‘Cinema once had humility’: Prasoon Joshi on the changing place of writers in films

Lyricist, poet, and screenwriter Prasoon Joshi believes Hindi cinema once carried a certain humility, rooted in literature. "The initial raw material of cinema came from literature," says Joshi, whose work spans films like Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. "Rabindranath Tagore's work, Premchand's work — all the great literary writers' work was adapted into cinema. There was a certain humility in cinema then."

Over time, that humility faded. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Joshi argues that as Hindi cinema drifted from literature, it also moved away from respecting writing as an art form.

In the early years, he says, the relationship between writers and cinema was shaped by reverence. Writers were not auxiliary contributors but foundational voices. "They were complete writers," says the National Award-winning writer, recalling a period when filmmakers instinctively turned to literature for stories, structure, and emotional depth. "Cinema people related with these writers."

That relationship, he believes, shifted as cinema became more self-contained. As filmmakers began sourcing writers from within the film industry itself, writing slowly lost its stature. "After some time, when cinema people started breeding writers inside cinema, I think the value of writers was not realised as much," he says.

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Joshi links this change not just to industry hierarchy but to a broader cultural shift. As reading habits declined and visual storytelling became dominant, literature stopped being the primary feeder of cinematic imagination. "People were not reading novels and literature as much as they were watching films," he notes. With this shift, the responsibility to consciously nurture writers was neglected.

Instead, "Somebody became a writer by chance," says Joshi. "From childhood, nobody wanted to become a cinema screenwriter." Writing, he suggests, was rarely seen as a destination in itself.

That perception, he feels, persists even today. In India, he says, screenwriting is still treated as a stepping stone rather than a final calling. "If you’ve written films, the question you are asked is, 'So when are you becoming a producer or when are you becoming a director?'" he says. "Writing films is not seen as a final destination."

This hierarchy, Joshi argues, is deeply embedded. Cinema remains a director- and star-led medium, where writing is often taken for granted. "We live in a hierarchy," he says, adding that the industry needs to introspect why writing does not command the same respect it once did.

There are signs of change, however. Joshi believes the rise of OTT platforms has opened up space for writers, both globally and in India. "OTT has empowered writers," he says, even if unevenly. Yet empowerment alone, he cautions, is not enough unless writing itself is valued as a craft.

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