In the last one year, cinema as a medium has undergone a sea change, especially when it comes to its exhibition sector and content. With the OTT platforms creating ripples with their escalated presence, the question today is: Can the new wave in the business pressurise writers to meet demands from actors and producers? Housefull 4 director Farhad Samji, for one, believes that it would be the death of an idea on paper if an actor didn’t step forward to back it.

The writer-director will be working with Akshay Kumar on Bachchan Pandey and Salman Khan on Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali. He says there is a demand for something different from most actors, filmmakers and the audience, but an outof-the-box story does not happen all the time. He explains, “Finding something unique and new is the real challenge. Having said that, writers can never run out of ideas or ways to explore an existing idea in a unique manner. For instance, it’s a challenge to find something novel for Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar who have acted in over 100 films. And they’re always waiting to get a jolt from the writers. Good Newwz was a unique story for Akshay and Bachchan Pandey will hopefully meet his standards, too. Actors like Ajay Devgn, Akshay and Salman always want to try different things. If you approach them with anything typical, their response is, ‘Beta tu U-turn leke ghar jaa’. An idea is born in the brain and it dies on paper; it comes to life when an actor decides to back it.”

Farhad also stresses on the importance of appreciating writers. He says, “People remember the words, the lines of dialogue and how they were said, but not the writer. A writer is the central pillar of a project till it’s on floors. But when the promotions begin, everyone conveniently forgets his or her contribution. He or she is sidelined and credits go elsewhere. This aspect of filmmaking pinches me till today. No one can individually change this; lekin baat kisi ek ki nahi, soch ki hai. Prakash Raj is the only person who has thanked me while getting an award for Singham. This is the only instance I can quote in my career of 20 years.”