Fiction
Scriptwriter Satyam Tripathi passes on
MUMBAI: On Christmas morning, whilst most of Mumbai slept off festive cheer, Satyam Tripathi’s heart gave out. 25 December proved cruelly ironic for a man who’d spent his career crafting drama—this time, there would be no second take. He was only 57.
Tripathi was a scriptwriter’s scriptwriter. Within India’s chaotic television industry, where writers are treated rather like spare parts, he’d carved out something rare: respect. For years, he sat on the executive committee of the Screen Writers Association, helping transform along with other leaders, what was once a talking shop into an organisation with teeth. When writers’ rights were little more than punchlines, Tripathi helped pen a different ending.
His credits read like a greatest hits of Indian telly: Hitler Didi, 12/24 Karol Bagh, Ek Mutthi Aasman, Parvarrish Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi. Millions laughed, cried and switched channels to his work. He also championed the association’s Screen Writing Awards, ensuring that good writing didn’t go unnoticed in an industry obsessed with ratings and revenue.
Those who knew him speak of an affable soul, generous with time and advice. In a cut-throat business, Tripathi was that rarest of creatures: genuinely helpful.
His remains were cremated the same evening in the presence of industry associates and friends. The credits rolled quickly. But his final script—a better deal for India’s writers—continues to play out. That’s the sort of ending he’d have appreciated.
(Scriptwriters, producers and friends will be getting together to honour Satyam Kumud Tripathi’s memory and to hold a prayer meeting on 29 December. The location: Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara, 4 Bungalows, Andheri West, Mumbai. The time: between 3:30 PM and 5:00 PM.)
ATHENS: Greece has become the latest country to embrace one of Japan’s most emotionally charged television dramas. Mother, a series that tackles the harrowing subject of child abuse through the story of a teacher who kidnaps her student to save her from domestic violence, premiered on Alpha TV on September 25th.
The Greek adaptation, titled Na me les mama (Call me mom), marks the 11th international remake of the Nippon TV original—making it the most globally adapted Asian scripted format on record. Filmiki, the Greek production company behind the series, worked closely with Nippon TV to maintain the show’s emotional core whilst adapting it for local audiences.
“Mother is a story that has transcended cultures,” said Nippon TV scripted format sales and licensing executive Sally Yamamoto. The series has already conquered markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with versions airing in South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, China, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia and the Philippines.
The original Japanese drama follows a woman in her mid-thirties who lives an apathetic existence until she discovers one of her pupils is being abused at home. Unable to understand her own impulses, she kidnaps the child and attempts to raise her as her own daughter whilst on the run from authorities.
Alpha TV programme director Christos Kompos described the series as “one of these stories that we feel really honoured to share with our audience.” The adaptation will stream simultaneously on Alpha TV’s HbbTV platform.
The show’s unflinching examination of society’s tendency to ignore child abuse has struck a chord with international audiences, proving that some stories need no translation to resonate across cultural boundaries.
