Writers take their pick

A still from Jalsa (right) Jitendra Kumar in Panchayat 2

The fourth edition of the ScreenWriters Association (SWA) Awards has been announced with 85 nominations in 17 categories - from story, screenplay, dialogues, to lyrics, from originals to debutants - for films, television shows, and web series released last year. Initiated during the pandemic, the "awards will be bigger this year," promises Suhael Anwer, COO, SWA.

Insisting that the awards gala, which takes place in Mumbai tomorrow, will be a straight-forward affair focusing on art and skill, Anwer says, "We don't rely on entertainment quotient. Our awards are purely based on the art and skill of the writers. Some of the nominated films, shows, and series [in the nomination list] may be unheard of."

The nominees in the Best Story (Film) category include Anubhav Sinha (Anek), Akshat Ghildial and Suman Adhikary (Badhaai Do), Parvez Shaikh and Jasmeet K Reen (Darlings), Prajwal Chandrashekhar and Suresh Triveni (Jalsa), and Nagraj Popatrao Manjule (Jhund). Tatsat Pande and Bharat Misra (Ghar Waapasi), Shefali Bhushan, Jayant Digambar Somalkar, Manav Bhushan, Deeksha Gujral (Guilty Minds), Chandan Kumar (Panchayat Season 2), Abhay Koranne (Rocket Boys), and Shivamkit Singh Parihar (Sixer) have bagged nominations in the Best Web Originals category.

Preeti Mamgain, president of SWA, shares, "The SWA Awards are the highest accolades a writer can achieve because they are not based on box office, TRPs, or the number of subscribers. They are based on the quality [of an artiste's] writing." Every category will be judged by a different jury, comprising experienced writers like Apurva Asrani, Piyush Mishra, Charudutt Acharya, Hardik Mehta, Biswapati Sarkar and Advaita Kala.

The awards were started with the idea of being ‘by the screenwriters, for the screenwriters'. Deepanjjan Roy, chairman of the awards committee, adds, "During these turbulent and uncertain times within the screenwriting fraternity, the SWA awards will take centre-stage to celebrate and recognise the pinnacle of excellence in the field of screenwriting."