Sonal Ganatra is a respected name in the television industry and there is no doubt about the fact that she was born to hold the pen, simply to narrate some wonderful stories. After starting her professional career as a novelist, the lady went on to be a television screenplay writer. Here is an exclusive interview with Sonal for our ‘Behind The Lens’ segment. Read on… When and how did you begin your journey in the entertainment industry? I was into novel writing till I was offered a proposal to convert my book (Dev Na Didhel - A Gujarati novel) into a daily soap in 2004. The deal did not work and the novel never turned out to be a serial but that’s when I met JD Majethia and my television journey began. I worked as an assistant writer in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai. After this, I wrote screenplays of shows like Sukh By Chance and Ek Packet Umeed for Hats Off Productions. In fact Ek Packet Umeed also went on to be nominated in 2008, but TV is something that just happened to me. I had never planned it. Did you face any hurdles in your way? Yes, there was a point when the village stories came to the forefront and everyone started producing rural shows. I did have a null phase then, but that is when Saas Bina Sasural and Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha happened (her last project). You never tried talking to other producers about your novel? I feel my novel story is too simple to be made into a serial. A serial needs lot of drama and my book lacks it. Moreover novel readers are a different class and TV is for the masses. Did you have difficulty in adjusting with the television work pattern? Yes, I did for when you write a novel you are your own master while TV means collective creativity. Moreover it is a massive assembly work with writer, screenplay writer, a dialogue writer and three other people from the production giving their inputs and four from the channel doing the same. So, it does get difficult at times but both novel writing and writing for TV have their own pros and cons. Was there a point in your career when you doubted your decision of being in this industry? There have been moments but there were people who took me out of it. I started writing a novel when I was 19 when I had no exposure of the outside world. So I am glad that I got here as it helps me understand different writing styles. I get to meet some wonderful people every day and understand their views on certain situations that I might have just one viewpoint on, when they will come up with nine different ones. All of this is helping me enhance my skills. Why is the television industry falling short of good writers according to you? The grind of this industry is such that the writers get exhausted after a while. So it’s not the writers who are failing the industry, but it is the industry that is failing the writers. Compare the remuneration of top rated actors and top rated writers and see for yourself. Why only echo the statement that stories work because of the writers? Why aren’t they being rewarded? Do the writers even get the one tenth of the limelight that the producers or the directors get? The writers need to be at least treated in a fair way for the amount of work they are giving. A TV writer writes a feature film every week. That amount of creativity needs to be saluted, but instead they are replaced overnight. How much does the TRP (now TVT) business hamper creativity? To some extent as and when a show begins, everybody wants to offer something different. They are all enthusiastic about it but after two or three months when the TRP does not get better it all comes down to the same tried and tested formula. Which writers do you look up to? Aatish Kapadia is someone I look up to completely as he taught me screenplay writing as I was a novelist earlier and did not know the screenplay format. Zama Habib is another writer whose work I admire, but I have never had a chance to work with him. I also like the team of Purnendu Shekhar and his entire team which includes Gajra Kottary, Usha Dixit, Rajesh Dubey and Raghuvir Sekhawat. They have managed to deliver some fantastic shows over the years.