BHARATI PAWASKAR
Is there a talent pool problem in India? How do we bring in more sensitivity among today’s youth? Is Nature the only inspirer for writers? How can one market his ideas and stories? How to sell words? Does literature have nothing to do with the societal issues? Should a writer write in seclusion or confinement? Or should he gather from the experiences that life throws at him? These and many more questions were bombarded by the audience at Prasoon Joshi in his master class ‘Lyrical Imagination Unleashed’ at IFFI 2018 to which the poet, lyricist and screenwriter replied with ease and confidence.
“Nature reflects in one’s work but stories and narratives exist everywhere. One has to pick up from the bittersweet experiences of life and give them expression. Hence, giving credit only to Nature for being an inspiration for making good writers is just unfair. There is so much that life offers us. One can be a good poet or a writer even in the confinement of four walls,” states Prasoon Joshi while conversing with film critic, Sachin Chatte.
“Life is a great teacher and we all learn our lessons from her,” said the poet who is also a successful marketer in the advertising world. Some of his famous taglines, ‘Thanda matlab Coca Cola’, ‘Ummidonwali Dhoop’ and ‘Dettol ka Dhula’ have rocked the ad world and made an easy way to the tips of the tongue of common man. The lyricist who has penned some of the legendary songs of Hindi films like ‘Maa’ and ‘Kholo Kholo’ in ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘Roobaru’ and ‘Tu Bin Bataye’ in ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Zinda’ in ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ briefed his journey from a small-town boy to a world famous marketer as well as a jury to national as well as international film festivals.
“Everyday life offers us umpteen stories. We have to take inspiration from the people around us and weave it into our poems and stories. Advertising has taught me discipline. There is no brief while one writes for ‘Swantah Sukhai’ (self-pleasure) but in the commercial world there is brief given to a writer and one has to focus on it. I soak myself fully into the brief, think, feel and then let the writing happen naturally. It should pour out from you on its own. That’s an art and only humans can master it, not machines. So be a human, feel the world around you and then express your emotions in words, colours, sounds,” shares Prasoon who stresses on the importance of language and the preservation of it.
“Don’t be ashamed to speak in your own language. If you don’t keep it alive, your language will die and with it will weather the fineness of emotions, expressions and sensitivity to feel them. The world is shrinking and so are the words in our languages. The fast forward life has given birth to shortcuts even in spoken and written language, which will mar, impair and spoil the quality of our inner expressions and make us incomplete humans. Let us not do it to ourselves,” urged the wordsmith.
Prasoon advocated that market is reality and one cannot escape from it or avoid it. One has to walk hand in hand with the requirements of the market and balance it with productive, quality writing whether it is film or advertising and bring in the change we want to see. By understanding the needs of the society, the nation and its people, a write has to offer his creative talent to communicate and bind the world and not divide it.
“Armchair criticism would lead us to nowhere. We have to be the change we wish to see in the world around us. Let groom our youth consciously before we lose what was good. We can surely invest our hopes in today’s youth as they are wise, talented and informed,” concluded Prasoon on a positive note.
