Everyone from Varun Grover to the Screenwriters Association of India has spoken about it. Writers have demanded not just credit but a prominent position on posters and promotional material for films. An outsider watching all this would assume that film writers have always had it bad, always struggling for the spotlight. But the Salim-Javed era was half a century ago. Sahir Ludhianvi commanded respect and money even before then. To say that writers’ rights have deteriorated in Bollywood would be no exaggeration. And Sumit Arora, known for films like Jawan and Stree, agrees in part.
Sumit Arora on writers’ rights
In a chat with Hindustan Times, Sumit argues that the importance of writers in cinema is finding its place back again after a period where writing was relegated to the ‘not-so-important’ shelf in filmmaking. “Everyone’s best film in the last 20 years has been very original. Now, it is not even considered possible to make a film without a good script. Whoever is doing it is taking a suicide mission,” he says.
However, Sumit agrees that there is still resistance to giving writers the respect and importance they deserve. “There is still a lot of resistance to letting the writers feel that because they feel zyada sar chhadh jayenge,” he says, adding, “In terms of money and worth, the makers try to ensure that writers should not feel that importance.”
‘If the writers know their power…’
Ask him if the makers are wary of the Salim-Javed era returning when big writers commanded more salary than even top stars, and Sumit says, “They remember that. They know what can happen once a writer realises his power. That is what everybody is afraid of. If the writers understand how important and powerful they are, the game will flip.”
However, the writer, who has also worked on iconic web series such as The Family Man, says it is not all doom and gloom when it comes to writers’ remuneration. “The situation has improved, but there is still scope for improvement. The feeling you are given is always that. When I ask for more, people tend to have this feeling ki itna kaafi hai na (this much is enough). They may not say the words, but it is implied. Then, looking at the other numbers, do you behave the same way there?” he says.
Sumit Arora’s career
After working in television for a decade, Sumit made his mark in Bollywood with Stree, before delivering many hits, including Stree 2 and Jawan. Sumit recently wrote the dialogue for the war drama Border 2, which is the highest-grossing Indian film of 2026 so far. The Sunny Deol-starrer has grossed ₹400 crore worldwide.
