All budding filmmakers, make the most of this lockdown, learn via online masterclass from your film gurus!

What should a budding film writer do? Why do we get attracted to crisis, drama, conflict, negativity? How crucial is the interval point when writing a Bollywood

What should a budding film writer do? Why do we get attracted to crisis, drama, conflict, negativity? How crucial is the interval point when writing a Bollywood screenplay? Movie buffs and film students often ask such questions to filmmakers, who’re engaging with them through the online medium amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari co-hosted an online Q&A session on screenplay writing along with filmmaker husband Nitesh Tiwari.

Ritesh Batra of The Lunchbox (2013) fame reached out to people, urging those stranded at home and interested in talking screenwriting, to come forward for a daily Instagram chat.

When we reached out to Batra to talk about the initiative, he was reluctant, but said, “I like talking about movies and writing, you’re welcome to join us one day.” And so we did, but his broadband issues led him to conduct an #AskMeAnything session on Twitter. Interesting questions about Irrfan’s process as an actor, about how to get a script of Photograph (2019) online, about camera movements in The Lunchbox, et al, came his way.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri is hosting free online masterclasses in storytelling and scriptwriting, urging people to “make your first professional indie short film during quarantine”.

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017) director RS Prasanna is also hosting YouTube sessions, Film Learning in Corona Times. He uploads a video each day, talking about technicalities such shot language; staging, blocking and 180 degree rule; and also storytelling.

Inspired by a children’s illustrator who is doing doodle lessons online to keep kids engaged amidst the lockdown, he says, “I was fascinated that we can be who we are artistes, and contribute in engaging people. Some are teaching Yoga, some are teaching dance, and so I thought, Hey, I’m a filmmaker, let me teach that!”

Directors Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari have also started an Instagram masterclass of sorts on screenplay writing.

The Dangal (2016) director tells us, “We did it purely to encourage budding writers who have a lot of queries but haven’t got a chance to interact with the professionals. We have been getting such requests for a while now, and now that we have some free time on our hands, we decided to go for it.”

A variety of queries came their way - I know how to write, but how to write for cinema? Does the first dialogue about a film character tell a lot about it? How to develop a script if we have just a concept or basic storyline?

And since the response was “truly amazing”, Tiwari says “it has really made us think we should be doing it more often”.

Internationally, filmmaker David Fincher surprised 450 quarantined students in UK with a a video masterclass. And screen artistes - across the world - are using the power of social media to talk about their craft to give fans a mode of escape in this time of crisis.