Over the last few years, one of the common complaints of viewers – when it comes to Hindi films and shows – is the lack of originality. Where are the writers creating new stories, original content? That is the question people ask when reading about the umpteenth remake or adaptation. The answer is: ‘in development’. As the industry grows more insular and corporate with each passing year, the writers have taken it upon themselves to seek out fresh talent to bring new voices to the table. And through a pitch fest, they are now allowing the best young writers in the country to get a foot inside the door in a guarded Bollywood.
What is SWA’s script lab all about?
The Screenwriters’ Association of India (SWA) began a Script Lab in 2021, which eventually developed into a Pitch Fest, allowing new writers to pitch their ideas and scripts to everyone from Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra’s production houses to streaming giants like Zee5 and SonyLIV.
The initiative began in August 2021 with the aim of doing a script lab and finding six mentors for the top six entries. This involved multiple rounds of reading scripts in a transparent process. But the sheer number of entries forced the SWA to go bigger. The SWA had anticipated 45-50 scripts, but the final number was over 600. Overwhelmed by the entries, 80 readers had to be hired. In 2025, the fifth year of the script lab and pitch fest, 1,479 entries were received.
Mitesh Shah, EC member and Chairperson, SWA Education Sub-Committee, informs, “We try to cull out the top 10%. Every entry goes through two readers in the first round, who don’t know who the writer is, using registration numbers to ensure no bias. Readers go through an orientation to know what to look for, and we average their grades.” Entries consist of a four-to-five-page story and the first ten pages of a screenplay. The idea is simple: in India, everybody has a story, but to be a writer, you must tell it well on paper.
Shah emphasises that they judge scripts purely on craft. “It doesn’t have to be commercial or esoteric; it just has to be a good story,” he adds.
A foot in the door and stalwarts as mentors
Writers get about 45 to 50 days to send their initial entry. Once selected for the next round (the top 10-12%), they are asked for the entire screenplay, giving them another 40 to 50 days to write it. The organisers say that since this creates a deadline, even if the writers don’t make the final six, they end up with a finished script. A new set of readers then read the scripts from the shortlisted writers.
The top six writers get mentorship from four industry experts each—people like Vikramaditya Motwane, Shakun Batra, Alankrita Shrivastava, Smita Singh, and Sudeep Sharma. These mentors read the scripts and give two to three hours of feedback.
25 writers, 40 producers, and 1000 meetings in a day
But the real deal is the Pitch Fest. The top 25 scripts from the lab undergo a month-long training program to learn how to pitch to producers. Writers learn how to pitch scripts, which is an art and science in itself. Shah describes it as a ‘speed dating-like’ event involving writers, producers, and streaming platforms. Experienced writers and filmmakers coach these finalists in how to pitch a script in 8-10 minutes. And then, at the pitch fest, 25 writers pitch to around 40 producers.
“Every 15 minutes, a bell rings, and they move to the next producer. This results in 1,000 meetings in two days. We get legacy houses like Dharma Productions and Yash Raj Films, talent agents, and broadcasters like Sony LIV and Zee5. Producers get to see curated talent that has been sifted through hundreds of entries, saving them months of work,” explains Shah. “The writers get to meet 40 top producers in two days, which even established writers don’t often do.”
Success stories galore
Over the years, many winners and finalists from the pitch fest have found work in the entertainment industry. Many writers have landed entry-level jobs at production houses; others are working in writers’ rooms across OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video; and one is even directing her own film, backed by Shakun Batra. Writer-producer Biswapati Sarkar, who has hired four writers from the pitch fest, tells us, “It’s honestly the best platform to meet young writers. We’ve worked with at least four or five writers from the pitch fest; while a couple of projects didn’t reach production, we loved working with them, and most are still working with us today on different shows and films.” Biswapati has hired writers from the fest on hit shows like Maamla Legal Hai, as well as new projects.
Actor-writer Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy went one step ahead. A former finalist, she has not only had her script picked up by a production house but is directing it herself. “I happened to come across this script lab that was happening remotely because of COVID. I thought, ‘What’s the harm in applying?’ I was new and hadn’t even made one film yet; I was just fresh out of a writing workshop with Satyanshu Singh. I had two scripts, and I didn’t know where to take them, so I applied to see what would happen. It ended up being one of the top six in the lab,” she recalls.
Her film, 13 Days, is ready for release later this year. “My producers are actually from Mumbai—Suitable Pictures. They just won a BAFTA for a film, and Shakun Batra is my executive producer. They are non-Kannadigas producing a Kannada film because they saw a good story. Language goes away once you see the story,” gushes Sindhu.
The SWA does not want to slow down, let alone stop. Their goal is to increase the scale while retaining the quality of writing pitched there. Biswapati Sarkar says, “I am very sure it will grow. I see this as India’s version of the Blacklist. In a few years, we will see a project picked up from the pitch fest become a very popular film or show,” he adds.
