Gujju writer Sneha Desai of 'Lapata Ladies': 'I wrote the first film, then it will go to Oscar', the film's producer Aamir Khan also has a Gujarati connection

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Sneha Desai is talking to us so happily that her life time dream has come true. Sleeper hit 'Lapata Ladies' was recently selected as India's Oscar entry. The film may be of Bollywood, but it is a matter of pride for our Gujaratis as well, because the screenwriter of the entire film is our Gujarati Sneha Desai. The shocking thing is that this film was Sneha's debut film. 'Frontpage Insights' spoke to Sneha Desai to know about the writer who achieved such a big achievement in his very first film, from his thrilling journey to his Oscar entry. So let's start talking with Sneha who has written many serials, many plays and acted in thousands of plays from 'Lapata Ladies', 'Maharaj'. Lights… Camera… Action…

'Got placement after doing MBA, but I chose drama' Sneha's entry into films from Normal Life is equally interesting. Sneha turned the pages of her biography, 'My father was a businessman and mother a housewife. After doing MBA in Marketing Management, I was offered an on-campus placement right out of college by a company in Bangalore, but had no desire to venture into corporate and at that time I was already performing a play. At that time I was also engaged, so there was no conflict from the family and they also said that there was no problem if I stayed here and went for performing arts. So he turned down the placement offer and decided to turn to theatre. Started career by acting in Gujarati dramas on stage.

Wrote the first play and got the state award You started your career with acting but now you are in the writing field right? Sneha says, 'Working with Gujarati Rangbhumi means working for 25 days a month, so there are shows, say almost a show every day. After my son was born after marriage, it happened that I could not give time to my son and even at home. But loved dramas so started writing to keep connected. Initially played a little with pen paper and showed it to my writer friends and seniors, sharing ideas. Well, out of all those ideas, he tried to write a play and wrote the play 'Meeran'. That was my debut and the same play also won the Maharashtra State Sahitya Akademi Award. And then wrote two beautiful plays 'Black Out' and 'Kodmantra'. It also became a super duper hit. And then continued to write.'

'God's screenplay was better than my screenplay' Any previous writing experience? Sneha says, 'No, not at all, everything was unplanned. Like the flow of water, I simply flowed along. Studied something, did something and now I am here. Even if I had planned my life myself, it would not have turned out so well. Ishwar's screenplay was better than my screenplay. I suddenly started writing, people started liking it, then I wrote TV serials, developed the thinking power, got Riaz and got a film offer and reached here. After that, even when she appeared in films, she did some acting. Has also acted in films like 'Jayeshbhai Jordaar' and 'Maharaj'. Vandanaben's character in Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Karshandas Moolji's sister-in-law in Maharaj.'

'I had to deliver the missing ladies to their destination' How did you make your writing debut in Bollywood? Sneha says, 'I was writing all these serials and got an offer from Aamir Khan Production House to prepare the film Maharaj. Aamir Khan's son Junaid accepted acting and while the writing was in progress, Aamir sir offered me the story of Missing Ladies. The story was originally by Biplab Gauswami, I got an offer to bring the story written by him to the screen and I did the screenwriting for it. The shoot of Maharaj was still going on and meanwhile work started on the missing ladies. But, it took Maharaj a while before Missing Ladies was released. So Lapata Ladies was my debut film and I am glad that my first film has reached the Oscar.

The entire phone was flooded with messages and calls Anyway, how did you know Missing Ladies had an Oscar entry? How much excitement was there? 'Me and Kiranmem (Kiran Khan – Aamir Khan's ex-wife) were in a meeting for an upcoming movie,' Sneha continued in a cheerful voice. If we are in a meeting, all of us should keep our mobile phones out and those who have them should also keep them on silent. So I did not know when the announcement was made. After the meeting was over, I was tired. So we ran straight home as soon as possible. On the way, I checked my mobile phone and found a pile of congratulatory messages. The call history was also full of missed calls. And then I found out that Missing Ladies had been entered into the Oscars, so the first two minutes were spent coming to my senses. We thought that the announcement would be made on 27th, but this was an unexpected bomb blast, so we got a bit of a shock. I called Kiran Mam directly. He was also in the same condition.'

This character came in leaps and bounds Talking about the character of the film, Sneha says, 'Manjumai's character was added quite suddenly. People also liked this character the most and full credit of that character goes to Kiran Mem. Because Manjumai's character was not in the story. Phool's character was a very naive and delicate girl, while Jaya's character was very dynamic. There had to be someone in between to maintain and balance the two, who had seen a better life than both of them, and for that Manjumai entered.'

Partly taking credit for success There was also a controversy, actor-director Anant Mahadevan also said that the story of missing ladies is stolen from my first film 'Ghoonght Ke Pat Khol'. Explaining about it, Sneha says, 'There is no need to comment on this matter. Our production also did not respond at all. Because everyone who has seen his movie 'Ghoonght Ke Pat Khol' and Lapata Ladies would have understood the difference. Both the films are completely different, there is no match. In Rabindranath Tagore's story 'Nauka Doobi' there is also talk of changing wives. Only that one insignificant point does not make the whole movie. Just because one scene is the same, the whole film is not the same. So we didn't think it was right to give an answer on this matter.'

'At first I scolded myself What about the missing ladies, how did it feel when found? Recalling that, Sneha says, 'At that time, Aamir sir gave me the script and I read the script, and at first I was shocked. Such a good script with so much potential came to me, I couldn't believe it for a while. But then even when I started writing the film, Aamir sir and Kiran ma'am had full support, the talk kept going on and on. Those people also had continuous input, how to take the story forward, how to narrate the scene. We paid special attention to how to talk about feminism and activism in a light manner without making it preachy.'

'Aamir was our crisis time chain' How much benefit would Aamir Khan's experience get? Says Sneha, 'There was a continuous Kiran meme on the set. But when we cross any major camp, get the basic draft ready, get stuck somewhere majorly, we guys go to Aamir sir and take suggestions from him. Whenever we go to him, he completely listens to us, discusses us, gives input, if you change so much, the story will change, the story will become cool. Cinematically, his mind works very powerfully. It was great fun working with both of them. There can be no other dream debut than Missing Ladies.'

Aamir Khan also has a Gujju connection Aamir Khan's career started in Gujarati theater with the play 'Khelaiya', hence his connection with Gujarati language is very good. So how was the connection between you and Aamir on the sets? Sneha says happily, 'Aamir sir knows many Gujaratis. He did backstage in 'Khelaiya' and years later I played the heroine in the same play. So we used to talk a lot. He respects theatre, any art, artist very much. Plus, he is a very curious man, so he constantly asks you everything, very eager to know him. How are shows doing in dramas now? How are the sales of the play going? How do you travel? How do people work there? They want to know everything. So let the cool things continue.'

Difference between elephant in theatre, serial and film With such a quick movement from dramas to TV serials and from there to films, the three mediums are quite different. How did you adapt to the medium change without any experience from above? Sneha says, 'The difference is 100% in the writing. There is an elephant-horse difference in the grammar of the three mediums. A play has a long text. On the other hand, in serials and films, everything is visualised, so you have to focus only on the dialogue, so you have to write short and sweet. But changing the grammar is a bit difficult, writing well in all three mediums is a bit difficult, crafting is a bit of a problem.'

'Good films are not being made continuously in the Gujju film industry'If this same story had been made in Gujarati, would it have been such a hit? Sneha says, 'If it had been done in such a nice way, surely I would. Gujarati film industry is also doing very well, but it is not continuing. Sporadic good films come. But most of the movies suffer in terms of quality. 'Hellaro' became very popular in Gujarati. I also liked it very much. The best film of Gujarati film industry was A. If a film is good in Gujarati, it gets beaten in the writing, if the writing is good, it does not go well on the screen, sometimes it gets beaten in the acting. But all aspects of Hellaro were cool.'

Why does the audience not give enough credit to the writer? The credit for the film always goes to the actor and a little to the director, but the true story writer, but those people are not so famous that people don't know them, so does it ever get foamy? Sneha says, 'Absolutely not, because people see the actor throughout the film, so people get to know him quickly, if he is with the director during the promotion, then the director also gets weightage. But writers are backstage so people don't know them. But when a film is being made, the highest respect on the set is given to the writer, so there is no chance of such a foam.'