‘No subject is bad, the writer could be’, maintains writer Shahzad Ahmed!
Writer #ShahzadAhmed came to the limelight after the release of #ManjhiTheMountainMan. The director #KetanMehta put complete trust in Shahzad and asked him to research on the subject. Shahzad has been around in the film industry for about a decade and a half but the amount of satisfaction he derived working on Manjhi is insurmountable.
According to Shahzad, ‘No subject is bad, but the writer could be. Otherwise how come so many movies on a topic of love are loved by the audience. There should be a soul in the story and all depends on how it’s presented. Our life is filled with different colours. There are layers in emotions. So one just needs to extract exact emotion to portray a good story. No doubt a litte dramatisation is required to reach out to all sectors of the audiences but one should be able to create magic with the scenes. You need not have to look out for outside entertainment. Only way to entertain people is to put across life’s experiences.’
In Manji, Nawazuddin Siddique played the lead. Shahzad said, ‘Nawaz believes in realistic portrayals. He is a method actor and acting is like ‘Puja’ to him. He too realised that I had done enough research on the subject and readily agreed to be inter dependent. He used to call for me when he used to have any queries regarding the scenes and the emotions involved. He used to listen intently to me while narrating back story of the scene. He even used to acknowledge by nodding to me after delivering a perfect scene.’
Shahzad has written for the films like Dassehra, Gulmohar (still unreleased) and Kabad The Coin (which is readying for release). In Kabad, Vivaan Shah, son of Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak Shah, plays the main role. Shahzad is all praise for this young actor. He said,’Vivaan hails from a Film (not filmy) Family and acting is worship for them. The entire family is seldom swayed by stardom and good performance is of prime importance for them. Vivaan did a three month workshop wherein he lived like a Kabadiwala and visited quite a few places learning the nitty gritty of their lives. He even rode with a handcart and dealt on his own with the Kabadis. Also he has the technical knowledge of film making which made it easy while shooting the film. He understands what Art actually is. He is a good actor and a better person as gets involved in all aspects of film making, giving lesser importance to money.’
Shahzad Ahmed writes from his heart and Gulmohar is the prime example of it. It’s on the lines of parallel cinema and is hopeful to get it released soon after Kabadi The Coin. Importantly he indulges in variety of subjects and all his films have covered different genres.