The write man for the medium

Be it game shows or serials or feature films, Vipul D. Shah has written them all. He admits that he doesn’t enjoy television writing because it is market-driven and formula-based. Film writing gives him immense pleasure and creative satisfaction because it gives him a lot of freedom to experiment with ideas. “While in television you work within the parameters, cinema gives you a vast canvas to explore your writing potential,” he explains. But he quickly adds that he is committed to both because television gives him quick money and cinema gives him a creative high.

Though his first love is cinema, Vipul says he doesn’t take television writing lightly. “I work very hard on every project and give it my best,” he assures. He doesn’t agree with the general perception that television is the writer’s medium. “It’s the viewers’ medium. Television is controlled by the market forces and it functions on the basis of demand and supply ratio.

In seven years he has conceived, designed and written as many as eight game shows, four sitcoms, two countdowns and four serials. “If success is measured by the quantity of work one has done and the money one has earned then I must admit that I am successful,” says Vipul who once upon a time couldn’t even imagine that he could make a successful career in television writing.

Vipul wrote and produced a Gujarati serial Aatma Santosh for Ahmedabad Doordarshan. “The serial was a big hit and it gave me confidence that I could survive as a writer,” recalls Vipul. But since the returns were low he didn’t take the risk of producing another serial.

Instead he joined Media Classic as an executive producer where he wrote, produced and directed three shows. But after that he went through a real bad patch. “There was no work and nothing was working out right,” he recollects. “The time was so bad that I realised what struggle is all about.” Then he got a call from Anand Mahendroo’s office to write Dekh Bhai Dekh. Vipul wrote one episode which Liliput liked but it was rejected by Mahendroo. But he didn’t give up. He wrote a few more episodes which clicked and Vipul became the co-writer of Dekh Bhai Dekh. Along with Liliput, he wrote the first 61 episodes of the popular sitcom.

“It was the best learning experience of my life,” he recounts. “Mahendroo is the real guru of comedy on Indian television. Being a true task master he made me work very hard on every idea and brought the best out of me. From him I learnt what comedy is all about and how to open and end a scene. From Liliput I learnt how to write punchlines.” After DBD there was no looking back for Vipul.

He wrote 26 episodes of Philips Top Ten, 18 of The Zee Horror Show, all the episodes of Hum Aap Ke Hain Kountdown, Crossfire, The Battle of Bollywood and designed, wrote and directed Picnic Antakshiri, to name just a few. His present assignments as writer include I Love You which is a sitcom and Lekin which is a romantic thriller soap. Besides he is writing and directing the song-based show Chalti Ka Naam Antakshiri.

Chhutti Kar Doonga, an NFDC film which is complete but has not been released yet, was his first film as writer. He has finished writing a Tamil-Telugu bilingual film called Minnale and is presently writing two bilingual films, one of which will he will be directing too.

A.L. Chougule

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