‘For me, screenplay is like a haiku’

From writing the screenplays for ‘Salaam Bombay!’, ‘The Namesake’ and ‘Mississippi Masala’, all directed by Mira Nair, to directing the National Award-winning film ‘Little Zizou’ and excelling as a photographer, Sooni Taraporevala is a multitasker. Now, her series ‘Waack Girls’, a nine-episode show on waacking and self-discovery, is streaming on ‘Prime Video’. Excerpts from the chat:

Mekhola Bose inspired you to make ‘Waack Girls’?

I cast Mekhola in ‘Yeh Ballet’. I was looking for a fantastic dancer as the character of Asha - someone who was very strong and silent yet a fantastic dancer. Out of the blue, I got an email about a dance battle taking place in Mumbai. As soon as I walked in, I saw Mekhola on stage and I have a video of that first time I saw her and I was struck. I met her the next day and cast her. That’s where it began. And then afterward, after the shoot, we had lunch and I asked her what she was doing, what kind of dance that was and then she told me about waacking. That’s when I got inspired to make the story.

Did you know about waacking before that?

Not at all. I didn’t even know there was a dance style called waacking till Mekhola told me about it. I saw her dance. I loved what I saw.

‘Waack Girls’ is set in Kolkata.

I love the city. When I did ‘Little Zizou’, my music director was Bickram Ghosh and I came to Kolkata quite a few times to work with him. I just loved all the musicians. I thought they had a quality that is sometimes missing in Mumbai because Mumbai is such a hustle, it’s so commercial. I also was in Kolkata for ‘The Namesake’ (Sooni wrote the screenplay for the Mira Nair film). Also, I have such great affection for Satyajit Ray films.

Penning Tales

Since you were involved with the screenplay of ‘Salaam Bombay!’ and ‘The Namesake’, are you happy with the film writing these days that’s happening in Bollywood mainstream cinema?

I don’t watch that many mainstream films, so I can’t really comment. But I think, on the whole, what’s expected of screenplays here is that sometimes you’re expected to explain a lot. You’re expected to spell things out in a very, to me, boring way. That’s not the way I write. For me, length is supremely important. For me, a screenplay is almost like a haiku where you’re saying the maximum with minimum words. But here, there seems to be no limit on length.