While I remember exactly when, where and how I got the idea for “Peacock”, I will not delve into the details here for it is not a particularly interesting tale. That is unless you know the people in question who provided me with the basic premise. Suffice to say that like many other writers I got the idea in a passing moment and began developing it further. Initially, my idea for this film was that it should only be about 10 to 12 minutes in length, with only one big event at its center. I discussed my initial plans with my closest collaborators and they were all quite enthusiastic. But, after about three and a half weeks of writing, it became clear that the characters in the story were so interesting that I couldn’t do them injustice by making such a small film. No, the film had to have more, and as I was really challenging myself this time around, I decided to go ahead with my instincts.
All writers have a different way of approaching their craft. While I am not a particularly gifted writer, I have always nurtured the fancy of becoming one. Usually, I have a very methodical approach to writing. I jot down notes, I sketch out my characters, I write the treatment and so on. But this time around, I experimented with simply letting myself loose on the keyboard. I had about ten or twelve pages of notes on the characters, their backgrounds (individually and things they had done together), events, themes and so on, but I had nothing solid. So, I basically sat there and began typing away. Needless to say, this was the most fun I have had while writing. This approach allowed the screenplay to become more organic in its telling and ultimately more personal in nature.
As I mentioned in my previous post, most characters were based on people I know. Naturally, I can’t name any lest I embarrass them. But every single character in the film is either heavily inspired from one personality or is a combination of a few. This is what allowed me to simply “go ahead” with the screenplay, instead of scratching my head over things like motivation, background and so on. I had experience to guide me wherever my literary prowess failed. There is a deep, deep irony at work here, though. You have to realize that the characters I was depicting, seemingly based on real people, were ultimately portrayed as how I saw them and not how they actually were in real life. And I thought making films was simple!
All in all, the screenplay took me about a month to complete, with two drafts making rounds around the table. My second draft was basically an extended version of the first and retained most of the dialogues and scenes from it. While I think I could have handled the transition from the first to the second act better, the screenplay was met with general enthusiasm from my would-be crew members and actors.
And now for some trivial information. This was the first time I handled Hindi dialogues at such a scale. Sure, you might say that a 26 page script is not exactly what you would call “large scale”. To that, all I can say is “Give it a try!” It is much harder to pull off convincingly than it appears. I wrote a blog on it some time ago and was met with a very hostile response. But I stand by my convictions. Another interesting thing to note is that we never had a production draft on this one, with proper scene numbers and such. Mainly due to time constraints, as we had only about three weeks of prep-time once the screenplay was complete. More on that later.
Finally, HERE is the screenplay if anyone is interested.
Remember, you may VOTE for, and WATCH, “PEACOCK”, here.
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