'I love it when a woman wins': Screenwriter Atika Chohan of 'Chhapaak' fame

The screenwriter who shot to fame with real-life drama 'Chhapaak' on why she is keen to write movies that are rooted in reality

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Published: Fri 27 Oct 2023, 12:51 PM

Last updated: Fri 27 Oct 2023, 12:52 PM

She is a silent gun, the quiet disrupter, the wily wordsmith and the changemaker in the pantheon of Indian cinema scriptwriters today. With Agra winning accolades in festivals worldwide and now Sahela making the waves, screenwriter Atika Chohan seems to be still unsure and unmindful of her grand success and in that hesitation lies her genius. In an interview with City Times the screenwriter speaks about her inner world, her past strifes, and her inspirations.

What are your current projects?

One is a series and one is a film. The series is an adaptation of a gender crime from a book (non-fiction). I am willfully taking a populist stand on it since it resonates with the class and the mass. It doesn’t come naturally to me but I am attempting it because I want people to watch it. I also concluded Ulajh. It is a literary adaptation. My film Agra went to Cannes and Sahela, which is an Indo-Australian project executive produced by Dev Patel is on the canvas right now.

Do you say "yes" less often than you say "no"?

Saying "no" directly affects your sustenance, livelihood, confidence and career prospects. Anyone can be fearful of rejecting projects from successful people. But we don’t talk enough about the process of hiring writers and the powerlessness the writers face. There is no stake holding; you aren’t treated like an equal; your voice is not heard; you are asked to push the pen; you have to keep bargaining. I was told that my understanding of the world was limited and my feminism wasn’t good enough for every project. But this auto-subtraction happened for me naturally. It was a blessing in disguise.This isolation helped me to be stronger in my own world.

And you stood your ground…

I have learnt to be very quiet about my intentions and say “fun hai, fun hai” to the content I create and never proclaim that I am a feminist. Films like Agra or Margarita with a Straw are unsettling. There is no point teaching the educated. What do I gain by giving lessons in misogyny to an informed audience that is educated and erudite? I forced myself to do things outside myself and then I saw crowds react and regular people cry. Guilty’s success, constitutionally and genetically, gave me a reason to live. I don’t mind the songs and dances in mainstream narratives as long as I have something to do in those two scenes in a film or a series. I would like to write Jawan with a female vigilante. My creativity is about subtraction today, leaving out everything that is not realistic - be it policy, procedure or politics. I am in a constant state of negotiation and working out solutions and so my characters do the same.

The subaltern is central to your films? Is that a conscious trope?

They perhaps come from an experiential reality. I was born into a dysfunctional family and would like to edit my experience for people who can watch it. I have had a tough childhood, struggled for money, raised myself on my own and have found my way from issues like caste, class and gender spaces. I have asserted myself in a gentle and effective way where I don’t take away from someone’s share. I have always found myself in a position where people are scavenging for space. I have been a problem solver from a young age and that requires courage. Today that courage is cool but that time you had no option but to be courageous and that is where the humour comes from. After Chhapaak’s success, I ran into a totally opposite direction with my indies. My fortune doesn’t allow commercial cinema, it just doesn’t thrive on me. Things that work for me magically are projects that are grounded and rooted in reality.

Who are the Indian filmmakers whose work you admire?

Ruchi Narayan, co-writer of Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi. I co-wrote Guilty with her and she is a real egalitarian. Also Konkona Sen Sharma and Aparna Sen and some of Sai Paranjpe films. I am also a fan of diligence that people show. I am a big fan of Zoya’s commitment to her cinema. I love it when a woman wins.

How do you protect your inner compass?

That is 80 per cent of my work every day. This hyper-sensitivity is my curse and my gift too. I do end up feeling bruised or hurt over things that people have no idea about. They don’t even know that they have wounded you. Step away and take it as a part of your homework. I am better at recovery today. I am in deep recognition of the paucity of time (laughs). We always have to reassemble ourselves and that is what makes the story-telling interesting.