Screenwriters' workshop held in Koolar cafe, more to come

Over 40 aspiring screenwriters sipped Iranian chai and discussed their ideas at Koolar Café in Matunga on Thursday.

The workshop was first of a series--Poetic License--organised by filmmaker Ritesh Batra of The Lunchbox fame, in a bid to attract customers to the city's fast-dying Irani cafes.

The open-for-all initiative saw the director share his personal journey of scripting his Golden Globe-nominated movie and discuss the mechanics of a film screenplay. The two-hour workshop was the first session, and many more such film-related workshops will be held in Iranian ca fés across the city. “This is the first of many such events. I will be announcing the next venue in two weeks,“ Ritesh told Mirror.

Responding to a question from the packed house on how to overcome writer's block, he said, “You have to know your end as you write it, but hopefully as you invest in the process and in your characters, you will end up in a better place than you first imagined.“

Increasing competition and entry of fast-food giants have hit the Irani cafes hard.

So much so, that the owners of some of the cafes had started renting out the space for shooting movies and advertisements to make up for the losses.