Despair For Dummies

After a horrible month of sickness, weakness, loss and grind I’ve decided to come back to what I once started when I was a completely different person (a month ago). So, I came up with an idea for the preliminary task that I wouldn’t get bored of researching up on.

I fell ill after losing a potential trophy that would’ve secured my future plans but one thing I got out of it was missing writing and right there and then, I thought of a quote Saadat Hasan Manto once said and taking inspiration from that, I sat down and started rewriting the entire script (only if I could’ve done that with my fate). The route to despair is halfway crossed. My teammate heard the script and immediately asked for everything required to shoot. We contacted a few actors with a sample script and asked them to send a voice message saying those lines hence, we begun shortlisting actors through their voices and pronunciation of words. Urdu as a language requires depth and detail otherwise, you’ll see me in the corner of the room looking a lot like a disappointed father.

A week later, we found the perfect voice and look for the writer. Now, all that’s left is coordination and execution.

the idea itself, portrays a controversial writer who writes about the realities of life and society. It is somewhat inspired by a Hindi film ‘pyaasa’, a black and white film released in the 1900s. This writer is Manto, he sits in his room reflecting on all the moments that lead him to despair. He is later asked for a reasoning towards his harsh words for the society and political views to which he responds that he is a mere reflection of each one of us.

Script sample:

Scene 1:

Interviewer: apkai afsanai aksar nihayti siyasi hotain Hain, kaafi logon Nahi inko naqaabil e bardaasht bhi karar Diya hai, apki iss par Kiya Raye hai?

(Your stories are often very political, and some people find them intolerable. What is your basis for this?)

Writer: Zamaane ke jis daur se hum is waqt guzar rahe hain agar aap isse naawaaqif hain to mere afsaane paḍhiye. Agar aap in afsaanon ko bardaasht nahi kar sakte to iska matlab hai ki ye zamaana naaqaabil-e-bardaasht hai… Mujh mein jo buraaiyaan hain, wo is ahd ki buraaiyaan hain… Mere tahreer mein koi nuqs nahi. Jis nuqs ko mere naam se mansoob kiya jaata hai, dar-asl maujooda nizaam ka nuqs hai.

(The era that we are going through right now……if you’re ignorant about it, do read my stories. If you’re unable to tolerate them, that means the society is not tolerable. There are no shortcomings in my writings, whatever shortcoming is dedicated to me is in fact the shortcomings of our system. )

the most widely read and the most controversial short-story writer in Urdu. The man who wrote so fearlessly, he was hushed not just by commoners but the entire government. The man who encouraged me to question society. The man who loved art and drowned himself in it. This task, I dedicate to him.

A challenge I’ve taken up is completing the film by this weekend

We’ve got an actor, now we move on towards execution. The scene to scene breakdown was written and torn in the walls of my room a million times hence, no proof of the being written will be posted. Although, we’ve decided to keep the clothing and attire white and brown representing wisdom and a symbol to hide purity in words (brown shawl).

All we are left with is the location, Recce and lightning. We’re planning on keeping it low-key (the lighting). I’ll be using my sisters Lumix camera to shoot the film and the pre production post will be uploaded soon.

Stay tuned

“Aaj main jaa raha hoon. Kal tum apni hi deewaron par mere lafz likhe hue paoge.”

“Today I am leaving. Tomorrow, you will find my words written on your own walls.”