Fairy-tale ending for Indian scriptwriter

12 December 2012

Fairy-tale ending for Indian scriptwriter

A story about a brother in search of his estranged sister has scooped the prestigious David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize in Scriptwriting.

Vinay Choudary, a student at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters, won the prize for his script The Bloody Mulligans.

Vinay says the prize is a fairy-tale ending.

“I grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai), and after graduating from university in 1998, worked writing soap operas for Indian television. I felt burnt out and under-challenged with this work, and decided to step out of India and explore broader themes and issues in my writing.

“The prize makes the risk I took quitting television to go back to university worth it, and gives me confidence that the decision to explore my horizons was the step in the right direction.”

Vinay chose the IIML because of the intimate class size, the workshop environment and one year course structure.

“The IIML has been warm, gentle and nurturing—it's a great environment to find one's feet (or voice) as a writer.”

Set in present day New England, The Bloody Mulligans tells the story of a brother in search of his sister. After an unexpected reprieve for the murder of a police officer, Patrick 'Major' Mulligan sets out on a search for his estranged sister Maggie—and discovers that someone else has been living Maggie's life for several years.

Ken Duncum, the IIML’s Michael Hirschfeld Director of Scriptwriting, says that Vinay showed huge commitment—and faith—in coming to New Zealand to do his MA in Scriptwriting.

“Inventive, passionate and heartfelt, The Bloody Mulligans is a story of redemption in a world of shades of grey. Subtle and revealing levels of complexity, it is a rich and rewarding story—testament to the excellence of Vinay’s craft and art as a filmwriter.”

Funded through the Victoria University Foundation, the David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize in Scriptwriting was established through an endowment by the Embassy Theatre Trust and by arts philanthropist the late David Carson-Parker, and now by Jeremy Commons.

ENDS

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