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Filmmaker Varun Grover opened up about the exploitation of writers in the film industry, and said that it isn’t just limited to newcomers, but even legends such as Gulzar and Javed Akhtar are often disrespected. He said that omitting the names of writers from promotional material is a practice that needs to change, as he told a story about a comedian friend who was offered peanuts for his work by a renowned director.
Without taking names, Varun said in an interview with Jist, “A friend of mine recently worked with a very big filmmaker. This filmmaker doesn’t make very commercial films, but he does middle-of-the-road cinema, has been working for over 30 years, and is seen as a ‘messiah’ by his fans. An entire generation of filmmakers has been inspired by this person. My friend was supposed to write the dialogues, but he was told that he needs to write the dialogues and the screenplay both.”
Varun said that the filmmaker offered his friend, a notable comedian, only Rs 50,000 in total. After some negotiations, they increased the fee to Rs 3 lakh, but have only paid half the amount so far. “They’ve told my friend that they’ll pay the other half when the film comes out, but who knows when that’ll happen…. According to the laws of the Screenwriters’ Association, you cannot pay a writer less than Rs 12 lakh for the dialogues, and around Rs 20 lakh for the dialogues and screenplay both. This was done by a well-known director, who releases a new movie every three years. This is how writers are being exploited,” Varun said.
He said that he is ‘shocked by things like this’, and cited the example of veteran lyricists and writers being overlooked by the industry. He said, “They don’t mention the names of writers on film posters. They find room for accountants, and that’s fine, but they should also mention the people without whom the film wouldn’t exist… Irshad Kamil‘s best album is Rockstar. When the CD was released, his name wasn’t mentioned. Today, if you go on any of the popular YouTube music channels, you’d find that even songs by Gulzar don’t mention his name. It’s happening even now, and it’s happening with the likes of Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Irshad Kamil…”
Best known for writing the film Masaan, the streaming series Sacred Games, and songs for the two-part Gangs of Wasseypur, Varun recently made his directorial debut with the coming-of-age movie All India Rank.
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