Talk to any filmmaker, star or industrywallah and they can’t emphasise enough the importance of a strong story line to deliver a hit. In fact the scripts have often been rated even higher than the star or star power. Surprisingly however, it’s the script-writers who are the lowest-paid in the heirarchy of film-making and it’s an issue that’s been plaguing the industry since decades now where script writers have rued time and again of getting a raw deal when it comes to remunerations. Trade analysts too point out that despite major hikes in star prices, marketing budgets and even the remuneration of technicians, in comparison the scriptwriters continue to be paid a pittance. “There’s no doubt that script writers get a raw deal here. It’s worse for newcomers,” complains a senior scriptwriter who recalls how he’s had to go months without receiving any remuneration at all. “While a star gets a few crore, we have to contend with a lakh or two which is hardly a percentage of the entire film budget,” he adds.

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Pubali Chaudhuri, writer of Rock On!! agrees. “Yes, it’s true. Content is the king, but writers are paupers!” she says. “Of course the system is better since the corporates have come in, but it’s still not ideal or fair,” she adds. Shibani Bathija of My Name Is Khan fame too echoes similar sentiments. “The problem here is that every thinks they can write. Since there are a lot of on the sets improvisations, change in scripts along the reading too, no one gives us our due. Scriptwriting is not viewed as a specialised skill,” she explains.

Trade analysts explain that the problem is that since the script is often the first thing you have in hand, one is not sure as to who will be cast, who will direct or whether it will even be made or not. So at that point it’s only a story being bought. “Of course there’s a Film Writer’s Association, but it only protects copyright issues and the like. What we lack is a basic contract to safeguard our interests,” adds Chaudhuri.