Screenwriters' contracts to be standardised to ensure fair fee and due credits

Will things changerdquo every writer has repeatedly wondered and asked over years of being subjected to systemic disparity in the Hindi film industry Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel Last week prominent Bollywood voices spoke to midday about an urgent need for change in the working conditions of screenwriters This week writer Anjum Rajabali the Senior Executive Committee Member of the Screen Writers Association SWA has the answermdashchange is comingTwelve leading Bollywood production houses streamers and channels including Aamir Khan Productions Shah Rukh Khanrsquos Red Chillies Entertainment Yash Raj Films Siddharth Roy Kapurs Roy Kapur Films TSeries Maddock Films Excel Entertainment Applause Entertainment Viacom Tiger Baby Amazon Prime and Sony Entertainment Television had met with the members of SWA last August to principally agree over the guiding principles on which writersrsquo contracts will be basedldquoThis is historic For more than a decade SWA has been trying to arrive at some kind of standardisation of writersrsquo contracts so that those standard clauses are fair reasonable and they donrsquot have to be renegotiated for every individual There was a meeting at Aamirrsquos Khan house It took over three hours but the producers agreed to the clausesrdquo Rajabali sharesldquoI called Aamir whom I have known for a long time now I told him lsquoWritersrsquo contracts need to be made more reasonable fair and stopped from being onesidedrsquo Aamir being sensitive to writersrsquo concerns agreed to call a meeting with leading producers to help SWA resolve this grievancerdquo says Rajabali who also wrote the 1998 blockbuster Ghulam in which Aamir played the leadThe eight essential standard clauses agreed on address several longstanding issues faced by the writersmdashmissing credits irregular and unfair pay moral rights to the script indemnity and stringent contracts ldquoFor writing or cowriting credit 33 per cent of the shooting draft must be the writerrsquos work with maximum three credits per element story screenplay dialogue to be accorded When a writerpair or a team works as one unit their credits are counted as one If more than 50 per cent of the shooting draft is a writerrsquos work they receive top billing More than 66 per cent he or she will get solo credit If itrsquos less than 33 per cent lsquoAdditionalrsquo credit for that element will be accorded to the writerrdquo explains RajabaliThere is also a clause that the writing credits will appear in a film as one of the top three credits along with director and producer and in all publicity material ldquoInadvertent failure to accord credit in the filmwill haveto be instantly rectified via a press release a copy of which should be handed to the writers and by reinserting the credits in all digital and other versionsrdquo says RajabaliAnother essential principle agreed upon is that if a sexual harassment charge against a writer is proved the credit will only appear in the film not in the publicity materialAs far as the fee structure goes R13 lakh has been decided as the minimum fee for a full script ldquoFor story R4 lakh for screenplay R5 lakh for dialogue R4 lakh For the first and second drafts tranches will be released on their submission The final draft will be on the approval of the producerrdquo Rajabali says adding that the first and the second drafts will be considered legitimate only if they adhere to the story and they incorporate the feedback given by the producerThe next step for both the SWA and the producers is to translate the agreement into a legal language ldquoIn principle these producers have agreed to these clauses There are certain checks and balances and nuances that we have to be careful aboutWe have engaged a law firm to help us with theprocessNow in a weekrsquos time we intend to put the idea into motionrdquo Rajabali sharesA standard agreement between the writers and the producers is not only the need of the hour for the former but benefits the other side as well Rajabali arguesldquoWhatever we are asking is not just reasonable and fair it is based on mutual concern If writers arenrsquot stressed out or anxious or feel resentful about their contracts being onesided they can devote their efforts to creative work rather than hassling about these things which only helps the writing process and a film overall