The man who penned Kaagaz and Kaagaz 2 – Ankur Suman started out doing advertisements. The versatile writer has now made his mark in Bollywood. Zoom exclusively caught up with Ankur and in the chat, he Spoke about why he thinks writers should get more recognition and how writer duo Salim-Javed are irreplaceable.
Ankur Suman on writing being 'non-glamourous'
Ankur also spoke about the importance of writers in a project and said, "My favourite line for writers is, " Ye wo kadhai hai jo sabse pehle chulhe pe chadha diya jata hai. (Writers are the wok that is put on the stove first). Even if there is no budget to put oil, the wok is on the flames, because everything starts with the script." He said that when anyone has an idea for a project, they are asked to 'develop' it first and that is where the work of the writer starts, " I think, writing starts much earlier and it goes on till dubbing at times." Ankur said that his intuitive thinking about why writers do not get their due credit is because it does not have stars. "Writing is the most non-glamourous function of filmmaking. There is no star involved or actor involved." He added, "I know writers in Mumbai who have assigned desks at Starbucks. So, if you have to meet the writer, he would be in Starbucks!"
"Real filmmakers and people who understand cinema do respect writers. It's not that writers are completely unnoticed. But they are talked less (about) because maybe the visibility is not there. I was very happy to see Niren Bhatt, the writer of Stree. Maddock is a Production House that has written the writer’s name very prominently. As far as I am concerned, I got lucky to work with people who respected writers. But yes, writers must get their due and get acknowledged.
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Ankur Suman on Salim-Javed
Talking about writers who paved the way and are iconic – Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar – Ankur said, "There will be no one like them. That kind of aplomb, flamboyance, and respect, which also included the monetary compensation. The kind of glory they brought to writing, nobody else did that before. They brought it to the fore, they brought their names to the poster. So, there was a lot of excitement when people saw that documentary. As writers, most of us in India have followed their work. They already have books on them. I was fortunate that I got to work with Satish Kaushik, who was mentored by Javed Saab. I was like Eklavya. I had a very brief interaction with him where I told him I am like Eklavya. I have heard so much about you from Satish sir that I have learnt a lot from you. "