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Javed Akhtar penning film on farmers' suicides

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IANS New Delhi

Acclaimed lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, who penned the story of "Lakshya" in 2004, is making a comeback as a scriptwriter with a story revolving around the issue of farmers' suicides.

At the India Today Conclave 2016, the 71-year-old "Sholay" writer shared that the screenplay will be set in an urban setup and showcase how a metropolitan man reacts to the issue.

"After a fairly long gap, I have come back to scriptwriting. I am writing a script about farmers' problems. You get vegetable and fruits at a certain price, but they get another price when they are selling it.

"There is a huge gap between the two and that becomes one of the reasons behind suicides. I have taken this premise from an urban point of view and how a modern person gradually understands the person," he added.

 

The writer said he chose the urban set up because he feels that's how their problems will be addressed.

"The average audience is urban and when you look at the problem from the urban eyes, perhaps, they will be able to understand it better and will be able to connect with it."

The former Rajya Sabha MP is also delving on the Indian hockey team in an another script, which he is writing currently.

"Another script which I am writing is an interesting topic. It's about Indian hockey team that was divided in 1947 and how within one year we created another team and went on ultimately to win the gold," he said.

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First Published: Mar 18 2016 | 6:12 PM IST

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