Sabrina strikes the write note

mira nair's monsoon wedding has won the golden lion award at the venice film festival. while this award reaffirms nair's calibre as a film-maker, not many would know that the story idea for the film germinated from the work of columbia university student sabrina dhawan. "i literally bumped into mira one afternoon at the columbia university film school, where i'm studying," recalls sabrina, "she invited me for chai at the cafe downstairs.i asked her if she would like to read the script of saanjh —as night falls, a short film i was about to shoot. she said she would read it and get back. and she called me the very next morning. i was still sleeping, so she left a message telling me she liked the script and that we should work together." saanjh was nominated for a student academy award (the student oscar). it was cited as 'best of the festival' at the palm springs international film festival and won an award from new line cinema for 'most original film' at the polo ralph lauren new works festival in 2000. monsoon wedding, however, is sabrina's first produced feature script. england-born sabrina was raised in delhi. after graduating from hindu college, she worked in mumbai as a copywriter. she returned to england to secure a master's degree in communications research. five years back, she joined the film school at columbia university. but how did sabrina get the idea for her story, which later formed the basis of monsoon wedding? "i was toying with the idea of doing a story about sexual abuse set in an upper middle-class punjabi family," says sabrina, "mira was interested in a film set around a punjabi-style wedding. so i put these two ideas together and started writing monsoon wedding. it was supposed to be one story (about ria), but while writing it, all the other characters and situations came to mind and they all seemed so interesting that i ended up writing an ensemble!" and how does sabrina feel about monsoon wedding receiving the golden lion award? "oh, it was unbelievable," she exclaims, "mira called me from the stage in venice as soon as she got the award. i wasn't home, so i got a crackling, barely understandable message!" sabrina is now in the process of writing the script for a film based on a short story by akhil sharma. she might also adapt the death of vishnu by manil suri. besides, there is an offer from miramax. as regards future plans, sabrina explains that, officially, she is still a student. "i graduate in december. after that, que sera sera..." more feathers in her cap maybe.