Internationally acclaimed Bollywood and Pollywood writer, actor, director, Amrik Gill visited Lovely Professional University on 16th January, 2017 for a storytelling session, organized to commemorate the 100th birthday anniversary of renowned Punjabi dramatist, theatre director, novelist and academician late Shri Balwant Gargi. Having worked with celebrities like Shyam Benegal, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Subhash Ghai, Govind Nihalani, and Gulzar, Gill has written dialogues for ace actors like Amitabh Bachchan (Nishabd), Salman Khan, and Aishwarya Rai (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) among others, totalling more than 30 films in Hindi and Punjabi. He is also the recipient of many prestigious international and national awards including IIFA, ZEE Cinema, and the Screen awards. His work is characterised by a highlighting of social and politica issues and a desire to find their solutions.
In his interaction with LPU students of Performing Arts, Languages, and Journalism and Film Production, Amrik Gill shared memories of the time he spent in the blessed company of his master Balwant Gargi. He read out to the students his latest bio fiction work, based on his personal experiences. He talked about everything that he lhad earnt from Gargi, including how to write simple and unique, situation based dialogues, and how to work towards keeping the Punjabi language alive in other countries. He also told in Punjabi, “Gargi daang naal likhdaa see, jadke baaki lekhak kalam naal likhde han (Where all other writers wrote with their pens, gargi wrote with forceful cadour.)”
Gill related to the students, his extreme struggle in Mumbai as a fresh NSD graduate in direction. He encouraged students not to get dejected at any moment of their life, telling them how he used to spend sleepless nights on railway platforms and cement benches in parks. His advice was to persevere and wait for the rght time to come. Speaking of the film world he said, “It is not easy to incorporate day to day language and realism in film dialogues. A film writer is different from a literary writer because unlike an individual piece of literature, a film involves the aspirations of many people. The acumen of a film writer lies in being flexible so that both public demand and individual point of view can be put across. Sensibility and choice vary from director to director.”
