Screenwriters From India

"Premchand’s stories have a mixed legacy. Seen from a contemporary view point it is easy to see his ideal of womanhood the basis for women’s continued subordination withing the patriarchal family."

"A man's worth is not measured by his wealth but by his character and deeds."

"The rich never go hungry, but the poor are always starving. This is the real tragedy of our society."

"Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right?"

"If a woman does not get love in her life, it is better for her to die."

"It is the duty of a writer to protect and argue in favour of those who are oppressed, sufferers, whether an individual or a group deprived."

"In another novel titled Suhag ka Shav quoted in page=93"

"Does being a man make all things forgivable and being a woman all things unforgivable?"

"The feeling of motherhood in a woman becomes stronger as she grows older. In fact a time comes when every man is like a son in the eyes of a woman. There is not an ounce of sexual desire left in her heart. But this stage never comes in a man…he can never free himself from sexual desires."

"For children, father is a luxurious item, - just like beans for the horse....but mother is everything for the child. The child cannot bear separation from his mother even for a minute."

"Politics is a jungle where destinies change every evening."

"My interest was dance and, in the beginning, I didn't enjoy acting at all. It was my mother who brought me into films and who looked after my career. I remember each time a producer came to meet her, my only reaction was, 'Oh God, another year of my life gone.'"

"One day she will be the biggest star of the Indian screen."

"I made a serial called Nupur in which I danced for one particular shloka of Soundarya Lahari . The show was mostly about dance. It is then that I started learning to chant Soundarya Lahari . …People only know me as an actor and a dancer but recently I thought about doing this album."

"So many roles, so many trends, so many kinds of cinema and so many stories…I have projected different images during different decades, voiced different concerns –sometimes as a daughter, sometimes as a wife and mother- but often I ask myself if things have really changed. I am not sure."

"It has been more than three decades but Hema Malini’s passion for dance has not diminished. Starting in the early 70s with solo Bhratanatyam performances, the diva has reinvented herself at every stage of her career. When she felt that the pure classical dance form would not be appreciated by a less aware audience, she expanded her art form to include ballets."

"Learning the long lines and delivering them in one take was a nightmare, but Rameshji helped me as also the fact that I have a good memory. It is only when you become successful that you realize how everything contributes to your success."

"I was cast opposite multiple heroes and as luck would have it, the chemistry worked with most."

"It has been my most appreciated performance to date and though I have played myriad characters over the years, some how none was as complex or as passionate as Suadamini. The director later told me that the only reason he cast me was because I was a dancer and capable of delivering navarasas [nine forms]."

"Though I was too young to understand the complexities of marriage, I understand that the premise of their disagreement was unfair. Why must a woman have to give up her passion after marriage when the same is never asked of a man."

"We went to Kumbh, we had a very nice bath. It is right that an incident took place, but it was not a very big incident. I don't know how big it was. It is being exaggerated. It was very well-managed, and everything was done very well...So many people are coming, it is very difficult to manage but we are doing our best."

"There is no other choice. Modiji has to come back. It will be dangerous for the country if someone else wins. That’s why we all (BJP members) are working hard to bring him back."

"I am glad I got to be part of such a historic film,” she says and pauses to think. And then adds, “The movie is still popular and that’s great. It also means that for as long as people remember the film, I will also be there in their memories. That’s special. And of course, it is not just Sholay but people also remember me for Seeta Aur Geeta. When I am in the U.S., I love travelling in cabs. And there have been times when Russian cab drivers recognised me and hummed a few tunes from the movie!"

"I have been chanting Soundarya Lahari, written by Adi Shankara for about 16 years now. It is very popular here in the South but not many know of it in North India and this is my offering for the pooja season. I meditate to these shlokas and am very happy that Suresh Wadkar and Shankar Mahadevan have contributed to it, with Amitabh Bachchan giving the introduction."

"I see a legacy of my generation... I am happy to belong to a generation that had a Dharmaveer Bharti, a Mohan Rakesh, a Vijay Tendulkar and I. Together we can claim that we did create a national theatre for modern India."

"Everybody must definitely nod their head in appreciation at the list of books Dr. Bhyrappa has read in order to write not just about Tipu Sultan, but Muhammad Tughlaq, too. He has really worked hard. However, instead of going to such pains, he should have asked me directly, I would have told him: I don’t have an iota of interest in the historical Muhammad Tughlaq. I have no interest as to whether he was good or evil, whether he was pro or anti-Hindu. I wished to write an entertaining play, and in the endeavor, wanted to choose a fairly complex character. Tughlaq’s life provided me that material. I took as much I wanted and used it in the manner I wanted to use. My Tughlaq is not the historical Tughlaq. It is an imaginary character. If I wanted to write history, I would’ve written history instead, and not a play."

"If calling Tagore a third rate playwright constitutes freedom of expression, then calling Karnad’s plays as bullshit is also freedom of expression."

"Karnad is regarded as one of the three great writers of the Contemporary Indian Drama, the other two being Vijay Tendulkar and Badal Sircar. His significant plays include Yayati, Tughlaq, Naga-Mandala, Tale-Danda and Hayavadana."

"Girish Karnad is the foremost playwright of the contemporary Indian stage. He has given the Indian theatre a richness that could probably be equated only with his talents as an actor-director. His contribution goes beyond theater. He had directed feature films, documentaries and television serials in Kannada, Hindi and English and has played leading roles as an actor in Hindi and Kannada art films, commercial movies and television serials. H has represented India in foreign lands as an emissary of art and culture."

"When people all around us are slaughtered in the name of a temple (and masjid) I hear echoes from those times long past."

"The subject that interests most writers is, of course, themselves and it is easy subject to talk about. But you know it is always easier if you are a poet or a novelist because you are used to talking in your voice. You suspend your whole life talking as writer directly to the audience. The problem is being playwright is that everything that you write is for someone else to say."

"I was excited by the story of Yayati. This exchange of ages between the father and the son, which seemed to be terribly powerful and terribly modern. At the same time I was reading a lot of Sartre and the Existentialist. This consistent harping on responsibility which the Existentialist indulge in suddenly seemed to link up with the story of Yayati."

"I have been lucky in having multipronged career. You know how I have been an actor, a publisher, a film maker. But in none of these fields have I felt quite as much at home as play writing."

"What a person understands as his or her Purusharthas could very according to his or her background stageand station in life, sex, etc., as well as the nature of the crisis he or she is facing"

"I've had a good life....I have managed to do all I could wish for --even be a government servant. Now I feel whatever time I have left should be spent doing what I like best -- writing plays."

"The next prime minister (Narendra Modi) may be a man who organised the slaughter of more than 3000 Muslims in Gujarat. He is a candidate; he is being touted as the next prime minister."

"When you face your fear, you become familiar with it, and familiarity makes it lose its meaning, loosen its grip - fear ceases to be fear."

"Music has a natural place in our lives. Right from the shloka you recite in your morning puja and the milkman who comes whistling on his cycle, to the fakir singing as he begs for alms and your mother humming around the kitchen...Music fills our spaces naturally. It will always be dear to us."

"A good storyteller is the conscience-keeper."

"Words do not have teeth, still they bite; and once they bite, the wounds never heal."

"Lata was beyond words. She was a miracle that will happen never again."

"If he says that I am the voice of the century, then I would say that he is the writer of the century."

"Film-making is not an esoteric thing to me. I consider film-making – to start with – a personal thing. If a person does not have a vision of his own, he cannot create."

"He always played the role of a story-teller — something that can be considered his most important contribution to the world of film making."

"He never treated his child artistes like kids. That's why they were always comfortable in front of the camera. Manikda became their friend after a few days of shooting"

"But after having worked with Manikda, working in Bombay was confusing. I was too normal and realistic in front of the camera — the way Manikda had always taught me. But the Bombay directors wanted more energetic and louder acting. But today, most actors act that way."

"Manikda was always different from the others. He did everything — from writing the script to choosing the location, finalizing the cast to designing sets and costumes, supervising make-up to framing the shots to editing. He was involved with each and every part of his film and was always very clear about what he wanted. His films were Indian but the production process was western. He also proved that silence can say a million words if used properly and was very economical with dialogues. He used barking of dogs, birdcalls, mechanical clatter or other natural sounds to brilliant effect. It was because of this detailing that every scene of his films became powerful and meaningful. And though he played so many roles behind the scenes, he accepted remuneration from the producer only for direction."

"To me, Satyajit Ray is just Manikda. Our relationship dates back to 1958, when he introduced me to the silver screen. I was just 13."

"In the late 60s, there was a big probability of Satyajit Ray coming down to Hollywood to shoot The Alien based on his own short story which appeared in the then popular Bengali magazine, Sandesh. The film was to be produced by 20th Century Fox and Hollywood was waiting to embrace Ray with open arms. Alas! Due to some dirty politics played by unknown quarters, Ray's Hollywood dream had to be shelved. I have no qualms in admitting that Spielberg's E.T. was influenced by Ray's Alien. Even Sir Richard Attenborough pointed this out to me."

"Oh, Mr. Ray is coming … the great film maker from India; you know, I am his fan and love his films; maybe I will be lucky to get to see him today; just start your car and follow me."