NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab 2013: Varun Grover’s “Maa Bhagwatiya IIT Coaching”
DearCinema profiles the six screenwriters who are participating in NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival.
Screenwriters’ Lab, a 2-part workshop conducted by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) is designed to prepare screenwriters with original Indian stories for working with the international filmmaking community.
Varun Grover answers five questions about his project “Maa Bhagwatiya IIT Coaching”:
Tell us about your project.
The script, titled ‘Maa Bhagwatiya IIT Coaching’, is a slice of life/coming of age/comedy look at one year in the life of a Lucknow kid who travels to Kota (the Las Vegas of IIT coaching in India) to prepare for IIT-JEE. My attempt is to capture the ‘hauwwa of competition year’ that haunts all Indian middle-class kids, especially in North India, as well as the nostalgia of my years in Lucknow coaching classes. The script also looks at the mediocrity, inferiority complex, hypocrisy, and humor of a middle-class existence through the lives of parents left behind in small towns while their kids study in Kota (and other bigger coaching-hubs.)
At what stage of development is it?
I have finished a draft, but since for Screenwriters’ Lab they wanted it in English (while the film is to be made in Hindi), I’d say it’s only 70% complete.
Is a director/producer attached with the project? Or do you plan to direct it yourself?
I plan to direct it myself. Probably the only film I want to direct ever. No producer has been attached yet.
What are your expectations from Screenwriters’ Lab?
I have heard many good things from my friends who have experienced Screenwriters’ Lab in last few years, so I am expecting a lot. Besides, I was missing an academic approach to writing for some time (though am always ambivalent about it – sometimes I feel writing can never be taught and at other times, I miss the classroom assignments and daily achievements that come with a scheduled program) so this Lab will give me a chance to chip and polish my work with some very professional help and a disciplined regime. Also since the subject is purely Indian (full of Indian obsessions like ‘competition’ and idiosyncrasies like ‘a man getting out of a car wearing bermuda and hawaayi chappals is posh’), I am looking forward to how international mentors would react to it.
Tell us about your background.
I grew up in Dehradun and Lucknow (Kendriya Vidyalaya schooling throughout), and did Civil Engineering from IIT-BHU (Varanasi). My parents always got us (me and younger brother) many books to read at home since childhood and that initiated me into writing. I moved to Bombay in 2004, after a year of (dead boring!) software job in Pune, and started writing stand-up comedy for TV shows. Currently am writing for online satire show Jay Hind, and wrote lyrics forGangs of Wasseypurlast year. I also perform stand-up comedy regularly.
Screenwriters’ Lab, a 2-part workshop conducted by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) is designed to prepare screenwriters with original Indian stories for working with the international filmmaking community.
Varun Grover answers five questions about his project “Maa Bhagwatiya IIT Coaching”:
Tell us about your project.
The script, titled ‘Maa Bhagwatiya IIT Coaching’, is a slice of life/coming of age/comedy look at one year in the life of a Lucknow kid who travels to Kota (the Las Vegas of IIT coaching in India) to prepare for IIT-JEE. My attempt is to capture the ‘hauwwa of competition year’ that haunts all Indian middle-class kids, especially in North India, as well as the nostalgia of my years in Lucknow coaching classes. The script also looks at the mediocrity, inferiority complex, hypocrisy, and humor of a middle-class existence through the lives of parents left behind in small towns while their kids study in Kota (and other bigger coaching-hubs.)
At what stage of development is it?
I have finished a draft, but since for Screenwriters’ Lab they wanted it in English (while the film is to be made in Hindi), I’d say it’s only 70% complete.
Is a director/producer attached with the project? Or do you plan to direct it yourself?
I plan to direct it myself. Probably the only film I want to direct ever. No producer has been attached yet.
What are your expectations from Screenwriters’ Lab?
I have heard many good things from my friends who have experienced Screenwriters’ Lab in last few years, so I am expecting a lot. Besides, I was missing an academic approach to writing for some time (though am always ambivalent about it – sometimes I feel writing can never be taught and at other times, I miss the classroom assignments and daily achievements that come with a scheduled program) so this Lab will give me a chance to chip and polish my work with some very professional help and a disciplined regime. Also since the subject is purely Indian (full of Indian obsessions like ‘competition’ and idiosyncrasies like ‘a man getting out of a car wearing bermuda and hawaayi chappals is posh’), I am looking forward to how international mentors would react to it.
Tell us about your background.
I grew up in Dehradun and Lucknow (Kendriya Vidyalaya schooling throughout), and did Civil Engineering from IIT-BHU (Varanasi). My parents always got us (me and younger brother) many books to read at home since childhood and that initiated me into writing. I moved to Bombay in 2004, after a year of (dead boring!) software job in Pune, and started writing stand-up comedy for TV shows. Currently am writing for online satire show Jay Hind, and wrote lyrics forGangs of Wasseypurlast year. I also perform stand-up comedy regularly.
Comments
Call Our Experts :- +91-9654271931