BA in Screenwriting | (3 Years)

Programme Overview

Programme offered under an agreement with Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development- an Institute of National Importance

The objective of this 3-year, 6-semester programme is to help create professional screenwriters. They need to develop writing skills that will help them write for a wide range of genres, for cinema as well as television, with some basic understanding of the craft of writing short films, corporate films, documentaries, and advertisement films. The deeper aim of this course is to help student-writers discover their own voice, free up their creativity, hone their intuition and impart to them the skills through which they are able to write their own original as well as others’ stories. The course makes students learn screenwriting by actual hands-on writing, with active mentoring from faculty, combined with a study of the widest range of cinema and narrative literature, via intensive theory classes, workshops, and interaction with many senior and experienced writers and writer-directors. Apart from this, the course offers other educational inputs from the field of culture and arts, especially from theatre, and from ancient narrative traditions like mythology and folk tales.

The first year of the course is the Foundation Year. In this two-semester foundation programme, all students are exposed to the many disciplines of filmmaking – Screenwriting, Producing, Direction, Acting, VFX, Cinematography, Editing and Sound Design. Students receive instruction through a powerful integration of student productions, classroom theoretical instruction, motion picture screenings and analysis, workshops and interactions with global filmmakers. Along with core filmmaking courses, students also take classes in Contextual Studies (General Education).

The film foundation semesters develop within students, their own unique story development and filmmaking perspectives and vision. The course also promotes individual professional conduct, communication skills and leadership qualities.

The rest of the four semesters of the course will develop screenwriting skills in students to make them ready to become professionals in the Indian Film Industry.

Semester I Course Structure

Course Code

Course Title

Theory Credits

Practical Credits

Total Credits

Total Hours

FMGE 1101English Language20230
FMGE 1102Film Analysis and History I20230
FMGE 1103Introduction to Indian Arts20230
FMGE 1104Creative Writing20230
FMGE 1105Introduction to Media & Communication20230
FMGE 1106Introduction to Filmmaking I7613285

Semester II Course Structure

Course Code

Course Title

Theory Credits

Practical Credits

Total Credits

Total Hours

FMGE 1117English Literature20230
FMGE 1113Film Analysis and History II20230
FMBG 1203Introduction to Animation20230
FMGE 1119Understanding of World Art20230
FMBG 1205Screenwriting20230
FMBG 1206Introduction to Filmmaking II6814330

Semester III Course Structure

Course Code

Course Title

Theory Credits

Practical Credits

Total Credits

Total Hours

FMGE 1111Film Analysis and History III20230
FMGE 1118Understanding Art Context20230
FMGE 1105Culture Studies I20230
FMBS 2103Essentials of Screenwriting – B5611255
FMBS 2105Writing a Short Film – B077210

Semester IV Course Structure

Course Code

Course Title

Theory Credits

Practical Credits

Total Credits

Total Hours

FMGE 1109Culture Studies II20230
FMBS 2202Advanced Screenwriting – B6612270
FMBS 2203Writing for Television066180

Semester V Course Structure

Course Code

Course Title

Theory Credits

Practical Credits

Total Credits

Total Hours

FMGE 1120History and Evolution of Theatre20230
FMGE 1121Music Experience20230
FMGE 1110Culture Studies III20230
FMBS 2204Writing the Screenplay066180
FMBS 3105Writing for Documentaries, Ads & other media066180
FMBS 3106Working with Genre246150

Semester VI Course Structure

Course Code

Course Title

Theory Credits

Practical Credits

Total Credits

Total Hours

FMGE 1112Culture Studies IV20230
FMBS 3202The Art of Adaptation – B01212360
FMBS 3203The Assigned Plot – B066180