The Midas Touch of Women Screenplay Writers

By Dr. Priyaankaa Mathur

No one can reach the depth of a women’s heart, as it holds in it many experiences untold. Filmifiles brings to you some of the most promising young women screenplay writers and storytellers who have poured their hearts out to write heart-touching stories, which were never thought of or experienced before…

Leena Yadav

Film Director, Producer, Screenwriter & Editor, Leena Yadav adorns many hats. She started her career in the television industry and gradually moved on to making feature films. Leena worked as a successful TV show Director both for fiction and non-fiction shows including some of the Star Bestsellers like Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle and Sanjeevani for 12 years.

On entering the mainstream Film Direction Leena made her directorial debut with Shabd which had an unconventional storyline. The film portrayed a writer’s journey while he experiences a creative blockage, and after many disappointments, eventually succeeds after writing a book on his wife. The film received critical acclaim post which Leena wrote her second film Teen Patti after a gap of five years.

Her film Parched portrays a heart-wrenching story of four women of rural Gujarat, who confront the ruthless patriarchal society. Weaved along with the script, each one of her well-sketched characters struggles with their insecurities about men, sex and life, unless they finely decide to liberate themselves and run away. Parched premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015.

Juhi Chaturvedi

Juhi Chaturvedi is nothing less than an enchanter when it comes to her writing skills, while she crafts unique storylines relevant to the current era. From the time she debuted with Vicky Donor in 2012, which dealt with the life and challenges of a sperm donner. With this film, Juhi made her mark as a debutant in the film industry, which was certainly not by chance. The Film won her the National Award for Best Popular Film in 2013 for Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Juhi succeeded yet again to create the same magic in Piku by weaving an interesting relationship between a young daughter and an eccentric old father. The two keep nagging each other and fight over trivial issues due to ideological differences over a road trip. While, in her next film Gulabi Sitabo she churned, yet again a comic drama portraying a constant fight between a cranky old house owner and a young tenant.

Alankrita Srivastava

Screenwriter and Director Alankrita Srivastava studied filmmaking at Jamia Milia Islamia University in New Delhi before moving to Mumbai. She began her career by assisting director Prakash Jha and made her debut as a director with the film Turning 30 in 2011. Her next film Lipstick Under My Burkha, which she wrote and directed, portrays a women’s quest for freedom. The film received global accolades like Femmes Grand Prix and a Filmfare nomination.

Recently the web series Bombay Begums on Netflix created waves wherein Alankrita co-wrote the script along with Bornila Chatterjee and Iti Agarwal. Marked as the comeback of actress Pooja Bhatt, the series portrayed and intervened the stories of five women living in the city of dreams Mumbai. The series explores their life journeys of aspirations, broken dreams, disappointments, drug abuse, and blackmail.

Advaita Kala

Author, screenwriter, and columnist Advaita is best known for the screenplays she has written for the romantic drama Anjaana Anjaani and the thriller Kahaani. It was director Siddharth Anand who approached her to write Anjana Anjani a story on two suicidal strangers who make a suicide pact but ends up fulfilling their wishes and eventually fall in love. While, initially it was difficult to write a screenplay for a film but Advaita took the plunge and started sketching the characters, while Anand helped her and co-authored it. The film eventually received great applause and commercial success.

There’s an interesting trivia about how Advaita wrote Kahani while she was approached by Sujoy Ghosh. Inlieu to experience what the protagonist experiences in the film, she took the plunge to write the story with her own experiences by moving to Kolkata, the city which plays a key role in the narration of the film. Although she faced language barriers, the people of the city charmed her with their warmth. The film became a huge box office hit and received critical acclaim along with several awards and nominations. Advaita won the Screen Award for Best Story, Star Guilds Award for Best Story, and Zee Cine Award for Best Story along with Ghosh.

An ardent writer Advaita has authored two novels, Almost Single which was a runaway bestseller which dealt with the evolving relationships, love, and courtship scenario, wherein a love hunt is no more a man’s prerogative. Her second novel Almost There was a sequel to her previous novel.

Kanika Dillon

Kanika Dillion happens to be one of the most promising new-age screenplay writers, known for creating powerful female characters and twisted storylines, depicting different shades of society. Through her works like Kedarnath, Manmarziyan, Ra One, and Size Zero she has made her mark in the Indian film industry.

The film Manmarziyan was quite a realistic depiction of the messed-up love lives of today’s tinder generation. While in the film Kedarnath she intervened many issues in one story including a real tragic incident in Kedarnath, with a cute inter-religious love story which eventually lead to a major disaster in the climax, bringing light on the issue of soil erosion in the holy city and how it can affect lives.

Most recently her latest film Haseen Dilruba based on domestic violence and toxic relationships, which is a dark love story with a thrilling twist, created a stir right from the time of its trailer launch. Although she was trolled with mixed reviews from critics regarding the film, Kanika stands undeterred, giving more importance to people who appreciate her work and liked the movie.

Kanika has been an ardent writer and has authored three books, Bombay Duck is a Fish which is a satire on the Indian film industry, Shiva and the Rise of the Shadows, a superhero novel inspired by the film Ra One, and The Dance of Durga. In 2012 Kanika was honored by Hindustan Times for her top accomplishment at their annual youth summit “Top 30 Under 30”.