Good adaptation skill essential for screenplays: Writer

Noted screenwriter Anjum Rajabali has said that the real strength of an adapted text lies in the writer's ability to extract the essence of the original story and characters into the screenplay.
Rajabali was speaking at a seminar on "Screenplay adaptation and Gender Sensitisation", conducted as a part of the ongoing 19th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) here.
"The writer should understand the internal conflicts and state of minds of the characters and he must also be able to transcribe the text into a script without losing the emotions. Viewers do not come to see, but to experience cinema," he said.

Therefore, the writer needs to be very clear about the text and characters, he said.
Commercials or intervals have become a curse for the cinema as it leaves the film on cliff hanger, Rajabali said adding that the break at times may tend to deviate from the actual story line.
Rajbali has written the scripts of 'Ghulam', 'Pukar', 'Apaharan', 'Raajneeti' and 'Satyagraha' among other Bollywood movies.