Bangalore-based MG Satya (46) who scripted the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Swades, is back to what he does best: write stories for the big screen. Two of his stories have been bought by producers and one Tamil film is to take off shortly. Another story of his is being considered by Yogaraj Bhat, the director of the super hit Kannada film of 2007: ‘Mungaru Male’.
After 11 years of making TV commercials, Satya has now decided to go back to making films and TV serials. “When I went bankrupt in 1996, I started doing ad films and corporate films,” recalls Satya. “Now I want to get back to fiction work and films in particular.” Satya will be collaborating with other production houses and co-producing films in Kannada, Hindi and Tamil.
About his biggest screen triumph, Swades, he had this to say: “From time to time, new characters emerge from the soil. Bangalore offered me an NRI as a villain which I turn into a hero in my tele-film Vapasi in 1994. This became Swades in 2001 and created a little Gandhi out of Shah Rukh Khan.”
For a writer “where the narration and treatment is more important than the language”, we asked Satya to pick five stories that have stimulated and instructed his take on scriptwriting the most.
‘Mysteries’ by Knut Hamsun: It’s a Nobel-prize winning book that scores in its narration and story-telling techniques. It’s the story of a mysterious stranger who suddenly turns up in a small town one summer and just as suddenly disappears. The obstacles that are created are all in the head… it works on the minds of the characters. The deceptive narration technique makes the reader fall into the trap even if he has experienced the very same situation in real life. Nothing in the story should be taken at face value. By the time, you have formed an opinion on the character based on the way he dresses, talks and behaves, the author surprises you by placing him in a situation where his reaction is entirely different. That’s the mystery.
Chomana Dudi: This Kannada film’s title means, ‘Chomana’s little drum’. Directed by BV Karanth, it’s based on a novel by Shivaram Karanth. It’s all about the new economy soon after the arrival of the British. The story is all about coffee plantation and bonded labour juxtaposed with the arrival of Christianity. It’s the dilemma of the new economy that is brought out here without taking sides with anyone. The film is brilliantly shot and I have seen it 3-4 times when I was a little boy in the late 70s. It’s a contradiction that continues till this day. It was a perfect story and a perfect film. You need to have courage to write something like that. Today, if such a film is made, there will be no takers. Our values have changed.
Saaransh: It’s brilliant direction by Mahesh Bhat. The violence was shown on screen without any gross visuals. The story works on the premise of standing up and saying ‘no’ to injustice. This film shows what everyone wants to do but never end up doing. Today, the media plays a proxy war for the reader and the viewer. In those days, this film waged a proxy war for the viewer who will go away thinking that atleast cinema waged a proxy war on his behalf. The best part is that after watching the film, you feel like going and rebelling in your own little way.
1947-Earth: It’s a story of partition viewed through the eyes of an eight-year-old Parsi girl. Ice candy man Aamir Khan is in love with maid Nandita Das who works in the Parsi girl’s home. It’s also about Aamir trying to learn English because this girl has picked up English in the Parsi household. This happens just during the partition. And then, the bloodbath begins and the characters start dealing with their personal demons. Eventually, some die, some convert, some live and some come through unharmed, but not unscathed. The best part is, director Deepa Mehta doesn’t take sides. The best phrase in the film sums it all up: “Mere Mulk ke do tukde kar diye. Aur Phir bol rahe hai Happy Independence!” (My country has been split into two and they are still saying, ‘Happy Independence!’
Lagaan: I love the way director Ashutosh Gowariker used the Gandhian ideal of non-violence to get back at the British in their own game of cricket. The best part of the film is that the plot creates the hero unlike most films where a hero manufactures the story. It’s not even coincidence like it happens in most other films. It was a perfect film in terms of the language used. Every song was part of the screenplay and had everything a commercial film needed to make it an absorbing story. He also uses Gandhi’s other issues like untouchability without being too in your face like Lage Raho Munnabhai. That is the triumph of the script.