Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: May 05, 2020 | 
| 中文
Bee Gul at This Year's Adab Festival
Among the new cadre of playwrights in Pakistan’s media industry, one voice has emerged as a distinctive, unconventional, and complex, that is of Bee Gul. Many television viewers are familiar with her name, especially after the resounding success of Dar Si Jaati Hay Sila (Sila Gets a Little Scared). Gul was the perfect choice to handle the challenging themes of psychological and sexual abuse, as her writing has always shown a deep understanding of the complexity of human character, especially in her portrayal of women.
Although she has a Master’s degree in English Literature, Gul primarily considers herself a lover of Urdu classical literature. She started her career as a screenwriter, with the telefilm Kun Qamar Ara (Qamar Ara, who?), which won Best Scriptwriter’s award at the Hum TV Telefilms Festival (2010). She also took on the monumental task of adapting Arundhati Roy’s ‘God of Small Things’ as the television serial Talkhiyan (Bitterness) in 2013.
Poster for Talkhiyan (Betrayal)
Her first film was Laloolal.com and her second film Intizar (Anticipation), is set to release soon. Intizar deals with yet another emotive theme of the young generation grappling with the responsibility of elderly parents and mental health issues. Youlin Magazine had a chat with Bee Gul about her writing process and her journey as a scriptwriter.
Answer: I have always been writing something or the other, as far as my memory goes. I started writing poetry as a child and graduated to writing diaries, short stories, and translations. I used to write on walls, doors, and papers, whatever I could get my hands on. And I don’t remember when and why I thought about writing for the screen.
I sent my first play to Hum TV when Faseeh Bari Khan was the content head. Around the same time, the channel was planning a telefilm festival. Faseeh connected me to a producer who was looking for a script for Sakina Samo’s short film, Kaun Qamar Ara (Who was Qamar Ara?). It got nominated for the best script and the best film. Sakina won the best director and I won best writer.
Film Poster for Laloolal.com
Answer: I grew up with a mother and a grandmother who shared a passion for books. Both were very fond of literature; English, Urdu, Persian, so I had a lot of books around me. I vividly remember that the first novel I read was Maidan-e-Amal (Field of Deeds) by Munshi Premchand, who is called the father of progressive Urdu writers. I didn’t get half of what I was reading, but I was glued to it and spent my whole summer vacation reading it. Since then I have read that book many times.
I also read Ismat Chughtai, Qurat ul Ain Haider, D. H. Lawrence, and Thomas Hardy. I discovered Manto much later. Then came a time when I started reading Bronte sisters, and I don’t know how many times I have read Jane Eyre. Amongst the screenwriters, my biggest inspiration has been Noor-ul-Huda Shah, and her serial Jungle (Forest).
Answer: I think my struggle started after that first breakthrough. After my first film, a lot of mainstream channels approached me to write but often rejected my ideas because they found my stories too unusual. What I wanted to write was not considered palatable for mainstream television. I cannot force myself to write a certain story if it doesn’t come from within. I don’t want to show only helpless and hapless women in my plays, but women who fight against the odds. They said my writing was too arty, dark, and intellectual to be commercially viable. It was not easy, but I refused to compromise.
Gul (Center) with Qazi Wajid (Left) and Khalid Ahmed (Right) for the Film Pheeki Theek Kehta Hai (Pheeki is Right)
Answer: The gap between what the writers conceive and how it gets portrayed is very real. One has to try and work with likeminded people who can read between your lines. My writing style is very subtle so I prefer to give my scripts to a director who can understand its nuances. I write very detailed screenplays, and some directors tend to get annoyed because of that. But when the writer, director, actors, and even the editor are aligned, one can create magic on the screen.
Answer: Whenever I have written anything, be it for theatre, television, radio, even films or my short stories, the first hook is always a character. The character appears from somewhere, and I blindly follow that character, who dictates what he or she wants to say or do in my mind. I cannot mould that character or deviate from his or her story. I never write synopses of my writings, but I look closer and analyse the second drafts of my scripts, especially when I am writing a feature film.
Answer: When you are working as a freelance writer, or in any creative form of expression, you must exercise some level of organization. My projects involve a lot of people’s time and money, and timelines are vital.
I rise before dawn because early morning is my ideal time to write. I have to write for at least five hours every day. There are some days when I have nothing to write, but I still keep going, and I always write with my fountain pen. If I am not writing, I keep contemplating ideas, which can also be very productive. Then there are days when I just cannot stop writing. Writing energizes me but also exhausts me, and it depends on what I am writing. Writing Dar Si Jaati Hai Sila exhausted me a lot when I was done for the day. But sometimes when I am unable to write for days, that can also be very exhausting.
Poster for Dar Si Jati Hai Sila (Sila Gets a Little Scared)
Answer: Every medium has its own demands. The technique for writing a feature film is altogether different from writing a television serial. I have a simple yet effective format of writing, which remains similar across different mediums.
As a screenwriter, the freedom to write what you want changes across mediums. When I write for television, its budget and target audience is different from a film. But taking creative risks is very important. Writing for theatre revitalizes me the most. So far, I have written two original plays and adapted a Manto story for the stage.
Poster for Gul's Adaptation of A Manto Play for the Stage
Answer: I have written a film script for Shaan’s new film, which will soon go into production. I have Sakina Samo’s Intizar coming up, which was ready to be released but got delayed due to the lockdown caused by the pandemic. I am also working on a final draft for another film these days. Hopefully, next year, when things are back to normal, my audience will get to see a lot more of my films in cinemas.
Film Poster for Intezaar (Waiting)
In a sea of formulaic and superficial dramatists, Gul captures the complexity of our society and Pakistani women as they manoeuvre its challenges. She is a thought-provoking writer, always on the verge of a new and interesting story to tell her audience. We wait eagerly for Intezaar and more of her creations to release soon. Here is a link to Intizar’s trailer: https://bit.ly/3d8rcX8
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