Could this software fine tune Bollywood's scripts? Top screenwriters are sceptical

A script-reading software is claiming to “save Hollywood” thanks to its algorithm which is expected to release this February at the Berlin Film Festival. This software, ScriptBook promises to know, for sure, if a film is going to be a smash hit or not, with a far greater certainty, than one’s gut instinct.

What it does is this: Its natural-language algorithms read the story from start to finish, creating a report of what works and what doesn’t with the piece. For instance, it’s promised that ScriptBook will know who the main character is, how good the dialogue sounds and if the story elements are successfully resolved. The software is then promised to be able to predict how much cash the picture will make at the box office.

We wonder, if it works and does become  popular, what would it mean for a screenwriter? Would we see better scripts making it to blockbuster films? Will one’s last hit count for nothing in the scheme of things? Or is the Indian film industry a beast that dances to its own tunes? And most importantly, would the writers themselves use this software or others like it?

That being said, it will take years and years of fine-tuning for a software like this to truly make an impact in international markets, or even behemoths like Bollywood. Moreover, an audience connects to a film’s script on different levels. 

Well, we put these questions to Bollywood’s top wordsmiths. Their opinions on the matter were largely sceptical and at least two said it wouldn’t work at all. 

It’s rubbish!
Vidhu Vinod Chopra doesn't mince words. “Whatever it is, it’s rubbish. Let me give you an example, the song Tere Bin from Wazir has released and has been liked a lot. If you apply the algorithm to the song, it will probably say, ke yeh gaane mein toh kuch hai hi nahi. Because it will calculate the business of the existing music. An artist is beyond all this.” Piyush Mishra outright dismissed it,  saying, “Ye sab bekaar ki baatein hain”.
 
Just basics
On the other hand, Abhijat Joshi feels the sophistication of the program will define its success with the fraternity. He says, “If it is an extraordinarily sophisticated program, it can probably tell you at a very basic level if some principles are being violated. Like if there’s no empathy for the hero...things like that. Milap Zaveri agrees with this contention: “My only point is, technology can calculate the math behind it.”

Audience is king
Milap further feels, “I don’t think anybody can be 100 per cent sure of what will be a superhit, a hit or a flop. Audiences keep changing the pace, they keep changing what they want to watch. They keep evolving.”  The thought is echoed by Sajid (of Sajid-Farhad) who says, “Every writer and director anyway works hard to make the film a hit. Sometimes we miss. Why do we miss it? Because there are certain pulses of the audience which cannot be measured by this kind of thing.”

The human factor 
“Share your work with your friends. You don’t want machines to react to it. It’s about how human beings respond to it. How your friends you respond to it”, says Abhijat, underlining the importance of the human factor in the filmmaking business. “It’s not just mathematics, it’s emotion, humour and a lot more things. How do you assume that one software can be able to calculate human emotions and make a judgment on it?” questions Milap.

No single formula 
He is of the opinion that “if there was one formula to ensure a film or a script would become a blockbuster, every film would be a hit. Obviously, the script is the backbone, but it also depends who acts in it, who directs in it, what vision the director gives to the material, how it’s promoted, how it’s released. There are so many factors at play for a film to be a success that I don’t know how much such a “magic predictor” can analyse a script and say this will be a hit and this won’t.” Rajat Arora thinks that “even Hollywood runs on a formula. But that each script has its own demands.” While Sajid believes that there’s no set formula for a film becoming a hit, his reasons are far more practical. “If that were the case, the studios using this would be the richest one,” he opines. Jokes Milap, “There is a similar app in India, it’s like you take Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan or Aamir Khan or sex. Unke saath ek film bana lo. It’s a blockbuster. Yeh to abhi nikaal rahein hain, humare paas toh readymade formula hai!!” Rajat couldn’t have put it better when he says, “I know this story about this director who found this Aladdin’s lamp and he rubbed it and the director was told, ‘Yaar, you can ask me three wishes’. So he asked for health and wealth and when he came to the third wish was to find him a script that was foolproof, a smash hit and the genie hasn’t come back yet.

Let’s be practical
Some are open to the idea of such a software working. But to a certain extent and not beyond that. Says Rajat, “If there is an app or software that can do this, then I’m sure it will catch on like fire everywhere in the world, man, not only in India. It will beat Candy Crush, I’m sure. In theory, it sounds very good. In practicality, let’s see how it goes.” Something even Milap finds common ground with. He says, “ Ye chal gayi bhi duniya mein, toh hum sab accept kar lenge. Who doesn’t want a magic wand?  Agrees Sajid, “The software won’t be useless. It going to help and have a positive impact, but it can only be a tool . There are several more aspects to look through.”

—With inputs from Harshada Rege