When you hear the name Boman Irani, you think, ace actor. Although a late start in the movies at age 44, he held his own from his very first film, the 2001 indie venture, Everybody Says I'm Fine!

And yet, it's in fact screen writing that he says, that has held his fancy from the start. "I had always wanted to write my own screenplay. When you do movies, and want to do something different, sometimes, you end up helping with the writing, here and there. But when I started to write a screenplay, I knew I needed to reinvent myself. Working in the industry as an actor doesn't automatically make you qualified to be an actor-director. You have to work at it."

And so the prep began. For the last eight years, Irani has been studying screenplay writing; researching the subject, and working with 2014 Oscar winning screenplay writer Alexander Dinelaris, who wrote Birdman. "I met Dinelaris when he hadn't yet written Birdman, and we became friends. He has been helping me with the craft since. I speak to him every day. In 2019, when I launched my production house Irani Movietone, I decided that instead of having a party, why not fly him down for a huge writing workshop. So many screenwriters, and students attended. It was a great time. And then just when we were going to start filming, the lockdown began."

Pandemic or not, the participating writers weren't about to leave him alone. Requests from amateur screenwriters poured in, so one day, he collected a bunch on Zoom.

Ever since, in the last six months, Irani has been holding a daily free screenwriting masterclass, called Spiral Bound. He has gone through 160 sessions with over a hundred students. Irani is helped by his nephew, novelist Anosh Irani, who the actor says, is his partner in crime. "He helps distill everything I say, and sometimes makes it more comprehensible."

Alfred Hitchcock once said, "To make a great film you need three things—the script, the script and the script". But what should the script centre around?

For Irani, it's all about the hero, or the central character. "Don't tell me a story via the plot. Tell me a story through the hero's journey. We have to get to the heart of the lead character. The story is not about incidents. It's about the anguish and challenges that the hero faces." He's certain that every good movie has almost always been about the central character's journey and struggle. "Lagaan is not about the British rule and a cricket match. It's about a man who dared to rebel, and then had to rally the troops. What's your favourite movie?" he asks this writer.

"A Few Good Men."

"Right. That film is not about a fight between a lawyer and an army officer. It's about a young man who has to rise beyond the shadow of his father. This is such a fun game! Every good movie ever is about the character."

Irani also corrects us when we say that the focus on the script is a new development in Bollywood. "No, think of movies like Anand. It's not about a man who has cancer. It's about his attitude and his passion for life depicted in every scene."

Other than the main character, he places importance on structure. "The structure starts from the moment you say the story will end," he says. And, it's all about dividing the script into three parts. "Act 1 is setting it up. The day he accepts a challenge, that's when Act 2 begins." It's here where he gets the most questions from students. "They want to know what happens in this empty marshland, the space between Act 1 and 3. How do they write it? We have been watching movies to get a hang of it. We have to start the journey, start working around the obstacles, maybe there is a new obstacle. We all fall into trouble in that marshland."

From his own career, he remembers the scenes from Khosla ka Ghosla, written by Jaideep Sahni, as magical. "The scenes in this movie are so tight and correct in how the action rises from each moment."

The sessions have also seen some big names from the industry pop in as guest lecturers. Other than Denelaris, Rajkumar Hirani, made an appearance. "With Raju, we all went on a journey. He said when he wrote Munnabhai, he would go and sleep with his friends who worked at the hospitals. He saw the real patients. So he said, observe life around you, and make it personal. Write about something that moves you, and not just something that will sell."

With Dinelaris, the focus was on keeping the conflict alive in each scene. "He spoke about the character surprising you as a writer. He said, 'Yeah, the character gave me the line. He spoke back to me'. That's truly fascinating."

Irani also sees the workshops as a bonding exercise, especially in the times we live in. "Apart from learning, we are sticking together as a family. The circumstances we find ourselves in have been debilitating. And this has helped us know we are all in it together."

Want to attend a session? Drop a mail to yash@iranimovietone.com 

For Aadyam, actors Neil Bhoopalam and Rajit Kapur step into the buffed shoes of Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, to portray a few good men
Ekta Mohta (MID-DAY; July 14, 2019)

In the middle of our interview with theatre director Nadir Khan, "garibon ka Tom Cruise" walks in. Actor Neil Bhoopalam, who is set to play Cruise's character on Khan's production of A Few Good Men, knows that "a fair amount of jokes" is on its way. Khan is ready with his: "When Neil is shaved, he looks as close as we (Indians) can to Tom Cruise."

Aadyam's fifth season debuts with A Few Good Men, written originally by playwright and star screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, as a rat-a-tat courtroom exchange between two formidables. In 1992, it was adapted to screen; Cruise played the green US Navy lawyer and Jack Nicholson played the scenery-chewing colonel in the Marine Corps. Khan, who is directing his second legal play after 12 Angry Jurors in 2016, is game for comparisons. "Bring them on. Comparisons are inevitable, especially when you're dealing with scripts that have been made into iconic films. The point is, just because you know a story doesn't necessarily mean that it can only be told one way. For example, the story of Red Riding Hood: it doesn't mean that [since] kids have heard it once, they never want to hear it again. Watching a story you know in a different medium with a different director [can be just as exciting]."

He zeroed in on Bhoopalam and Rajit Kapur because he needed "actors of a particular calibre. It is Sorkin, which means that it is cracking scriptwriting. And, there's a lot of work involved because it is so dialogue-based. The dialogue is the real pleasure of it all. You need actors who are quick on their feet, have the right instincts, who can just take a line and bring it to life." Which means the leads have their work cut out. "The fact is, the force of the actor's personality and the force of the character you create, is what you (the audience) are reacting to," says Khan. "It was Jack Nicholson at the end of the day. The camera could have just focused on his nose, and you'd feel the same way. It's really [about] how you construct the scene. And the actors get to a point, where it is so precisely choreographed and rehearsed, that you are swept in."

For Bhoopalam, that meant homework. "Just to get a quick story line and some of the details, I watched [the movie] on Nadir Khan's homework list: but earlier on in the rehearsal process, not now. I was part of [the TV show] 24, and you don't want to watch [the original], otherwise you get too influenced by the grammar. This is also the first time I'm playing a lawyer. And, it's interesting to see this argument [play out]. Nadir did #SingIndiaSing last year, so he also listens to the sur of it, the tone of it." When he was initially approached for the role, "I didn't know which part Nadir wanted me to play. I had done two-bit roles in some of his plays. And now, I've got a lead. I didn't know there was so much responsibility. I started going one page after the other, and I was like, 'Oh, this guy is in every scene.' I should check the message again. Who am I playing?"

Even though Khan is not a Sorkin "bhakt" and Bhoopalam is "getting there," the latter says, "You pick up any scene and you read it, it's got a lot of power. Yesterday, in fact, this happened. I didn't share this with you (Khan). You're watching your fellow actor say the lines and you put forth the argument and you actually really get drawn. Your mind can't wander. Even if the person is opposing, it's still a valid argument. It is still truth in itself. So, it's a clash of opinions and it's a clash of those truths. Now, whose truth is bigger or better than the other?" Bhoopalam doesn't say it, but it's on the tip of our tongue: you can't handle the truth.

Where: St Andrew's Auditorium, St Dominic Rd, Bandra West; 26410926
When: July 20 and 21; 4 PM and 7.30 PM
Entry: Rs 300 – Rs 1,250
To book: www.insider.in

Dubbed Gujarati theatre's most extravagant production, the crew of Code Mantra shares why it is a game-changer
Reema Gehi (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 17, 2016)


It's perceived to be Gujarati theatre's costliest production. With a production budget of Rs 25 lakhs, Code Mantra, which opened in Mumbai last October at the Tejpal Auditorium, received a nod of approval from everybody, from theatre veteran Burjor Patel to industrialist Mukesh Ambani, who even described it as "a Broadway on Gujarati theatre". This evening, the play, which was adapted into Marathi last month, will stage its 117th show at the Y B Chavan Auditorium in Churchgate.

Code Mantra revolves around the court-martial of a young army officer Ashwin Rathod, who is charged with the murder of his younger brother Rohit Rathod, a commando of the Rajputana Rifles. Rohit once complained to the army authorities about the excruciating commando-training programme and admitted that he was unable to cope with it. Seeking an immediate transfer, he threatens to divulge details about a classified case of firing across the LoC. When his actions become apparent to the authorities, he is condemned for defying his own unit. The same night, Rohit is murdered in his barracks. Military law expert Shagun Oza and her husband follow the contentious case, and unravel the strict disciplinary measures executed by the army defined as 'Code Mantra'.

Incidentally, the production is inspired by the Tom Cruise-starrer A Few Good Men based on Aaron Sorkin's play of the same name. "It was a movie I kept watching for several years and I felt this story should be told on Gujarati stage," says the playwright Sneha Desai, who also essays the role of Shagun Oza in the play. "But my attempts to convince fellow playwrights failed. I decided to write it as an exercise."

By February 2015, Desai, whose 2013 play Blackout was received warmly, had a bound script ready. Her long-time collaborator Bharat Thakkar stepped in as producer with the prerequisite that the play will only see the light of day if veteran director Rajesh Joshi helmed it. "Rajeshbhai has a vision," she smiles. "He likes taking a cinematic approach to theatre. We knew that if anybody could have taken this play forward, it would be him." However, the task at hand was to convince the Sahitya Akademi Award recipient.

Joshi, whose last play Pappa Padharavo Savdhan opened in 2008, was on a hiatus from Gujarati stage for the about eight years. "Nothing seemed to challenge me. It was all so mediocre," he says. "I had no intent to return to theatre. But I was gripped by the narration."

From January 2015, Desai and Joshi sat together for months, "and literally directed the entire play on paper, before going on floor". The two also consulted army officers Lieutenant Colonel Praful Mehta and Lieutenant Colonel Daljit Singh to ensure the veracity of the subject. "We wanted to take a few liberties, but at the same time be very careful to not misrepresent or run down army policies," she adds. The initial drafts of the verbose play included many blackouts, "and that was going against the cinematic vision we had for this production," recalls Desai. "It was Rajubhai's idea to fill the inbetween scenes with visuals which are in context to the play."

A team of National Cadet Corps from Bhavan's College was selected to demonstrate the life army folks lead. "Initially, we thought we'd get some cadets to train the artistes, but we soon realised that civilians don't have the same body language," says Desai. On Thakkar's behest, 16 of the best cadets were officially hired to play the roles. "All the cadets are college-going students and we rehearse around their schedule — their examination, competitions and training," says Desai. "None of them had ever been part of a play, and had no clue about theatre. They are now hooked to the process."

The logistics of staging a play of this scale, Thakkar reckons, are mind-boggling. A cast and crew of nearly 40 needed to be accommodated, and no regular rehearsal haunt offered that kind of space. In August last year, Chatwani Baug, a wedding banquet hall in Vile Parle, was booked for two months. Costumes were sourced from Army depots in Nashik and Delhi. An average Gujarati play would have three grand rehearsals and a technical one. This particular production had 18. "We couldn't afford to go wrong. Our audience is very discerning and we rely on word-of-mouth publicity," says Joshi. "It could have gone either way. We were mentally prepared to stage only five shows. Going by the response, it looks like we will cross 500."