‘Actors do injustice to writers when they don’t give credit,’ says Vasay Chaudhry

With the Jawani Phir Nahi Ani (JPNA) series and several big plays such as the ‘Ayegy Baraat’ anthology to his credit, writer and actor Vasay Chaudhry seems discontent with our industry’s behavior towards its storytellers.

Anyone who has seen JPNA (be it any part), would vouch for Vasay’s flair for witty one-liners and impeccable scene setting, however, the actor believes writing is the most difficult yet the most neglected side of performing arts.

Speaking to Fifi Haroon in an interview with BBC Urdu, the actor revealed that he only enjoys writing when he can see results of his hard work.

“I realized it at the very beginning of my career that writing is the backbone of any film, play, or drama,” he said. “If that was not the case and stars (only) were highlights of the film then there wouldn’t be any flop films by stars like Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or any Pakistani actor for that matter; we should know that script is the hero of a film.”

A little bit of this & that. Pretty straight and to the point.
Thank you @fifiharoon https://t.co/QAs3l5DjJl

— vasay chaudhry (@vasaych) October 15, 2018

Vasay further explained how script writing is considered a niche in our country and there is no fame attached to it.

“The top tier wants to become a star, and then there are people who aspire to be directors. Writers are actually at the bottom of the chain,” he said adding, “I have a plus point because I am an actor as well. People have seen me as a host too so they recognize me. Very few people know that I also write the script for my show Mazaaq Raat.”

When asked about the famous dialogues that go viral from a movie, the actor who doesn’t call himself a star shared some reservations about our stars as well.

“I feel actors sometimes do injustice to writers when they don’t give credit to them when it is due. It may simply be creative greed to be in the limelight but when a dialogue gets hit in the masses, there is always a context and story behind it. Who should be accredited for it – the writer, right? The famous ‘Help Me Durdana’ had a back story, a scene setting; it was the craft that created the magic, where a dialogue worked,” he explained adding, “It is not just in Pakistan, you will not find a writer’s name highlighted on a poster in India as well.”

Do you agree with Vasay Chaudhry?