Archana Sarat talks to Dipankar Mukherjee on cracking the Big Book-to-Screen deal, her book Birds of Prey is now adapted to the screen as Irai on AHA Tamil.
Dipankar Mukherjee: Hello Archana! Congratulations on this massive achievement.
Archana Sarat: Congratulations to us, Dipankar. It has been quite an adventure, isn’t it?
Dipankar Mukherjee: Yes, it has. It is going to be quite exciting to see the manuscript that I held in my hands five years ago as a worldwide web series, on screen, in just another five days. So, tell me, did you plan for this when you wrote the book?
Archana Sarat: Not at all. In fact, it has still not sunk in completely. I have been lucky and blessed. The journey of my book to the screen is completely unconventional.
Dipankar Mukherjee: So, how did it all begin?
Archana Sarat: It started with my Chennai book launch. Chennai is my hometown, my heartbeat, my place. It is filled with my friends, relatives, and well-wishers. Launching my debut novel in Chennai is nothing short of a celebration. Odyssey, one of the best bookstores in the country, agreed to host my book launch. They were so kind and encouraging towards a newbie writer, which is what I was then.
I felt that it would be wonderful to have a celebrity launch my book as that would grab a lot of eyeballs. Being the novice that I was, I didn’t know that it costs money to invite a celebrity.
Dipankar Mukherjee: Haha! Yes, I remember how surprised you were when you learnt that.
Archana Sarat: Exactly! Authors don’t make that kind of money. Sorry, no offence to you.
Dipankar Mukherjee: None taken. As we both know, that’s how the industry works.
Archana Sarat: Right! So, both of us don’t have a few spare lakhs to throw around.
Dipankar Mukherjee: True!
Archana Sarat: So, when I got an appointment to meet and gift a copy of my book to Mr. Sarathkumar, I didn’t have big hopes. I wasn’t very sure whether he would come for the launch. As you know, he is not ‘just’ an actor. He is a veteran actor who has acted in more than a hundred movies across the Southern film industry. He is also an important politician and is involved in various social development and humanitarian activities. I knew he would be busy, but I crossed my fingers and kept hope.
Surprise of surprises, Sarath Sir had not just taken the book from me, but he had immediately started reading it too. In a single day, he had binge-read the book. He said that he couldn’t keep it down. In fact, on the stage, at my launch, which took place five years ago, he mentioned that this story must go to the screen and that he would love to play Anton, my protagonist.
Today, his words have come true.
Dipankar Mukherjee: Wow! That’s quite a tale. So, what has been happening these five years? Why did it take five years?
Archana Sarat: Making a movie is a slow process. When you are writing a book, things are different. It’s just you, huddled in a corner of the room. All you need is a pen and paper, some calm and coffee. With a movie, the whole game changes. There are hundreds of people involved. Add to that lighting, shooting, editing… It’s a crazy world that demands cartloads of money.
I didn’t know all that, at that time. When Sarath Sir mentioned he would like to see it on screen, I went home and started rewriting the book as a three-hour movie screenplay. I knew that a page of screenplay translates into one minute on screen. So, I counted that I must write 180 pages and just set about writing that. Now, when I think back, I guess it must have been the worst screenplay ever written.
Dipankar Mukherjee: Did you give it to him?
Archana Sarat: Yes, I did. There are two kinds of people who are extremely confident – those who know everything and those who know nothing. Since I belonged to the latter, I went ahead and gave it to him.
Dipankar Mukherjee: What did he do?
Archana Sarat: This was a person who has acted in more than a hundred movies. Still, he didn’t throw it in my face as some rubbish brought to him. My husband and I had gone to see him. He sat us down, gave us some coffee and snacks and told us what his vision for the story was. First, he told me that it would work well as a web series. Then, he told me how the characters must be developed and lots more. It was an enlightening experience.
Dipankar Mukherjee: So, what did you do after that?
Archana Sarat: The first thing that I did, after coming back to Mumbai, was to sign up for a Screenwriting Bootcamp at Whistling Woods International. It was conducted by Mr. Anjum Rajabali, the veteran screenwriter who has written movies like Ghulam, Raajneeti, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, etc. He is a tough taskmaster and a fabulous teacher. We had sessions that began at about 8.30 or 9 in the morning and stretched on till 8, or even 9, at night. This went on for nearly 10-15 days. That was my first foray into this world.
After that, I read many books on screenwriting. One of the best, from which I learnt a lot, was Story by Robert McKee. I also started reading screenplays. There is so much you can learn from reading scripts. Anyone who wants to try their hand at writing screenplays must begin by reading scripts.
Dipankar Mukherjee: That’s true. Most people don’t understand the importance of reading in the genre and form in which you want to write.
Archana Sarat: Yes. After all these efforts, I tackled Birds of Prey again. Using all the feedback given by Sarath Sir and all that I learnt from Anjum Rajabali Sir, along with the vigorous efforts that I had taken to educate myself, I worked on changing the book into a web series.
This time, it was a much better effort than before. I went back to Mr. Sarathkumar and gave it to him. He liked it. He felt that it had the scope to be taken to screen.
Dipankar Mukherjee: How did you feel at that moment?
Archana Sarat: Frankly, even at that moment, I had only climbed the first step in the ladder. I knew the ladder was long and it is going to take a lot of time and effort. I had just given that initial idea showing that the book had the potential to become a web series. After that, I returned to Mumbai. Two years ago, I shifted to Singapore too.
It was the producers, Radaan, who have taken it forward after that. I am sure they have adapted the story for the screen, got the screenplay and dialogues written in Tamil and went forward giving it all their best. Now, even I am excited and eager to see how Birds of Prey has turned into Irai.
Dipankar Mukherjee: Amazing! So, what’s the plan on 18th?
Archana Sarat: I have already downloaded Aha Tamil. Their interface is fantastic. After Netflix, this is the first platform that seems to have such a smooth user-friendly experience. Also, it is available around the world. Here, in Singapore, my Samsung TV has the Aha app too. It’s amazing. So, I’m going to order some pizza and coke and binge-watch Irai on February 18th with my family.
Dipankar Mukherjee: Great! Have fun!
Archana Sarat: Thank you. Bye!
Read more about Archana Sarat in her profile, https://www.readomania.com/author/archanasarat
Birds of Prey is available on Amazon and Readomania.
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