Alia Bhatt starrer Raj is unhappy with the Bollywood film adaptation of his novel ‘Calling Sekhmat’, writer and director Harinder Sikka plans to adapt the novel into a film

“Although this book may seem like it’s only about espionage and espionage, the storytelling goes far beyond that. It’s not driven by one character,” Mehrishi said. Observe the narrative innovations of. “A story is born thanks to hundreds of people. One superhero cannot blow up an entire army. It takes many people to win these victories, or to earn them the hard way. “We need that,” he says.

Innovation in storytelling means finding variety in characters. It’s perhaps no surprise that novelist and film producer Harinder Sikka acquired the film rights to Mehrishi’s novel and set about bringing the characters to life on screen. Sikka plans to adapt Mehrishi’s novel into a commercial Bollywood film, and has also written books and scripts that follow a similar trajectory.

his first novel, call sefmat The true story of the plight of Kashmiri Muslims, who were entrusted with the task of saving their beloved country India after marrying into Pakistan, has also been adapted into the mainstream. bollywood movie Back in 2015.But Sikka’s déjà vu It may not be limited to just a genre or theme. Sikka’s sense of déjà vu is that he knows what he himself went through in adapting his first book to film and how he suffers from this difficult process that writers have to go through. When considered, it appears to stem from an empathetic obligation to other writers.

as call sefmat (First published by Konark Publishers in 2008) Thus, A blockbuster movie starring Alia Bhatt large It caught the attention of filmmakers and continued on in 2015. Gulzar Sikka was acquired by Penguin Random House in 2018 and is a first-time author’s journey through such a difficult path, especially as his story about the life of Sehmat Khan takes an ideological twist. I went on a rope walk. The cinematic Avatar directed by Gulzars.

“Conversations such as ‘I love my country more’ were deleted and Indian intelligence agencies were shown in a low light. Sekhmat was treated as if he were a Kashmiri Muslim fighting for our country and made a huge blunder. It was depicted how he was taken back to India in a depressed state, as if he had committed a crime, which is the exact opposite of how I presented the book and how I presented Sekhmat’s position. In contrast to the way she saluted the tricolor flag and the orchestral director’s performance on the tarmac after being brought to India by plane. jai bharat (The person stopped and started playing the national anthem. Jana Gana Mana). They deleted all of this.” Sikka said at the time that he was not allowed to see the director’s cut after the film was released, and that the filmmakers tried to prevent him from attending. Ta. jaipur literature festival. “When the movie was scheduled to be released, of course I wasn’t invited to Bombay to see it, but the scenes of her patriotism, along with every tricolor in the original book, were very special. “I realized that it had been subtly removed from the film,” he said. This is what made the strategic director of Piramal Group and a former naval officer who was a lieutenant commander in the Indian Navy a ‘Content His Collector’ forever.

Sikka launched the firm Third Innings LLP to commemorate this third creative phase in his career, but the politics of literary adaptation remain an uncertain path. And in an industry rife with ghostwriting practices and creative theft, Bollywood is not immune to such politics. But that’s what drives Sikka and author Tarun Mehrishi to hope that team spirit and a unified vision can change this trend as they adapt. secret portrait on the screen. “When I suffered like this at their hands during production, large, it was a blessing in disguise,” says Sikka. “She is the mother of stories, and I realized that writers like me, who work hard, travel left and right, and take risks to write stories, don’t get their due.”

Filmmaker Harinder Sikkaon on the sets of ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’.

Listening to the stories of novice writers like him, who are often taken advantage of as well, Sikka realized that there was a tendency in Bollywood to take everything away from writers and “leave them alone.” “He didn’t want other people to suffer the way he did,” says the author-turned-filmmaker, who also wrote the 2019 historical novel Vicchoda He is also the producer of the controversial 2015 film Nanak Shah Fakir Encountered political troubles with religious groups. Thus began his literary purchasing journey. One of the first few things he bought there happened to be the rights to his 2016 book on Rajinikanth and his Puranik. Nehru’s 97 major failures‘ is also planned to be made into a movie. Mr. Sikka promised Puranik that he would share his profits equally and give him due credit as the original author of the work.

“When you thank a writer like that, your job is done,” says Sikka, who wrote the dialogue. Nanak Shah Fakir We also use some creative props and “prosthetic makeup”, advanced FX makeup and makeup techniques using sculpting, molding, and casting to create a history of the era in which Sikh Guru Nanak Shah lived. We also worked to bring out the atmosphere. . Although the film ran into trouble with religious groups, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cleared it and Sikka was able to lay the foundation for the creation of the realism genre.

Just as filmmaking and writing merge for Sikka, writing for Mehrisi is a universe unto itself. “Every part of the film is important,” says the novelist’s debut. “So whether it’s the way you present a character, the way you write dialogue, the way you design lighting or background music, the way you put books in a room to define what… But a character is something that all adds up to create an experience,” he says.

Is it “screenwriting” or “screenplay writing”? “I think this is where a director’s dream really comes into play: experimenting with how a story can be told, not just through screen and dialogue, but through setting and design.” Mehrishi says.

Shooting for ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’.

secret portrait It wasn’t originally written as a “screenplay.” It wasn’t even written as a novel. Mehrishi began writing spontaneously, without any planning. That’s when he first became inspired by the true story of a stolen painting. This is not the first time in India’s modern history. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” he says. “But I think a producer typically creates a scriptwriting group of three, four or five people with expertise in scriptwriting, even if it means making some commercial sacrifices.” However, I would like to officially become part of the group.”

But Mehrishi is also keenly aware of his goals. What matters most to him is the final product, not the process or his role in it. Because the process and his role are a means to an end, not an end in itself. “As first-time authors, we don’t have as much say or weight in things. But the best thing is Sikka Saheb I think the same way and want to be part of the whole process. We now know each other relatively well and share a common joy for golf,” says Mehrisi, explaining how the bond they share played a huge role in their collaboration on the film. pointed out the impact it had.

But for Mehrishi, the act of writing, which he spontaneously discovered during the pandemic, will always remain the basis of his films. “I have no say, no say, no opinion on casting, lighting, directing or anything else. Leave that to the experts,” he says with confidence and ease. This is because in order for film and literature to be in harmony, writers and directors, as well as writers and editors, must also be in harmony with each other.

The freedom and peace of mind that comes to a writer whose relationships with directors, producers, and editors are based on such mutual trust is the key to achieving the narratological success that their work truly deserves. It is.