We all agree that it is impossible to make even a half decent film with a bad script AND that a good script is the first and foremost requisite to make a good film.

But even then, we have seen that the pedagogy of the screenwriting has not taken roots in India.

Even the F.T.I.I.(Pune) and other film institutes which have been engaged in teaching different technical and artistic aspects of film making in a scientific manner have turned a blind eye towards the art and craft of screenwriting. Department of creative writing and schools of screenwriting can be found in any respectable university of the West, but in India the first full fledged department of screenwriting came up in Pune only five years ago.

In short, today when cinema as a medium and films as expression are going through a dynamic- kinetic phase, it is imperative that we take a hard look at craft of screenwriting and ask some informed questions.

Are there some elements, components, principles, patterns, rhythms, reasons which make a screenplay tic? Aristotle, two thousand years ago in his POETICS, laid bare some principles of great Tragedy and Comedy. So did Bharat’s NATYASHASTRA, may be, even before that. Then why do we shy in taking a serious look at the grammar of good writing for cinema?

To address these creative concerns and issues of screenwriting and more, Mr Kamal Haasan (who is as well known for his screenplays as he is for his on screen presence) is convening a five day workshop on screenwriting.

A first of its kind in Chennai the workshop will be conducted by people who have been there and done that; that is screenwriting.

Anjum Rajabali(founder and head of screenwriting department at both FTII and Whistling Woods) and Atul Tiwari(screenwriter and teacher) will lead the initiative with many others from North and South who have made writing for cinema their life.

International writers like Jean Claude Carriere will also interact with the participants to share their unique vision, views and methods of writing.

The workshop will try to address a cross section of people to engage both the new enthusiasts and old hands. After all even the old converts, sometimes, need to revisit the Bible to refresh their faith. And offcourse the novice needs to understand the principles in black and white, even if he has to break free from the convention.

The five day workshop will try to cover a lot of ground both by instruction and example.