Pushpa Impossible writer Shabia Walia: ‘I prefer writing for TV over OTT & film'

One might assume that writing for television becomes monotonous after a while but Shabia Walia refutes that strongly The writer has been crafting TV scripts for over 30 years and is still raring to go She is currently working on Wagle Ki Duniya and Pushpa Impossible alongside Rajesh Joshi with dialogues written by Sneha Desai and Tushar Ishwer As Pushpa Impossible nears the 800episode mark Walia reflects on how writers are having their moment in the spotlight and the genderneutral nature of the industryEdited excerpts from the interviewAlthough television is called the writerrsquos medium they rarely get their due creditThe industry has understood that if therersquos no good writing there isnrsquot a good show So increasingly I have felt that the writersrsquo time has come the respect and credit due to them are being given along with the money It takes a lot of years and some successes to finally reach that space Many good producers platforms and channels have begun to take notice I believe writers are in a better space than they were a few years agoShabia WaliaThe Writers Guild of America had been on strike for a long time for fair wages and treatment How are the writers in India treatedThe Screen Writers Association SWA is doing a very good job It is also working to get us royalties Wersquove been told that wersquoll get royalties for whatever work wersquove done in the past decade which is similar to the practice in America The money will start coming in the next 18 to 24 monthsIn TV actors are the face of the story and hence get that recognition but people behind the camera are not even introduced CommentI can fairly agree to that A layman may not know me when I walk on the streets But the other day my daughter told her class teacher that her mother writes for Pushpa Impossible and Wagle Ki Duniya The teacher was enamoured by that The shows are our road to fame if they do well Credible awards and social media also help Now writers have also become camerafriendly so they do their own publicitySince the OTT boom itrsquos widely believed that TV content is regressive or overthetop Do you agreeI havenrsquot written any of those shows When I started writing I was conscious about the kind of shows I would write Thankfully the universe has listened to me and never given me a regressive show Having said that while it is a creative endeavour itrsquos also a business We have so many platforms to watch shows Once the supply becomes more than the demand there is a competition to grab eyeballs When the business becomes about grabbing eyeballs the storytelling becomes louder I donrsquot think therersquos anything wrong or right with that Itrsquos just a need of the business to stand outHave you written things to grab attentionFortunately Irsquove done a lot of work with Sab and Sony TV which has always stayed in the real zone But for instance we wrote a story about a 42yearold woman who wants to study in a school After she went to school and cleared her 10th standard that story ended organically So it went on to other things Of course wersquove never got lizards and cockroaches in the show In Pushpa it was overthetop when we showed her bringing down a huge businessman You may question if that is possible in real life to an Adani or Ambani But that is to placate the audience It is to make them believe that sometimes there may be things they cannot do but a protagonist can Itrsquos catharticDo the daily grind and time crunch affect youIrsquove written for films OTT and TV and the grammar for each is different OTT and films give you time but I still prefer writing for TV as it is a great medium It reaches lakhs of people every day you get feedback every day as ratings are coming on a daily basis You can always correct your mistakes the next day TV is forgiving and the viewers are loyal to you Also because of the volume of episodes you end up making good money I have refused a lot of OTT shows because of the amount of time they take to be showcased If you have discipline and are consistent it is possible to write for TV It is much more rewarding in terms of feedback Viewers remember TV shows How well do people remember OTT showsSince you write for both Pushpa Impossible and Wagle Ki Duniya how do you keep the content differentWagle is largely episodic in nature Another challenge is that in highdrama shows you want to know whatrsquos going to happen next With feelgood shows like Wagle you know that the hero is going to win at the end of the day Pushpa is linear and easy to write because you just have to continue from where you left off The audience is also loyal People watching episodic shows may not come back tomorrowIs television dominated by female or male writersIrsquod say itrsquos 5050 I donrsquot think either gender is ruling the roost