India EU Film Initiative

SCREENPLAYS

Screen writing is a craft and this goes without saying that one has to learn it. There are only two ways of mastering this craft; either you join a course or you read as many screenplays as possible. We will try to bring you a great screenplay every week.

Syriana 2005), written and directed by Stephen Gaghan and produced by George Clooney, created a buzz for two reasons. It was seen as a highly political film against the backdrop of the US policies in the Middle-East. Secondly, its screenplay was noticed for its most dramatic and unusual sequences. Download

Our first choice for the readers of India-EU Film Initiative was quite a symbolic one- Gandhi, as it was perhaps the first Indo-British project that created a sensation all over the world.

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Our second presentation, Notting Hill, a guide for those who are keen to write comedies, was much appreciated. Adam Curtis, is a great contemporary name in the field of writing modern screenplays. Download

At your request, third presentation in this series was blockbuster of the 1990s, Titanic and it alsowent on to win so many oscars and accolades at the box office. Titanic is every screen writer's dream.

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Million Dollar Baby (2004) by Clint Eastwood won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director & Best Actress.

Million Dollar Baby marks PAUL HAGGIS’ (Producer/Screenwriter) second feature as a writer-producer.

Stanley Kubrick read and enjoyed Perfume, but pronounced it unfilmable. Even so, there was a stampede of suitors when the screen rights finally came up for auction in 2001. Ridley Scott and Tim Burton both staked a claim. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio were mooted in a Miramax package deal, while Johnny Depp and Julian Schnabel also expressed a joint interest. But it was the flamboyant German producer Bernd Eichinger who finally forced Süskind’s hand with an outlandish ultimatum.

“The deal was monumental, €10 million,” recalls Andrew Birkin, who co-wrote the Perfume screenplay with Eichinger and the director Tom Tykwer. “What finally changed Süskind’s mind was Bernd getting on a plane to Zurich, walking into his agent’s office and saying: ‘Tell Patrick he’s got half an hour to decide whether he wants €10 million. Take it or leave it, but I won’t be repeating the offer’ .” Read this fascinating story of adpatations published recently in the Sunday Times

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