Introduction

google image compilation of title concept

I am spending January 3rd through March 13th researching personal stories regarding the effects of alcoholism and physical disabilities on family dynamics in India  for a full-length Bollywood screenplay I'll be finishing in the spring.  The film is about a young man who, after falling in love with a paralyzed dancer in Mumbai, discovers that his estranged father’s alcoholism and run-ins with the mob are to blame for his girlfriend's accident. Now the mob is threatening him for his father's debts and he must protect himself and those he loves from a broken past.  My hope is to address disability stigmas in the context of an independently dramatic family drama and eventually pitch the script to some actual filmmakers. This project, in a sense, is a culminating experience for my time in India up to this point, which you can learn more about at www.escip.org.

The purpose of this blog is to give myself an audience during this research phase so as to keep my observations objective and my reflections catered to a broader and more public discussion of the issues I encounter.  Film is a very public medium, often dealing with very private and intimate struggles of life, and so I want to go about recording my findings with the same delicate treatment I would expect in the finished cinematic presentation.  Therefore, all persons I discuss here from my research will remain anonymous and unidentifiable.  As this project is supposed to promote discussion on the topics of social stigmas, your comments are greatly encouraged and appreciated.