Executive Dossier

If I get into direction, the writer in me will suffer. : Mir Muneer

Published

24 years ago

December 27, 2001

Mir Muneer is a trendsetter. After writing Chunauti, Campus and Challenge– some of the most successful youth based serials on TV, Muneer re-wrote trends with Saans.

Muneer is also the brain behind the novel storylines of Amanat and Aashirwaad and is currently busy penning the screenplay for Choti Maa- Ek Anokha Bandhan. If the last few months have been relatively quiet for this writing powerhouse, things are bound to change with Saanjhi– the latest soap from the Neena Gupta stable, scheduled on go on air in January.

Muneer strikes one as an extremely modest person. Unlike other writers who bear a grudge over the recognition and pay that TV writing fetches, Muneer is content on these counts. He has no plans of venturing into movie writing. After a decade and half of writing for television, Muneer is still all charged up and feels that there are innumerable stories still up his sleeve that he would like to develop in the coming years.

Excerpts from an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s correspondent, Amar.

How and when did you decide to take up TV scriptwriting as a profession?
The ability to think and pen down your ideas into worthwhile stories is God’s gift. I enjoyed reading literature and would write plays while studying at Bhavan’s College in Mumbai. From there, I guess it was a logical extension to start writing television serials.

Where do you draw your inspiration?
I can’t think of any particular source, except that I draw heavily from my experiences of life. It could be anything – from my relationship with my daughter to incidents from my college days.

Do you write in English or in Hindi?
A mixture of both, actually. I write the screenplay in English because I’m habituated to doing it this way. The dialogues are written in Hindi.

In order to create the desired impact in a scene, it is very important that the same person writes the screenplay and the dialogues.
_______

How has story telling on Indian television evolved in the last 15 years?
Where are the stories today? Serials are just an accumulation of ‘scenes’. One of the few serials that does have a good story, which I can think of at the moment, is Sarhadein. But, frankly, I feel story-telling today is virtually non-existent.

You are one of the few veteran writers who are writing their own dialogues nowadays. Your comments?
Yes, I know many veteran writers do not like to write the dialogues because it can sometimes get monotonous. But I feel that in order to create the desired impact in a scene, it is very important that the same person writes the screenplay and the dialogues. I’ve written the screenplay and dialogues for most of my serials, with just a few exceptions. For instance, I write the screenplay for Choti Maa…, while the dialogues are written by a writer in Bangalore because the serial is shot there.

Does TV writing tend to be very cumbersome, what with writers having to plan out the commercial breaks too and accordingly plan out the pitch of each scene?
I usually don’t write an episode keeping the breaks in mind. I just maintain the freeze point of the story at the end of each episode. Planning out the breaks does put some form of a burden on my creative freedom. So I leave this task to the directors.

Neena Gupta in a still from Saans

By watching movies, you can develop a few ideas, but there is no substitute to reading rich literature.

Do you find the channel executive producers acting overbearing nowadays? How often have you had to re-work the script of an episode after a channel EP disapproved of it?
No episode of mine has ever been rejected in totality. The channels have sometimes asked for minor changes – either I have managed to convince them to do it my way or they have convinced me to do it their way. Everything has been in good faith.

How many projects do you like to work on simultaneously?
One. (laughs) But last year, I was writing all of six serials simultaneously- Saans, Palchhin, Abhimaan, Aashirwaad, Aanchal ki Chaaon Mein and Ittefaq. How I managed to do that is a miracle. Actually on TV, you can’t plan things precisely. You might want to start two projects this year and two more in the next. But a situation might arise when all these projects are approved around the same time, needing you to work on four projects simultaneously. Then there could be old friends who might want you to write something for them and who you can’t say no to.

Do you have assistant writers helping you out?
No, because like I’ve said I write the dialogues myself. There are writers who get the credit for screenplay and dialogues but who actually have assistants helping them out with the dialogues. But I don’t operate that way.

What is your writing schedule like?
I start writing at 6:30 in the morning and continue till about 1:30 pm or 2:00 pm, with a small break or two, in between. I like to have my meetings post lunch.

They have been built upon at least one facet drawn from my personality… I don’t really feel alienated from any of my characters.

A still from Amanat, scripted by Muneer

Many writers feel dissatisfied with the money and recognition that TV writing gets. Do you agree?
No. I find TV writing very satisfying. I have absolutely no complaints.

Many writers feel that there is a huge difference between what they have written and what ultimately comes out on screen because the director has other ideas. Have you ever felt the same?
No. The reason is that I have mostly worked with directors who are personal friends -Neena Gupta, Rakesh Saarang and the late Sanjiv Bhattacharya, with whom I vibe very well. After having worked with somebody over a period of time, you automatically develop a level of trust and understanding and as such do not experience this problem.

Many veteran writers also take to direction. Have you ever wanted to direct?
No. That’s because I feel I still have innumerable concepts that I would like to work on as a writer. I enjoy being a writer and by getting into direction, the writer in me will suffer.

Do you personally relate with any of the characters you have created?
In fact, I relate with all of them. That’s because they have been built upon at least one facet drawn from my personality. Let me put it this way – I don’t really feel alienated from any of my characters.

Where are new writers falling short? What is your advice to them?
My advice to aspiring and fresh writers is to read a lot of literature. I feel shocked when young writers who come to me offering assistance are found wanting in the basic flow of either language – English or Hindi. That explains why dialogues sound so clichéd nowadays. By watching movies, you can develop a few ideas, but there is no substitute to reading rich literature.

Which has been the happiest moment of your career?
The telecast of the first episode of my serial – Bante Bigadte way back in 1985.

Related Topics:Aanchal ki Chaaon Mein Aashirwaad Amanat Amanat and Aashirwaad Choti Maa Maa- Ek Anokha Bandhan Muneer Neena Gupta Saanjhi trendsetter

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Executive Dossier

Game on, fame on as Good Game hunts India’s first global gaming star

New reality show puts Rs 1 crore prize and global spotlight on India’s gaming talent.

Published

5 months ago

January 27, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Game faces on, pressure high India’s gaming ambitions are levelling up. Good Game, billed as the world’s first as-live global gaming reality show, has officially launched in India with a bold mission: to crown the country’s first Global Gaming Superstar.

Blending esports with mainstream entertainment, the show brings together competitive gaming, creativity and on-camera performance in a format that tests more than just joystick skills. Contestants will be judged on gameplay, screen presence and their ability to perform under pressure, reflecting how gaming has evolved from pastime to profession and pop culture currency.

Fronting the show are three high-profile ambassadors: actor and entrepreneur Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Indian cricket star Rishabh Pant, and gaming creator Ujjwal Chaurasia. The winner will take home Rs 1 crore ($100,000) among the largest prize pools for any Indian reality show along with the chance to represent India on a global stage.

Backed by a planned annual investment of up to Rs 100 crore, Good Game is also courting brand partners, promising a minimum reach of 500 million among India’s core youth audience. The creators position the show as a bridge between entertainment and interactive culture, offering long-format content, community engagement and commercial scale.

Auditions are now open to Indian citizens aged 18 and above, inviting amateur and professional gamers, creators and performers alike. Shortlisted candidates will be called for in-person auditions in Mumbai on 14 and 15 February, and in Delhi on 28 February and 1 March 2026.

With big money, big names and even bigger ambition, Good Game signals a shift in how India views gaming not just as play, but as performance, profession and prime-time spectacle.

Digital

SpotDraft hires new CMO and CFO to fuel global push for its AI contract platform

Alon Waks and Amit Sharma join as SpotDraft accelerates growth across key markets

Published

6 months ago

December 3, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

INDIA: SpotDraft has strengthened its senior ranks as it gears up for faster global expansion, naming Alon Waks as chief marketing officer and Amit Sharma as chief financial officer. The appointments follow the firm’s $54 million Series B round earlier this year and mark a push to scale across the Americas, EMEA and India.

The AI-powered contract-lifecycle-management platform has posted 100 per cent year-on-year growth in customer acquisition, counting Apollo.io, IPSY, Mixpanel, Oyster and Panasonic among its global clients. The firm processes more than one million contracts annually, with volumes up 173 per cent and nearly 50,000 monthly active users.

Waks, a veteran of Kustomer, Bizzabo, CreatorIQ, LivePerson and ZoomInfo, will steer global marketing and category positioning as legal teams adopt AI-driven tools. Sharma, who has led finance across scaling tech firms since 2016, will guide financial strategy, investor relations and market expansion.

Both hires aim to sharpen SpotDraft’s bid for a larger slice of the fast-growing legal-tech market, expected to exceed $63 billion by 2032. Co-founder and chief executive Shashank Bijapur said the company is focused on scaling go-to-market operations in the Americas, deepening leadership in EMEA, and accelerating AI capabilities for general counsels and legal-operations leaders.

Clients report shorter deal cycles and better alignment between legal and business teams. “What used to take weeks now happens in days,” said Abnormal Security senior legal operations manager Susan Koenig. DeepL head of legal operations André Barrow, said SpotDraft has helped reframe legal “from a cost centre to a generator of revenue”.

Executive Dossier

Outdoor Ads Get Smarter as LOC8 Shifts OOH from Visibility to Attention

AI, dwell time and real-world vision are rewriting the rules of what outdoor ads can do.

Published

7 months ago

November 28, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Out-of-home ads were once the wallflowers of marketing seen by everyone, noticed by few. But in an age where attention has become the world’s most fought-over currency, even billboards are getting a brain upgrade. Enter LOC8, OSMO’s AI-powered attention engine, quietly reshaping the old OOH playbook by measuring not just who could have looked at an ad, but who actually did. The shift is subtle but seismic: impressions are out, impact is in and data, not gut instinct, is calling the shots.

In a landscape where marketers question every rupee spent outdoors, LOC8 is turning lampposts, flyovers and traffic islands into precision-mapped attention laboratories. By crunching dwell time, visibility zones, perceptual size and real-world obstructions, the platform is dragging OOH into a future where creativity meets computer vision and where the best ideas aren’t just eye-catching, but eye-measured. From automotive facelifts to FMCG novelty and real estate trust-building, the message is clear, outdoor has stopped shouting and started listening. Indian Television Dot Com explores more about it in an Interview interview with OSMO co-founder Nipun Arora.

On how OSMO is shifting outdoor advertising from a visibility-led medium to an attention-led one through LOC8.

Traditional OOH has long been measured by visibility and impressions i.e how many people could see an ad. OSMO, through its proprietary AI platform LOC8, is shifting that narrative more towards likelihood of being noticed. Using computer vision and machine learning, LOC8 analyzes real-world video data to measure visibility zones, obstructions, dwell time and perceptual size; bringing precision to how attention is quantified outdoors. It moves the focus from mere impressions to quality of impressions, making OOH a data-verified, attention-led medium comparable to digital in accountability.

On how marketers can use LOC8’s dwell-time, visibility and perception insights to craft more effective, emotionally resonant OOH campaigns.

LOC8 helps brands understand how people truly experience outdoor media how long they look, from what distance, and under what conditions. By quantifying dwell time, visibility duration, and perceptual size; marketers can plan campaigns that align with real human viewing behavior. This empowers creative and strategy teams to design emotionally resonant storytelling where messaging, visual hierarchy and placement are optimized for how people actually notice and process OOH creatives.

About what LOC8 has revealed through campaigns like Renault Triber and Namaste India on how categories such as auto, FMCG and real estate use attention metrics to drive outcomes.

Each category uses attention data differently but all share one common goal: to convert outdoor visibility into measurable engagement.

• Automotive | Renault Triber

For the new Renault Triber facelift, bold creative met data-led planning through LOC8. By analyzing on-ground video data, LOC8 measured real audience attention across placements factoring in visibility zones, obstructions, traffic speed and perceptual size. This enabled Renault to identify corridors that delivered maximum reach, saliency and engagement, optimizing media efficiency and ROI.

• FMCG | Namaste India

In OOH, innovation is the hook and assets are the bait. But bait often hides the hook. With Loc8’s attention metrics, we ensured the bait wasn’t a hurdle, rather it became the perfect stage for innovation to deliver its full impact! The insight proved that creative novelty, when validated by attention data, drives deeper engagement and measurable brand lift.

• Real Estate

For luxury and real estate campaigns targeting HNI/UHNI audiences, attention patterns differ especially between front and rear passengers, who are often the core audience segment for premium sites. LOC8’s ability to distinguish rear vs. front visibility plays a critical role here. It helps identify sites that offer longer viewing windows and stronger perceptual dominance from the rear seat where decision-makers are most likely seated making it a key differentiator for premium and trust-led categories. Together, these insights prove that auto optimizes for impact, FMCG for recall, and real estate for trust visibility showing how attention metrics adapt to category goals while ensuring measurable outcomes.

On how attention analytics will shape the future of brand storytelling and media planning as OOH becomes more digitised and data-driven.

As outdoor digitizes, attention analytics will inform not just where to advertise but how stories are told in public spaces. This evolution transforms OOH from a static broadcast channel into a dynamic attention ecosystem, where creativity is optimized through evidence-based insight.

On how LOC8’s data-led framework helps marketers quantify OOH impact and make outdoor a more accountable, ROI-driven medium.

LOC8 bridges the gap between intuition and evidence. By quantifying metrics like visibility duration, attention opportunity index, and visual saliency rank, it allows brands to benchmark site performance and justify investment. This data-led approach brings transparency, comparability and ROI measurement to a medium historically driven by perception.

On how OSMO ensures AI and computer vision enhance creativity rather than reduce it to numbers.

OSMO believes that technology should enhance creativity, not overshadow it. LOC8’s attention models reveal what naturally draws the human eye helping creative teams refine design cues, contrast, and visual hierarchy for greater impact. By merging art and science, LOC8 empowers creativity with intelligence.

About the creative best practices and design cues LOC8 has uncovered regarding what truly captures consumer attention outdoors.

LOC8’s visual cognition analysis has surfaced clear patterns across campaigns:

• High contrast and minimal messaging outperform cluttered designs.

• Motion cues draw significantly longer dwell times.

• The first two seconds are critical, creatives must establish focus instantly.

• Contextual alignment between the creative and its environment increases attention by over 30%.

These learnings offer a scientific foundation for creative effectiveness helping brands design OOH that’s visually magnetic and emotionally memorable.

On how attention metrics will integrate into omnichannel planning where OOH, digital and social work together for unified brand impact.

Attention can become the unifying KPI across OOH, digital and social to creates seamless storytelling continuity, where outdoor triggers digital engagement. The future of omnichannel planning lies in attention-led integration ensuring that campaigns don’t just reach audiences everywhere but truly capture and hold their focus.