'It's like having your baby grow up in your absence'

Kept away from the set of Saif Ali Khan-starrer, Tandav writer Gaurav rues he has no idea how his script has been translated on screen by director Ali Abbas Zafar.

Even as writers are playing an integral role in changing the vocabulary of Bollywood, it is unfortunate that many of them often end up getting a raw deal — screenwriter Gaurav Solanki perhaps being a case in point. Solanki, the mind behind Saif Ali Khan's web series, Tandav, claims that he was not asked to join the creative team on the sets of the political thriller as producer-director Ali Abbas Zafar gave shape to his story.

Gaurav Solanki

"It's ironic and unfortunate that after writing the script, I haven't been part of the shooting. That's new for me because I have usually been involved in the entire process. It's like giving your baby to someone else, having them grow up in your absence and seeing them after they have grown up in a certain way," rues Solanki, adding that the shoot wrapped up a few days ago. The difference in the working style is all the more heightened since Article 15 — which earned him honours at a recent awards gala — saw him work in tandem with director Anubhav Sinha. "Anubhav asked me to come to the shoot, and I too, wanted to be completely involved. We would re-write a lot during the shoot." Ask him if he expressed his desire to be as closely involved in Tandav, and he sidesteps the question: "I don't want to say anything on that."

Ali Abbas Zafar

Leading man Khan had drawn parallels between the political saga and House Of Cards. "Besides belonging to the same genre, a striking similarity is that the protagonist here, played by Saif, is a deeply ambitious politician. Apart from that, Tandav is completely Indian. Although it's a fictional tale, you will see glimpses of contemporary Indian politics."

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