this Kannada gangster drama a week after its release, giving into the hype surrounding the film and its predecessor. While K.G.F: Chapter 1 was impressive, especially in its second half, the first half could have done with a trim, unlike its lead actor Yash’s beard :D But K.G.F: Chapter 2 was so consistent in its writing, screenplay, and characterisation that it made no mistakes. It all flowed perfectly. At one point, I began to get into the protagonist Rocky’s head and knew he wasn’t as concerned about his stash’s whereabouts after a CBI raid as he was about the sole gold biscuit they had taken away. For a movie that comes from an industry that has struggled with infrastructure issues, this is truly a mammoth achievement. It’s a case study on how the right budget and marketing strategy can help bring a filmmaker’s vision to life. I’m surprised how the critics who panned this film just didn’t get it at all. The movie truly blew my mind away. Naturally, I was curious to find out its director Prashanth Neel’s screenwriting advice. Thankfully, this interview between him and film critic Baradwaj Rangan has all the answers. Here are 5 screenwriting lessons from Prashanth Neel culled from the video. You simply don’t want to miss out on this blockbuster recipe. Do note that the excerpts have been edited for clarity and brevity. Define your protagonist’s childhood What makes it hard to disbelieve Rocky’s fights with scores of goons is the backstory involving his childhood conditioning by his mother Shanthamma (Archana Jois). “Most of our adult behaviour is dictated by our childhood experiences,” says Neel. “If a hero hits a hundred people, the strength he gets for it is because of something that has happened in his past.” The key takeaway here: childhood event = something big is going to happen in the future, as Prashanth Neel puts it. Focus on your screenplay and storytelling more than the story itself While it’s imperative to get the story right, considering it acts as the foundation for your film, your screenplay deserves a lot more care and attention. How a story is told > how good a story is, says Neel. “It doesn’t matter what the story is. Hollywood makes a movie on ants and another on Godzilla and convinces you with both. How a story is told is about the screenplay,” he continues. Having a solid screenplay truly ensures a gripping and seamless movie experience, as it also includes elements such as pacing and character actions. “Most of the things you see (on the screen) come from the screenplay, but we improvise (too),” Neel explains. MOTS: Of course, have a good story in place, but also ensure a well-written, water-tight screenplay. The key is to “follow the process” in all departments. Give your audience what they want Having a finger on your audience’s pulse is especially important when you’re starting out, says Neel. “Once the audience begins to trust you, you can make a movie that you like and present it to them.” Art follows commerce, according to Neel, in complete contradiction to SS Rajamouli’s “Art should lead the commerce” mantra. [Read: 5 screenwriting lessons from SS Rajamouli that will make your WIP soaRRR] Apparently, Neel developed this belief after facing difficulties while getting his first directorial Ugramm out in theatres. Think like an editor In K.G.F: Chapter 2, the tragic scene involving Reena (Srinidhi Shetty) becomes more impactful when the wish she makes for Rocky, following her nightmare in a previous scene, is spelled out after the antagonist Adheera (Sanjay Dutt) fires his gun and not in the previous scene itself. That’s how we realise who’s at the receiving end of the bullet, and it makes for a gut-wrenching moment. K.G.F also shows Rocky’s childhood as “flashes of memories” than an entire event. Truly, these scenes wouldn’t have come to life if Neel wouldn’t have channeled his inner editor in the writing stage. Just the reason we storytellers need to build and hone our film-editing skills. Reduce online exposure “I stay away from online banter,” says Neel. Makes sense if you want to be productive and better at what you do. I, too, have cut down on social-media time so I can focus on writing more and getting sh*t done. (Buy/download, read, and review my book PiKu & ViRu here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) Post backdated on 30 November 2022

For delicious videos with a side of gripping drama Image: Fidel Fernando | Unsplash Warning: This post is meant for serious food-and-travel vlogs that are devoid of any ‘cheesiness’ 😁 I love food-and-travel vlogs, and I’m so addicted to them that I watch a few daily before bedtime. As a result of this binge, I’ve been able to identify the key components that make a food vlog tick. Using these elements, one can come up with neat scripts and memorable videos that go way beyond dining at an establishment and proclaiming the verdict on its food. If you’d like to stand out in a sea of foodtubers and foodstagrammers, you wouldn’t want to miss these food-vlogging tips and pointers. I can’t guarantee the views, but I can assure you that you’ll enjoy the process even more. And isn’t that what we want at the end of the day? Progress can only happen when there’s passion in the first place. Before you start out on this journey, ensure these 2 things first: Unique hook & niche You can’t be yet another person who eats something and reviews it. We already have a swarm of food vloggers doing that. You need to differentiate yourself w.r.t. food type, cuisine, diet, location, or presentation style. That’s how you distinguish yourself from the crowd, attract the right audience, and address their needs effectively. Prepare a bible for your channel (just like how TV and web series do) that includes what your USP is. Jot down as many ideas for it and take lots of notes before you build the doc and edit it. Do your keyword research, and watch other YouTubers’ works. This roadmap for your channel will set a strong foundation for your videos. The right channel name Your channel name, while being catchy, should be something that spells out your niche loud and clear so that we don’t have to watch a full 20-minute video to find out. Be as specific as possible. For instance, the name “Veggie Paaji” immediately tells me that this channel is all about vegetarian food, so it effortlessly attracts its core audience. Come up with 5-10 names, and after a gap of 1-2 days, select the one that captures your channel’s essence best. Feel free to run these options by a few trusted people. If you think you can do without a script for your vlog, think again. Here’s an infographic listing all the reasons you need to have a script for your vlog. And now, here are the 5 must-haves for your food-vlog script. Apply these food-vlogging tips right away! Structure Very few vloggers play around with narrative structure and weave it into their content. That’s why you have an advantage if you incorporate it. Start every food video with why you need this culinary adventure, the purpose behind doing it, and the reason your audience should watch it. Explain what your audience stands to lose if they don’t watch your video. For example, you could explore dining options at an isolated beach or vegetarian/vegan food in a predominantly non-vegetarian territory, depending on your USP. Even when exploring individual restaurants, talk about what makes them special and why you’ve chosen them over others. Add dramatic elements through the vlog to keep your audience glued and engaged. For instance, avoid biting into the food the moment it comes to your table. Build anticipation and excitement by allowing room in your script to describe the dish’s ingredients, aromas, textures, colours, and cooking techniques first. (Also, see point #5.) Don’t go on about the food for too long either, and eat it at the right time. End by sharing how you have (or not) benefited from the experience and how your audience can, too. If you follow this food-vlogging tip, you’re sure to stand out from those who just eat, rant, and leave. (Also check out: This FREE worksheet will help you write scenes like a pro) Language For a medium that only allows you to see food without tasting its flavours, smelling its aromas, or feeling its textures, language helps paint a vivid picture of these elements in the viewers’ minds. Sure, nothing beats the actual experience of savouring food and its elements. But describing them using good, vivid, poetic language is always the next best thing, relishable and enjoyable by itself. If vloggers work on their language skills and let them shine in their content, nothing can beat them in the race. Keep it short and crisp, though, given the medium, and stick to simple words in your script. Conversations with locals No food-and-travel video can ever be complete without featuring the restaurant’s owners, workers, patronage, and its area’s locals. That’s how you add depth and context to what would otherwise be a bland food video. Spice up things by interviewing the people that make up the restaurant and its destination. Leave space in your script for these bits, and list out your questions beforehand. Ambience If I don’t know what the restaurant you’re eating in looks like, you could be eating anywhere and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Besides, the atmosphere of a restaurant adds another key dimension to its overall story. Ensure you make room in your script to capture the restaurant and its external and internal environment in as much detail as possible. Prioritise those elements that bring out the restaurant’s character and story better. Showing more than telling You tell me that a vada pav is the largest you’ve eaten, and I’m compelled to believe you. How about bringing a golf or tennis ball or perhaps a standard batata vada to compare that “jumbo” vada pav’s size with? Storytelling is all about showing, so try to come up with ways to state your point dramatically. That’s how you wow your audiences and take your video to the next level. All these aspects can only occur to the mind during your research stage, so give it ample attention. Email me at agarwalpriyanka1203@gmail.com for assistance with all your script research and writing needs. Post backdated on 30 November 2022

Feat. writers, wrestlers, movie stars, and more Image: frimufilms | Freepik Almost every expert on Earth recommends and raves about planning, and Google is full of articles that have compiled countless quotes on its merits. How about a collection of anti-planning quotes for a change? I’ve always been curious about what some of our greatest minds and influential personalities have to offer on this subject. Especially when the electricity at my home would conk off without a moment’s concern for my to-do list. Or when I’d fall sick on the night before a picnic. Or when I wonder how I ended up writing a book at the age of 30 instead of 40 as I had planned. (Buy/download, read, and review PiKu & ViRu here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) Of course, the key is balance and flexibility when it comes to planning, but let’s see these 121 counter-takes anyway. The futility of planning “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”―Allen Saunders “I don’t have that much forward planning about what I want to do next or in the future.” —Heath Ledger “I don’t plan stuff. I don’t believe in planning. I just believe in doing your best at what you do best at all times, and everything else is everything else. Everything else is a plus.” —Burna Boy “If anything is certain, it is that change is certain. The world we are planning for today will not exist in this form tomorrow.” —Phil Crosby “I don’t believe in planning for things. I just want them to fall in place, unfold as they like. I never design things. I want films to choose me; I don’t choose films.” —Pawan Kalyan “Sometimes, we put so much effort into things we’re doing, like dating or wedding planning, that we don’t stop to think about whether or not we even want the results of that effort.”—Emily V Gordon “Planning assumes it will go as you thought it would, rather than it actually does.” —TheShiningBeautifulSeries.com “The planning fallacy is that you make a plan, which is usually a best-case scenario. Then, you assume that the outcome will follow your plan, even when you should know better.” —Daniel Kahneman “When have any of our plans ever actually worked? We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose!” —Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 “I don’t believe in planning or yearning for something very strongly. If something has to happen, it will happen.” —Mohanlal “When planning your wedding you make so many decisions: ‘Do I want this fork or that fork?’ But in the end people aren’t going to remember what napkin holder you choose.”—Lara Stone “Come on, planning a wedding, let’s be honest, it’s not fun.” —Wendi McLendon-Covey “Falling in love was the easy part; planning a wedding—yikes!” —Niecy Nash “I admit, I’m suspicious of any career planning that involves chasing the next ‘big thing,’ just because it’s so hard to predict what the next big thing is going to be a couple of years—or even six months—out.” —Carrie Vaughn “Planning a career, I always find that such a tricky thing, because I don’t have much of a plan, really.” —Christian Bale “I try not to make plans. God always laughs at your plans. I’m going to keep the door open, and keep the page blank, and see what gets painted upon it.”―Tom Hiddleston “Without funds, all the planning and research studies can’t help us.” —John Breaux “Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.” ―David Milch “No plan is ever as useful as not having one.” ―Marty Rubin “Planning is worrying based on facts.”―Bangambiki Habyarimana, The Great Pearl of Wisdom “Never have a plan; it’ll just get in your way.” ―Marty Rubin “You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned. Look around you. Did you think these people made a plan to sleep in the sports hall with you? But here we are now, sleeping together on the floor. So, there’s no need for a plan. You can’t go wrong with no plans. We don’t need to make a plan for anything. It doesn’t matter what will happen next. Even if the country gets destroyed or sold out, nobody cares.” —Parasite [Also read: #5SlideMovies: Parasite] “Planning ahead is a measure of class. The rich and even the middle class plan for future generations, but the poor can plan ahead only a few weeks or days.”—Gloria Steinem “Tell God your problems and plans, he wouldn’t screenshot it.” ―Genereux Philip “No! Life isn’t short. It’s you who decided to have plans longer than what life would allow you. Life is what it is. You can’t take or add. What you can only do is to live it.” ―Nesta Jojoe Erskine, Unforgettable: Living a Life That Matters “Oh, the vanity of plans! Our lives proceed regardless. All the things we work out in such minute detail slip away from us at the last moment, or change.” ―Georges Rodenbach, The Bells of Bruges “It’s the fricking reality that destroys plans.”―Sally Gardner, Maggot Moon “Even the best-laid plans turn to hell when exposed to reality.” ―Michael Anthony, Medieval Future: The Last Dragon Throne: An Epic Fantasy Adventure “The plans we make are just ripples in the water.” ―PG Tenzing, Don’t Ask Any Old Bloke for Directions: A Biker’s Whimsical Journey Across India “The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.”―JM Barrie, The Little Minister “Life has a way of fouling up our plans. I speak from experience.” ―Lisa Kleypas, Mine Till Midnight “For people like us, looking towards the future can feel daunting. It can literally make us feel sick to the stomach and often induces panic attacks. Trust me, I’ve been there; I get it. That’s why the far-future should never be at the top of our “to-plan” list. It’s alright to have goals but to stress ourselves out with plans and options and worries of the future is a good way to drive us crazy. However, there is one time when I want you to consider the future. Always have something to look forward to.” ―SR Crawford, From My Suffering: 25 Ways to Break the Chains of Anxiety, Depression & Stress “Our best-laid plans are often our worst-made decisions.” ―Craig D Lounsbrough “Plans are for people who choose to limit their options.”―Bogdan Vaida “We talk of plans that are going to happen. We talk of the future, as if we know we will last. There is a sort of comfort in that.” ―Ava “It is easy to make plans in this world; even a cat can do it; and when one is out in those remote oceans it is noticeable that a cat’s plans and a man’s are worth about the same.” ―Mark Twain, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World “You can plan your future but it all changes while you’re living it.”―Marty Rubin “That’s the thing about the collapse of civilization … It never happens according to plan—there’s no slavering horde of zombies. No actinic flash of thermonuclear war. No Earth-shuddering asteroid. The end comes in unforeseen ways; the stock market collapses, and then the banks, and then there is no food in the supermarkets, or the communications system goes down completely and inevitably, and previously amiable co-workers find themselves wrestling over the last remaining cookie that someone brought in before all the madness began.” ―Mark A Rayner, The Fridgularity “Life never obeys our plans, I’m afraid.” ―Barbara Kloss, Gaia’s Secret “Life never goes according to plan. That’s okay, because often our plans are much smaller than life intends. Probably EASIER, but smaller.” ―Stacey T Hunt “With every goal, wish, or plan we deem important, we invite anxiety.”―Mokokoma Mokhonoana “Planning and worrying and chaos in your mind? Forget it. What’s the point of that?” —Toni Collette “I really don’t think about my career, in terms of planning it out and what this does for me.” —Kristen Stewart “I think it’s dangerous to get into ideas of planning careers.” —Clive Owen “The barrier to our future is often the very plans that we’ve created to get there.”―Craig D Lounsbrough “This may sound a little harsh, but I don’t care about my career. Really, I don’t like actors who are always planning what they’re going to do next or always worrying about doing something that will go against the image they’ve created. To me, that’s almost like an attack of narcissism.” —Antonio Banderas “I am not into future planning and all. I am concerned about my present and not the future.” —Suresh Raina “My first kiss was with a girlfriend. And it was at a party. I think I was hopeful that that would happen, but I didn’t plan it. You know, honestly, I think if there’s a little too much planning, it’s almost just like self-sabotage. Because then, you want it to go a certain way and it just doesn’t. And then you’re like, ‘Awww, why?’” —Tyler Blackburn “Plans are design to fail.”―E Leo Foster, The Exiles “I actually wanted to be a doctor. But doing all those horrid rat dissections made me faint. I studied science till the 12th standard and later took up commerce. I was planning to do chartered accountancy, but fate had something else in store for me.” —Bipasha Basu “All the conscious decisions that I have taken in my life have never borne fruit. Not even come close! So, I am just very happy not planning.” —Imtiaz Ali “I never planned my career. I never planned to be president of Harvard. People would have thought I was crazy, probably, at the age of 8 or 10 or 20, if I had said that.” —Drew Gilpin Faust “When you think you’ve finally figured things out? That’s usually when your plans go to hell.”―Claudia Gray, Bloodline “I have never had any success in planning my life, really.” —Mary Steenburgen “I don’t plan, because everything goes against my plans anyways. There’s absolutely no point in planning anything. I’m just enjoying the moment. I’m meeting with a whole lot of people—casting directors, directors, agents. I have things going on everywhere, but I have no solid plans.” —Tena Desae “Quite often our most intricate plans are nothing more than our ‘best guess’ dressed up in some intellectual finery so that we look like we know what we’re talking about.” ―Craig D Lounsbrough “I’m not great at judging a career. Or planning one.” —Jennifer Jason Leigh “I like talking about comic book process, and one of the things is that I have plans going ahead for years, and the plans constantly get thrown away and shifted. There’s a difference between planning and what actually happens in life, and comics have a life of their own.” —Ann Nocenti “Plans are invitation to disappointment.”―Derek Landy, Mortal Coil “I think art cannot be planned. The audience is too smart to get the dishonesty or ‘too much planning’ thing.” —Priyanka Chopra “I am not very good at planning things, actually, but I believe that things happen when they need to and when they have to.” —Marion Cotillard “I’m in a profession where if you’re planning more than six months ahead, you’re doing it wrong!” —Joshua Malina “Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.” —James A Garfield “I gave up planning when our children were born, when I had three children to feed and a roof to keep over our head and all of that. Early in my career, I said I would never do television at all; then I wound up doing nothing but television for 10 years when I did ‘St. Elsewhere’ and all those TV movies.” —David Morse “Planning things is neither my cup of tea nor my choice. Same applies to books too.” —Sudha Murty “I used to plan a lot. I have stopped planning after ‘Mahadev’.” —Mohit Raina “When you have a plan in your mind of what the best life is for you, but it doesn’t match your life, you have pain.”―Shannon L Alder “There is no planning in a life of fighting to keep a roof over your head. It’s pure survival.” —Stephanie Land “There is absolutely no planning and strategising involved in my career graph.” —Juhi Chawla “It was amazing how you could get so far from where you’d planned, and yet find it was exactly were you needed to be.”―Sarah Dessen, What Happened to Goodbye “I do not believe in planning.” —Anushka Shetty Preparation & strategy > planning “We can plan till the cows come home, but if we are not prepared, life will take us sideways.” —ManagementBlog.org “There are some things we can plan for, but many things that are out of our control. We cannot plan for those things out of our control, we can only prepare. Some people can face the same challenge ten times, but on the eleventh time, are still not prepared. Others can face a brand new challenge, one they could not have planned for, yet they can handle the uncertainty, because they are prepared.” —ManagementBlog.org “The skill of a general is his or her ability to react strategically when plans fail.”—Lance Conrad, The Price of Loyalty Action > planning “The reason that everybody likes planning is that nobody has to do anything.” —Jerry Brown “If you have a dream, you can spend a lifetime studying, planning, and getting ready for it. What you should be doing is getting started.” —Drew Houston “There’s a difference between standing up and telling people what you’re planning to do and standing up and going and accomplishing something.” —Paul Stanley “I believe one is not going to get anywhere by sitting and planning too much. The point is to keep doing, and what will happen will happen.” —Aditya Roy Kapur “Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.”—EL Doctorow “Plans can break down. You cannot plan the future. Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man steers.” ―Terry Pratchett, Making Money “Don’t wait for being completely ready for the plans and ideas you may have in mind. Take action now and along the way you will learn and become ready.” ―Farshad Asl, The “No Excuses” Mindset: A Life of Purpose, Passion, and Clarity “As entrepreneurs, or artists, or just people with dreams, the worst thing you can do is get so caught up in planning the perfect idea that you never get around to actually... well, doing it. I call this building castles in your mind.” —Marc Randolph “I wasn’t planning on being a comedian; I just liked to laugh. Somebody said I should do it and that’s how I started.” —Jamie Kennedy “Personal brands are determined by a track record of actions, not a track record of plans.”―Ryan Lilly, #Networking is people looking for people looking for people Spontaneity over planning “No plan survives first contact with the enemy. What matters is how quickly the leader is able to adapt.”―Tim Harford, Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure “You can devise all the plans in the world, but if you don’t welcome spontaneity; you will just disappoint yourself.” ―Abigail Biddinger “I’m not good at future planning. I don’t plan at all. I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow. I don’t have a day planner, and I don’t have a diary. I completely live in the now, not in the past, not in the future.” ―Heath Ledger “I’ve found in the past that if we planned the show a night before, once we slept and woke up, we weren’t in that mood anymore. Because I really think doing a live show means you should be exploring your live feelings, and planning is not good.” —Elvis Duran “There is no planning. On the night it is really great, it’s euphoria, and if it is not so great, there is always tomorrow night. That was his attitude.” —Ed McMahon “I was planning to go into architecture. But when I arrived, architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it, so I signed up for acting instead.” —Gilbert K Chesterton “I’m one of those wrestlers that leaves everything to the audience and to the fans. I never plan anything, and you will never see Alberto Patron planning in the back what he is going to do in the match.” —Alberto Del Rio “I have never planned my career here in Bollywood, so planning to do Hollywood films is a distant thing. You have to see how things come.” —Anushka Sharma “It comes down to the difference between what you were planning to do and what life throws at you and you have to end up doing. The one who knows how to improvise is the one who comes out ahead.” —Jason Isbell “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. If we fix on the old, we get stuck. When we hang onto any form, we are in danger of putrefaction. Hell is life drying up.” ―Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living “It’s not like I planned it. I never woke up from some rosy dream and said, “Okay, world, today I’m gonna spaz.” ―Shannon Celebi, After Spring Comes “I have a rule about not thinking where I am or what comes next. I guess when you let go of the need to know, everything tends to fall into place … There is a mysterious pull that longs to take you exactly where you need to go.” —Lang Leav, September Love “I never make plans; that would make my happiness dependent on the future. I simply live.” ―Marty Rubin “I had no plans of any destination. I wish to flow like a river.” ―Lailah Gifty Akita “‘How about this,’ I said. ‘We modify our plans with regard to ongoing facts as they become known to us, then remodify them as the situation unfolds. ‘You mean make it all up as we go along?’ asked Perkins. ‘Right.’” ―Jasper Fforde, The Eye of Zoltar “Planning bores me. I like to go with the flow.” —Vijay Sethupathi “I was planning to stay in the Army all my life, but I ended up being posted to a training camp in Wales and was so bored there, I wrote a novel.” —Antony Beevor “If I start planning then that’s dangerous because then I have a target that I’m blinkered towards and I won’t listen to the warning signs quite so much. I’d rather be in shape and then look around and say there’s a race next week and jump into that than have it planned.” —Paula Radcliffe “For me, writing is more a process of discovering the book than planning it.” —Lois McMaster Bujold “None of my books has been ever in my head; after they’re finished, they go. It’s like being a sort of medium; you just grab it when it’s there then just release it when it’s time to go. There’s a lot of instinct, not planning.” —Peter Ackroyd “If I had planned my life, it never would have ended up like this. So maybe it’s kind of fun not to plan. Maybe it’s more fun just to see where life takes you.” ―Joanna Gaines, The Magnolia Story “I don’t like planning, because it robs me of freedom, so I’d like a 24 hours that was full of surprises.” —Marc Warren “I’m a great believer in spontaneity because I think planning is the most destructive thing in the world.” —John Cassavetes “I find that my entire life has come to me, and things happened without me planning them. You know, I never asked to photograph Princess Diana, and that made me more famous than I wanted. I never asked to photograph Madonna, and that pushed me to another level. There are things that just take you into the limelight.” —Mario Testino “Most professional women I know—myself included—long since gave up looking for a rulebook or a roadmap; we make it up as we go along. Every day presents a new choice, a new challenge, which makes long-term career planning seem like an especially abstract exercise.” —Nancy Gibbs “I wasn’t planning on doing musicals, but that’s how I started.” —Cory Michael Smith “I really wasn’t planning on being a solo artist.” —Juicy J “In my personal opinion, you miss out on the beauty of the moment if you go in planning what the moment is. It’s like having a vacation too jam-packed with activities. You miss all of the sunsets.” —Brie Larson “I’m so happy when someone does something original, and there’s no focus group or planning committee. If the cinema doesn’t get an injection of that once in a while, we’re in trouble.” —Pawel Pawlikowski “The idea of working in films came after I passed class ten. I was planning to set up a restaurant and manage a business.” —Prabhas “I don’t like planning what am I gonna say to the crowd. Sometimes the show takes a whole different twist.” —Romeo Santos “I am not intellectually choosy. My choice of films reflect who I am, but it is not done with strategy and planning. I hear something and go by my intuition.” —Nithya Menen “Planning is like taking on blinders. I think it is a wise thing to be open to whatever shows up on your doorstep.” —Margrethe Vestager “Most of the time, I don’t like planning out too far ahead. I like to be spontaneous, make decisions, and go, ‘Hey! That inspired me! I want to do more with that!’” —Jim Starlin “When we make a record, we don’t discuss how we are planning on doing it. It’s a very natural and organic growth.” —Davey Havok “I’ve done strategic planning, all kind of cash flows, but in fad marketing, it is all really irrelevant. It is marketing by total gut feeling. There is no market research. You either sell 500 of something, and it is a total bomb, or you sell 500 million.” —Ken Hakuta “Don’t live the life you planned. Live the life you never imagined.”―Jill Telford Sources: BrainyQuote, Goodreads, IMDb Post backdated on 30 November 2022

No structure, no audience Image: Markus Winkler | Unsplash One of the biggest mistakes a newbie vlogger can make is heading out on their vlogging journey without a script. A script to a vlog is what a passport is to an overseas trip—indispensable. It’d be hard to think of a vlog that has won acclaim, accolades, and audiences but didn’t have the foundation of a script. (If you’re still wondering what a vlog is, it’s short for ‘video log’.) That’s why I’ve compiled all the reasons for you to work hard on a script before you start shooting and uploading. Save this infographic on your phone or Google Drive. Whenever your mind or a fellow human being tricks you into believing that scripting is an unnecessary, brain-racking procedure, look up this post. It will remind you why scripting is far from unnecessary and get you back in the game the way it should be played. Download the PDF version of this infographic here: Refer to this image for an easy vlogging script template. To seek my assistance in script research, write to me at agarwalpriyanka1203@gmail.com. Post backdated on Sunday, 25 September 2022

How to write an epic blockbuster Image: Screengrab from YouTube video by T-Series Today, when most other movies are biting the dust, SS Rajamouli’s latest, RRR, is smashing records at the Indian and international box office. It only makes sense to find out how Rajamouli’s films and screenplays have resonated with diverse audiences across all classes and geographies. And this interview of the visionary director with award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan has the answers. Check it out below. For your easy, anytime access, I’ve culled out from this video 5 bits of advice Rajamouli shares on screenwriting. Go through these whenever you want a boost for your WIPs. If you’re a film professional, you shouldn’t miss this one. Tried-and-tested stories > new ones In a surprising reveal, the Baahubali director shares that it doesn’t matter whether you write a unique story or a usual one. Its chances of success and failure are the same, he says. “What connects with the audience is the emotion,” he continues. “Not a different story, not a standard one.” He adds that you have to work harder on a new story. “The audience’s tolerance levels for it are surprisingly low,” he reasons. Audiences accept the mistakes in run-of-the-mill stories because they’re used to seeing them, he explains. As long as you give them a good laugh and emotion, they’ll be okay with what you offer, he says. #NoteToSelf—the same ol’ story, or written from scratch, remember to infuse it with emotion in all the right places. No worrying about your audience Every other publication describes how South Indian cinema has a finger on the audience’s pulse. (Also read: 5 factors that helped Pushpa breathe fire at the box office) But Rajamouli asserts that he doesn’t think of the audience when writing a story. “I only think about my excitement levels at the time,” he says. So, how does he gauge the audience’s tastes? He does factor them in at some point, doesn’t he? He says he does that when he has to “relive the story and its scenes” and show them to his technicians or family members for feedback and reactions. #MOTS—give your thinking mind a break while writing a story. Then, run it by a trusted few when taking it ahead. Art over commerce One of Rajamouli’s most iconic takes is about prioritising the artistically crucial over the commercially viable. “You have to be careful not to let commerce take over art,” he says. His mantra: it’s always art that leads, and commerce follows it. #NuffSaid Ideal scripting time It’s a question that’s on everyone’s minds, including mine. It’s also on Baradwaj Rangan’s because he does pose it to the visionary filmmaker. In response, Rajamouli estimates 4-5 weeks for outlining the storyline and plot points, followed by 5-6 months for the detailing. Total time: 7-8 months. He mentions this time may vary depending on the nature of the project. The deadline is, thus, now set for the second PiKu & ViRu story! (Buy/download/review the first one here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) Normal to feel confident and afraid This one may not be a writing lesson, but it can help defeat writer’s block. (Also read: 20+ kickass ways to smash your writer’s block in 20 minutes or less) It’s another eye-opener, as fear and Rajamouli don’t seem like a possible combination. Yet, he confesses to feeling it while making movies. Yes, you should have confidence, regardless of whether you know or don’t know how you’ll make it big, just like how he has right from the start. He further attributes his confidence to following all due procedures while making a film. But he admits he still can’t tell how it would perform. That fear coexists with confidence. The key is to follow the tenets of meditation and “approach a job with a calm, free, and uncluttered mind,” despite the fear. “If there’s nothing in my hands, I won’t worry about it.” He also lets fear act as fuel to keep going. In short, let the fear be. It’s natural and part of the process. Just do your job nevertheless simultaneously. Post backdated on Thursday, 22 September 2022

Follow this 3-step action plan for the best results Image: Pete Linforth | Pixabay These days, I’m increasingly receiving emails from various companies, asking me to complete a ‘sample test’ even before a quick phone call or video interview. Besides being a bit thoughtless for not familiarising themselves with me before assigning me a test, the prospective client also comes across as someone with scant respect for my time or profession. More so, when their test runs into pages, which would easily take hours, if not days, to complete. In the world of freelancing, time = money, and if the client regularly works with freelancers, they should know this instinctively. Don’t even get me started on the times I’ve been scammed in the name of ‘test samples,’ where unusable sample work was taken from me for free and used anyway. Despite an email trail, it’s surprisingly easy to prove such transgressions as “coincidences.” If you’re a freelancer at the receiving end of such requests and wondering what to do, I share my tried-and-tested 3-step policy surrounding ‘sample content.’ To each their own, though, so no judging if you decide to provide one. I’d still encourage you to avoid it if you can. Step 1: “Is this a paid sample?” Whenever you’re asked for a test sample, shoot this question straightaway. It’s the best way to ensure compensation for your efforts towards the test sample, regardless of whether it’s accepted or not. In the process, you avoid leaving money on the table and see your bank balance shore up in the process. Agree on the number of changes and revisions permissible in advance. If the client says yes to this arrangement, great. If no, you tell them… Step 2: “Please allow me to direct you to my blog and portfolio.” Ideally, your blog is the only resource your client needs to see to gauge your writing and editing skills. And if you have a book, that’s a bonus! (Buy/download, read, and review my book PiKu & ViRu here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited!) If the client is yet to check out your previous work, let them do so. Yes, they should have done that prior to contacting you. But it’s alright to give them a benefit of the doubt at this stage. Once they’ve studied your portfolio, they should ideally find it sufficient to make a decision. If they still insist on a test sample, ask them for the reason. Usually, it turns out to be company policy. Now, you do this. Step 3: The final decision I’m definitely nobody to judge you if you agree to do the test sample. You’re the best person to know what to do in your situation, and as long as you’re acting from a place of clarity, that’s fine. Even then, it should happen after all your attempts to get the client to agree to a paid sample fail, or if the client’s organisation is good and reputed enough to be worth it. Though, I’d still advise you to avoid bringing down your worth in any way. Buy time, if possible, and keep looking for paying options so you don’t have to do the test in the first place. In any case, it’s your call at the end of the day. But if you’re someone who doesn’t want to provide a test sample for free, and the client is refusing to pay you for one, you’d want to end this conversation right here. Just say, “I don’t do test samples, but I’ll let you know if anything changes along the way.” And continue to explore paid opportunities. Facing test-sample requests need not be scary. If you follow this strategy, you’ll end up prouder of yourself for having done the right thing—and possibly even richer. Post backdated on 31 July 2022

Zero f***s given in this Gehraiyaan movie review Image: Screengrab of YouTube trailer by Amazon Prime Video India I finally watched Gehraiyaan on Amazon Prime Video. Directed by Shakun Batra, the film is about a yoga instructor and app creator Alisha Khanna (Deepika Padukone), who ends up in an affair with her cousin Tia’s (Ananya Panday) fiance, Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi), while having a live-in boyfriend Karan (Dhairya Karwa). Later, sh*t gets real when Zain runs into a scammy financial mess and drags Alisha into it. I jotted down my thoughts with the purpose of reviewing this film. But the brain dump felt so cathartic to me that I didn’t want to edit it. That’s why I decided to devote a blog post to my unfiltered thoughts about Gehraiyaan. Do let me know what you think about it and whether you’d like me to repeat this format for other films. Please note that these are my thoughts about the movie as they came to me and each one of us is entitled to our own. -- I’m diving into Gehraiyaan (pun unintended), and I don’t know how it is. Gehraiyaan, BTW, reminds me of Himesh Reshammiya’s song Tanhaiyaan. *Mimicking Himesh singing this song with “Gehraiyaan” replacing “Tanhaiyaan”.* Good on Team Gehraiyaan to declare they’re an out-and-out A-rated film. No pretensions. Keeping it simple. A big disclaimer comes on screen. First F-word in the first six minutes. Deepika’s Alisha travels in an auto. Her sartorial style is approachable, too. Love her yoga-app idea. It’s brilliant. The film’s yoga scenes definitely made me get up for my evening workout. Was that Alibaug resort Ahilya by the Bay, which is in Goa, BTW? Dhairya Karwa is quite good. Especially when he says, “Aadha Bombay to aise hi jeeta hai.” I guessed it right. Tia is sending a yacht 🤣 This Zain looks like a fraud right at the outset. Too much overacting 🤣 Ek saal ke liye (yacht) lease pe li hai clients ko impress karne ke liye. And people are actually believing him?! WTF is “shandy”? Ananya Panday zones out in between, but it’s okay. The film reminds me of Aakhir Kyon. Almost the same premise. But Smita Patil’s character was a way better protagonist, easy to root for. Here, on the other hand… Zain has started flirting with Alisha now. “Itni aasani se (Tia) nahin chhodegi mujhe, warna pakka tumhare saath bhaag jaata.” Seriously, WTF is Alisha seeing in Zain? He looks so shady. She’ll unnecessarily complicate her life and relationships by taking this situationship ahead. Honestly, I wouldn’t be comfortable spending so much time with a would-be bro-in-law. I can’t even talk to my brothers-in-law without some level of discomfort, which stems from respect. How is Alisha doing it? Even if you and honewaale jeejaaji click and find a connection, how? The plotting and screenplay lack believability this way. Zain’s placing his hand on Alisha’s waist!!! Eww!!! “Zain started following you.” Creepy AF!!! I’d totally get creeped out at this point if I wouldn’t have made anything of the waist-touching. Tia has just been Instagramming through the film so far. Only photo sessions. Doesn’t she have anything better to do? How are the two (Alisha and Zain) shamelessly chatting like this? And they say other-language movies have no logic! Whenever I’d be introduced to my brothers-in-law, I’d automatically place them as my father or brother figures. Why doesn’t the film touch upon this basic human tendency? Even if Alisha and Zain take off, he doesn’t even do something for her. Doesn’t go out of the way for her. It also looks like Alisha is going after Zain, as her BF’s writing career isn’t working. Yikes. The writing seriously paints her that way 😲 It’s disrespectful for a woman of Alisha’s calibre. Maybe she’s looking for stability, given her father had a failing business, and now her BF is on the same track. But why with jeejaaji?! The film could have really written her character better. Karan doesn’t give Alisha his manuscript to read—why so much aggressive overreaction for that? Yes, they’ve been in a relationship long enough that they don’t feel the need to use the niceties and tact while talking. But WTH was that reaction, Alisha? Build-up for some so-called vulnerability, which doesn’t even look like vulnerability in the first place? If Alisha is a progressive woman, then I don’t want to be progressive. I’m better off old-fashioned and old-school. At least I wouldn’t unnecessarily complicate my life. Why didn’t Zain go with Tia and Karan in the cab? Didn’t anyone suspect why he’s refusing the ride? The childhood trauma isn’t a convincing rationale for Alisha’s cheating. Those sea waves are annoying me now. The makers are simply thrusting them in between. They keep coming after every second scene. I just can’t connect with the characters, despite the backstories they keep telling. There’s just no depth or gehraai to them. Zain is throwing about so many isms. Looks like a loser to me. Nothing is convincing about him at all. I hope Tia finds out about the affair. “Woh to mar gayi achhi maa banke, bura baap banke main jee raha hoon.” Wah, Naseer sahab, wah! Interns ko lunch pe laaya hai yeh Zain. I’m sure this would have been memed in troves 🤣 Not even a single decent food shot in the film. God knows what these people are eating. Even their food isn’t relatable 🤣 “I love you.” Bullshit, Zain. This movie brings a really bad name to Mumbai. Imagine small-town parents seeing this and opposing their kids’ decision to move to the city for work. I’m feeling sleepy. And there are still 47 minutes left in the film. What a bore! When is it ending? Why is Tia so dumb? What were the makers smoking? I’m stopping it for now. Will continue tomorrow. – Will have to continue. Neighbour is blasting music at full bass and volume. Ananya Panday’s character is worse than a TV serial bahu with an obviously philandering husband. Full-on “mera pati mera devta hai” vibes. “I … loved him.” Really? This is love?! Naseeruddin Shah is the best part of this film. Still 23 minutes to go. This movie is just not getting over…*Groan* If Alisha would have had this conversation with her father beforehand, then we wouldn’t have had to suffer through this film. Love how fathers forgive their children and their mistakes. Seriously, Naseer sahab saved the film a bit. The waves…again!!! How are they inviting exes to engagements, man? Intimacy director?! WTF! Post backdated on Sunday, 10 July 2022