ABHISHEK MAJUMDAR, 28
Majumdar says his scripts mostly have a central mother figure. “It needn’t be my own, but would have shades of other mothers I have met.” In Bangalore, employing ‘theatre therapy’ to help dyslexic children, this Charles Wallace scholarship recipient is three plays old and wonders how inherently ‘unfunny’ people can write humour.
Inspiration: Most of the characters are from real life. When I watch my plays, I see a mix of many people — for example, the mother character wouldn’t have been based only on mine, but my aunts, my colleagues etc. As for Harlesden Highstreet (which hasn’t been produced), the mother was like this shop owner on Highstreet.
Common element: Superficially, all of them have a mother character. They are also based in north India, because that is where I have lived.
Selling point: I don’t think about the audience while writing. If I do, I would be in the advertising industry.
(laughs) Work station: I am visual about my plays. I don’t write complete dialogues. Sometimes its just a line and I build on it. But most of what is on my laptop would never see the light of the day, though I enjoyed writing. them.
Projects in hand: I am acting in three plays and directing a Hindi play Treadmill. I also work with dyslexic children.
MANJIMA CHATTERJEE, 31
Chatterjee’s scripts are not devoid of a strong female character. And this Delhi-based playwright (with three scripts to her credit) says her computer is loaded with ‘unexplained scene descriptions’, written on a whim.
Inspiration: What I write about is connected with issues that affect me. For example, Wave (2006), my first play, was based on the volunteer work I did during the 2004 tsunami. The Edge (2007) was inspired by the bombings of the American embassy in Kolkata.
Common element: My works have a strong female character.
Not necessarily large roles, but the ability to influence events.
Selling point: A script is incomplete in a playwright’s hands. Only when it goes to the director, you realise where the selling point lies.
Work station: I put an idea on paper and if it appeals to me in writing, I go ahead with it. I experiment with different styles. Sometimes I just work with a scene, not even a story. There are a lot of unexplained scenes on my computer (laughs).
Projects in hand: There is a script ready to be produced.
It is based on the Balram-Revathi story from the Mahabharata.
It is called Time Travel.
RAM GANESH KAMATHAM, 28
For this Bangalore-based playwright, a hilariously disastrous college play sparked his interest to write more. “The audience laughed so hard and I wanted to do it often,” he exclaims. Now, he is 35 plays old and one of the country's most sought after playwrights.
Inspiration:I met Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard at a writing residency. I realised they were doing the same thing that I was, but in a different time and context. It was humbling and uplifting.
Selling point: Relevance. It is simply a matter of crafting a mirror in which to see ourselves. As for classics that I have adapted, that’s the joy. With classics, you can reset it into any context and it would remain meaningful.
Work station: I often start off with a few scraps of conversation and start poking and excavating the lines to see where they end up. It is tough directing my own work. I rely on my actors to supply the objectivity, which I lose by being a writer-director.
Projects in hand: Ultimate Kurukshetra and a play about the history of Bangalore — both due next year.
ANUVAB PAL, 33
HAVING conceived the successful offbeat movies, The President is Coming and Loins of Punjab (2007), this Mumbai- based playwright-scriptwriter has a fascination for midgets and alternative music.
Inspiration: Things within contemporary India. I wrote President is Coming (2007) because I thought reality television was determining the ambitions of young Indians. A good way to explore that would be by having them fight for a handshake with George Bush. With FATWA (2004), it was the cultural misunderstandings that rose out of terrorism.
Stage to screen: Director Manish Acharya and I wanted to focus on what holds migrant communities together.
That’s how Loins of Punjab happened.
As for President…, director Rahul Da Cunha wanted me at his workshop, where Rohan Sippy saw the play.
The common element: In the first ten minutes of any of my plays, if there isn’t a laugh. I get nervous. I use a lot of alternative bands for my music.
There’s also a reference to a midget and a character named Subodh in all my plays.
The selling point: I don’t think about selling a play but about a story that would be fun to write. I write thinking I’m sitting in the first row of the audience.
Workstation: I am always taken by a theme or an image. For my 1-888-Dial- India, I had an image of a man jumping to his death. For Chaos, it was two people throwing a cricket ball around.
That’s how I begin.
Projects in hand: I want to write a play set in Delhi about bureaucracy. It will be like an espionage comedy. Like Jean Le Carre meets Yes Prime Minister.
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