A young writer Kshitij Patwardhan shares his journey
from the play to Time Please…
Praveen Lulekar
The excitement behind the release of Time
Please…Lovestory Lagnanantarchi spurs from the fact that it is based on the
drama Navaa Gadi Nava Rajya. Kshitij Patwardhan, 28, has written the
drama as well as the film. With previous outings like Aaghat and
Satrangi re, Patwardhan has many projects lined up. He talks about the
process of writing for Time Please and the challenges of transforming a
drama into a film.
When did the idea of converting the
drama into a film occur? Whose idea was it?
The germ was of both Sameer (Vidwans – the director)
and me. Also, Anish (Joag) had always said that he was interested in producing
a film based on the drama. After about 200 shows of the drama we decided to
start working on the film. We had received a feedback right from the beginning
that the story of the drama suited a film. We were also asked many times for
the rights by filmmakers.
What things you had to change/adapt as a
writer?
First and foremost - not falling in love with
myself. We divided every situation in chunks to form 2 minutes’ scenes. Then
decided on each chunk; whether to keep it the same or change it or even remove
it altogether. We did a lot of brain storming as to what would work, where will
there be laughter, what won’t suit the medium of cinema etc. So, many
dialogues, which are USP of the drama had to be eliminated. Instead, we added a
lot of geographical references to the film.
And what were the changes with respect
to the characters?
I have the habit of writing the complete biography
of a character. So the insecurities each character has, adds to its substance.
For instance Umesh Kamat’s character has always felt that something bad happens
to him when things are going good in life. That is why he is insecure about his
happy marriage when Himmatrao (Siddharth Jadhav) – his wife’s childhood friend
appears. On the contrary Himmatrao is a confident man. He is an Oxford
University topper. But he has always been ridiculed for his raw,
unsophisticated language that angers him.
Drama is an experimental medium wherein
new experiments are accepted easily but it may not apply cinema, so how did you
managed it?
That is true. The problem occurs when you take the
audience for granted. When Sameer and I told the idea of doing a film on the
drama to Umesh, he said he is not interested if it is going to be like shooting
a show of the drama. Siddharth and Anish had similar opinions. Even we did not
have that in mind. Even a classic like Singing in the Rain was adapted
from a drama but with a very different approach. We thought for the film in an
entirely new way.
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