Any Bollywood film scripts online?

[Dozon]

It seems to me that it would be a big help for those of us learning Hindi on our own to be able to read a film script along with watching the movie. I have plenty of films in Hindi, but cannot find any script for any film at all online. Can anyone help me on this?

Thanks!

[omlick]

It seems to me that it would be a big help for those of us learning Hindi on our own to be able to read a film script along with watching the movie. I have plenty of films in Hindi, but cannot find any script for any film at all online. Can anyone help me on this?

Thanks!

I am afraid there are no such things to be had.  But I don't even know where to get any film screenplays myself in any language.

there is only one, it is the Mughal-e-Azam... it is a big book that contains the screenplay, but it is probably pretty expensive and the language was very Persianized because of course it is about a Mughal. 

[NewLaura]

Imtiaz Ali posted the script of Socha Na Tha online here:
http://www.box.net/shared/5ooc3sea0h

And he posted Jab We Met online here:
http://www.box.net/shared/7yqhv254zp

They're both in Romanized Hindi.


Nasreen Munni Kabir has released a few more dialog books (and they are pricey, it's true).  I have Awaara and Pyaasa and I love them.  She has it in English, Romanized Hindi, Devanagari, and Nastaliq, side by side.  The footnotes and commentary are excellent.

The Dialogue of Pyaasa
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=4513300191

The Dialogue of Mother India
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=5858627849&searchurl=an%3DNasreen%2BMunni%2BKabir%26bsi%3D30

The Dialogue of Awaara
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=4232702848&searchurl=an%3DNasreen%2BMunni%2BKabir%26bsi%3D30

The Immortal Dialogue of K. Asif's Mughal-E-Azam
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1413586435&searchurl=an%3DNasreen%2BMunni%2BKabir%26bsi%3D60

[latishya]

Imtiaz Ali posted the script of Socha Na Tha online here:
http://www.box.net/shared/5ooc3sea0h

And he posted Jab We Met online here:
http://www.box.net/shared/7yqhv254zp

They're both in Romanized Hindi.


Nasreen Munni Kabir has released a few more dialog books (and they are pricey, it's true).  I have Awaara and Pyaasa and I love them. 

$25 is "pricey"? For a book of the quality of "Pyaasa" it's a steal!

[NewLaura]

$25 is "pricey"? For a book of the quality of "Pyaasa" it's a steal!

 


Yes, I have to agree with you.  I'm almost finished reading Pyaasa, and I'm really in love with it.

[Dozon]

Thanks! These are defo some terrific leads. I already have Pyassa on the way from India.  I especially like the idea of both Romanized and Devanagari options.

Meanwhile, I've been looking around for scripts on my own, didn't find any (thanks again!), but I did run into this:

Planetread.org, an organization aimed at increasing literacy in India via the method of Same Language Subtites, i.e. SLS. The theory behind SLS is that Hindu subtitles are added to a TV program or film already in Hindi with the goal of increasing literacy among Indians who understand Hindi, but can't read it. According to the PlanetRead site, Doordarshan In India broadcasts a number of SLS programs. Anyone ever heard of this? Have any idea how someone living on the other side of mother earth from India might get access to it?

[NewLaura]

I just finished reading another one:

3 Idiots: The Original Screenplay
(Conceptualized and compiled by Smriti Kiran, Om Books International, New Delhi, 2010)

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3723379336&searchurl=sts%3Dt%26tn%3D3%2Bidiots%2Bthe%2Boriginal%2Bscreenplay%26x%3D0%26y%3D0


I was very happy that it has the Hindi dialogs in Devanagari.  It has the Hindi dialog in one column and then the English translation on the right.  All of the stage directions, however, are only in English.  (Unlike the Nasreen Munni Kabir screenplay books for Awaara and Pyaasa, where the stage directions are in Hindi.)

It's also a little quirky when English is used within the dialogs.  If the character is speaking only in English, then the dialog will be in English in Roman letters, including the character's name.  But if they have any Hindi words at all in their speech, then the whole thing is in Devanagari.  So sometimes there were will be several sentences that are completely English written in Devanagari, right below a paragraph of stage directions entirely in English in Roman letters.  

I loved reading this screenplay.  It was the easiest one I've read so far (most modern language, more Hinglish, less Urdu).  The best thing about the book, though, is the introduction by Rajkumar Hirani and three other chapters about the writing and filming process by Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi, and Vidhu Vinod Chopra.  The chapters about the writing process are really incredible.  I was just so impressed at the thought and creativity that went into writing the screenplay.  There are also interviews with the actors (which I haven't read yet).  I would highly recommend the book, though, just for the chapters about the writing process.  ETA:  The chapters about the writing process are all in English (excellent, well-written English).

It's funny, for all three of the screenplays I've read so far (Pyaasa, Awaara, and 3 Idiots), I've enjoyed reading the screenplay so much more than I enjoyed the films originally.  I'm not quite sure why that is.  Based on that experience, though, I went ahead and ordered the books for Mother India and Mughal-e-Azam even though I didn't particularly like either film.  

[NewLaura]

I just finished reading Lage Raho Munna Bhai:  The Original Screenplay (edited by Aman Mahajan, Om Books, New Delhi, 2010).

http://www.amazon.com/Lage-Raho-Munna-Bhai-Screenplay/dp/9380069758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327712710&sr=8-1

The Hindi is Romanized; there is no Devanagari.  There is no English translation of the dialogs, but the stage directions are all in English.  There is an appendix with the lyrics of all of the songs (again, only in Romanized Hindi).

This book has the fewest “extras” of the published screenplays I’ve read.  It does have an interesting 6-page introduction by Abhijat Joshi about the development and writing of the screenplay.