Screenwriter Kanika Dhillon believes it is a great time to be a storyteller today as film industry has become welcoming towards good and unique content.
The Manmarziyaan writer believes filmmakers and audiences have become open-minded which makes the job of a creative person more interesting. "It’s a beautiful time to tell stories and I am loving it for now. You can be imaginative, you have the technology to convert your vision, you have the freedom to write the kind of stories you want to tell beyond the set formulas. Also, you have varied platforms to tell different kinds of stories," said Kanika.
Kanika, whose latest release is Kedarnath, believes writers should "demand a fair price" for the content they provide. "If by now the writers in the industry have not realised that they can ask and claim a good amount to write or create content then you are living in a cave. Everyone is hungry for content and you are content creators and if you are not negotiating a good price no Robinhood is coming to save you."
As a screenwriter, Kanika’s method of penning a story is more emotional, instinctive and volatile and she does not adhere to a specific process. "I don’t think in genres. Once I get a germ of an idea I wait for it to die! And if it refuses to die and keeps coming back, I start thinking more about it. Then comes the world and the characters. I wait to get bored and if I don’t get bored- then I start building on them."
This year the writer’s both the releases were caught in controversy- Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan for hurting Sikh sentiments and Sara Ali Khan’s debut film Kedarnath for promoting love jihad.
Kanika says if her stories are making people uncomfortable her purpose as writer is solved. "If my stories make people uncomfortable, because it questions your set ideas and value systems that are convenient for a group of people or ideas that promote patriarchy and religious fanaticism, then my job as an artiste and a writer is done. The more you will cry foul, the louder my characters will speak."
Kanika is now looking forward to her next release Kangana Ranaut-Rajkummar Rao-starrer Mental Hai Kya. The film is scheduled to hit the theatres early next year.
