Aspiring Bollywood screenwriters attend Inspiration Conference

Hundreds of aspiring Bollywood screenwriters recently attended the 17th annual Screenwriters Inspiration Conference in Mumbai, where they learned that genius is “1% perspiration, 99% inspiration.”

“You cannot avoid perspiration completely,” said keynote speaker Siddharth Anand. “After all, we live in a hot country. You must perspire a little, but everything else is inspiration.”

Anand, who co-wrote the screenplay for Hum Tum after being inspired by When Harry Met Sally, urged the writers not to waste time being original. “Originality is overrated,” he said. “Everything has been done before. But the important thing is, if you are going to be inspired by another movie, pick a good one. Don’t pick a movie with Nicolas Cage in it.”

He urged them not to get discouraged if inspiration doesn’t come to them right away. “As you develop as a screenwriter, you will find yourself being inspired all the time,” he said. “You will be inspired by several movies, which is good because some critics will think you are being original.”

After listening to the keynote speaker, conference attendees were offered a choice of several classes, including “Introduction to Inspiration,” “Intermediate Inspiration,” and “Advanced Inspiration.”

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, director of the blockbuster Munnabhai movies, taught the introductory class and explained the difference between inspiration and plagiarism. “Plagiarism is what you do when you’re a student,” he said. “Inspiration is what you do when you’re a professional.”

He noted that while Munnabhai M.B.B.S. was inspired by Patch Adams, he made enough changes that Hollywood thought it was original and bought the rights to it. Mira Nair is producing the Hollywood version, Gangsta M.D., to be released in 2008. Munnabhai has also been produced in regional languages, such as Tamil and Telegu. “The more you’re inspired,” Chopra said, “the more you inspire.”