Adventures of a Writer

In my journey as a writer, I have had the privilege of meeting many mentors from whom I’ve learnt many things about structure, plotting, how to develop characters and other nuances of writing. Laurie Schnebly Campbell is one such mentor. Laurie is a romance author and has a background as a counselling therapist. A perfect combination that helps her in what she loves to do—give online (as well as offline) writer workshops to students from London and Los Angeles, New Zealand and India. She is also an advertising professional and works for a Phoenix ad agency. For several years, she would turn off her computer every day at five o’ clock, wait thirty seconds, turn it on again and start writing romance. Her first novel was nominated by Romantic Times as the year’s “Best First Series Romance” and her second beat out Nora Roberts for “Best Special Edition of the Year”. She has also written non-fiction and her book Creating Believable Characters with Enneagra...

Guru Bramha, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara, Guru Sakshat Parabramha, Tasmai Shri Guruve Namaha On the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima (27 July, 2018)   it’s extremely apt that as students of cinema we doff our hats to the “Guru” of Screenplay Writing, Mr. Salim Khan. How worthy Salim Saab is of this respect is endorsed by his erstwhile writing partner, Javed Saab who at an event in Bhopal a few years back on stage very graciously mentioned that the one man he’s learnt the Art of Screenplay Writing from is Salim Saab and few people have an understanding of the craft that Salim Saab does.  It is ironical that even though writing is the most important cog in the wheel of a film’s success, few people in the film industry have an understanding of screenplay writing.  The Jai-Radha Storyline in Sholay Well the answer lies in the word itself – how a story is put into play with sequences, occurrences and happenings for an average duration ...

Releasing a new book is always a thrill. You're excited to show off your work to the world and also nervous about it. Will readers like it? Or God forbid, will they hate it? Bombay Heights is my first new release as an Indie author. And that makes it even more special. The book is my tribute to a city that will always hold a special place for me. Bombay. The city I grew up in. Though the story does not have any autobiographical elements to it, the City of Dreams plays a very important part in the lives of my characters - Sanjana, the small town girl who is chasing her dreams and running away from some personal issues. Ashwin, the big city dude who's flirtatious and fun but he is not all eye-candy either. Then there is Mrs. Jeroobai Wadia, who is a bridge between the old Bombay and the modern Mumbai. And last but not the least, there's a tiny fur ball named Dumbass and he too has his own little backstory! But more about the characters in a later post. Here's a ...

As the release day of my romantic comedy novel, Bombay Heights , draws closer, it's time to unveil the cover and reveal the blurb! It's an exciting moment for me and I hope you all will love the cover. Many thanks to the TBC team for sharing this moment with me! So, without further ado, here goes... Bombay Heights -- Sleepless in the City of Dreams Small town girl Sanjana Kale wants a fresh start in Mumbai. A challenging job and some much needed distance from her ludicrously over-protective family could get her life under control. Forced to team up with video game designer Ashwin Deo, who is too attractive for his own good, she finds life becoming a whole lot more complicated when he turns out to be her new neighbour. How can she maintain a professional distance with this charming troublemaker who believes in getting up close and personal? To make matters worse, her ex tries to manipulate her loved ones to work his way back into her life. Hysterical s...

“There will come a day when a writer will be paid as much money as the hero.” Those were the famous words uttered by Master Writer Salim Khan to a professional associate. His words were proved wrong—but in a good way—years later when he and his writing partner, Javed Akhtar Saab actually drew a fee not equal to but more than what the hero was paid for a film that they scripted.      How did this miracle happen in an industry that is notorious for undervaluing the writer? According to Salim Saab, “consistency” was the secret to their success. The duo went on writing one hit after another and proved to the world that quality of content was the key to the success of their films.  In my opinion, the only contemporary Indian film to have ever matched form to its content is the Masterpiece Sholay and there too, the content has been penned by Salim Saab and Javed Saab. The hallmark of Salim Saab-Javed Saab’s writing is that all their films were no...