‘Human Attention Span Is Now Less Than Goldfish’s’

‘What
scares
me
is
the
fact
that
there
is
so
much
content
that
people
have
content
indigestion.’
‘How
do
you
entice
people
who
have
indigestion
of
content?’

Prasoon
Joshi
(53)
began
as
a
writer
in
his
teens,
did
an
MBA
and
then
got
into
advertising.
From

Daag
Ache
Hain
(Surf
Excel)
to

Thanda
Matlab
Coca-Cola,
his
work
shone
with
an
Indianness
that
changed
the
way
marketers
spoke
to
consumers.

His
second
foray
into
writing,
as
a
lyricist
(Taare
Zameen
Par,
Delhi
6,
etc.),
dialogue
writer
(Rang
De
Basanti)
and
then
a
scriptwriter
(Bhaag
Milkha
Bhaag)
has
been
successful.
In
2017,
he
became
the
head
of
the
Central
Board
for
Film
Certification
(CBFC).

In
November,
Joshi
forayed
into
theatre,
with

Rajadhiraaj:
Love.
Life.
Leela,
a
musical
depicting
the
journey
of
Shri
Krishna.
On
a
Google
meet,

Vanita
Kohli-Khandekar
spoke
to
Joshi
about
the
play
and
other
things.

How
did
the
play
come
about?

The
Dhanraj
family
(Dhanraj
Nathwani,
a
director
in
Reliance
New
Energy,
and
his
wife
Bhoomi)
are
devotees.

They
wanted
to
do
something
that
will
engage
people
and
also
share
the
message
of
Krishna.

I
grew
up
in
Uttarakhand
where
your
exposure
to
spirituality
is
at
a
different
level.

I
see
saints,
scholars
and
meditators
all
the
time.

The
predisposal
towards
spirituality
was
very
much
there.

Do
you
think
storytellers,
creators
and
writers
are
under
more
pressure
today
because
there
is
an
oversupply
of
content
and
a
more
distracted
audience?

That’s
a
very
good
question.
Art
was
consumed
in
a
certain
way.
It
had
its
own
place
in
life.
But
somewhere,
entertainment
took
over
art.

Then
entertainment
had
to
face
distraction.
Algorithms
are
leading
you
into
a
certain,
completely
addictive
zone.

When
you
go
out
of
the
house,
you
see
children
in
the
park,
you
see
a
person
driving
a
rickshaw,
you
see
a
bird.

But
when
you
come
on
the
screen,
the
screen
personalises
so
much
for
you.

Now,
you
are
only
bothered
about
the
world
that
excites
you
neurologically.
That
neuro-world
of
yours
is
making
for
a
cocooned
existence.

Does
that
bother
you
as
a
writer?

At
eight
seconds,
the
human
attention
span
is
now
less
than
goldfish’s,
which
is
nine
seconds.

Since
I
started
with
writing
30-second
commercials,
I
am
used
to
being
pithy
and
economical.

The
form
becoming
shorter
doesn’t
scare
me.
What
scares
me
is
the
fact
that
there
is
so
much
content
that
people
have
content
indigestion.

How
do
you
entice
people
who
have
indigestion
of
content?

YouTube,
Instagram
et
al
have
led
to
a
point
where
everyone
wants
to
be
a
writer,
or
a
creator.
What
do
you
make
of
that?

(Poet
Mirza)
Ghalib
used
to
say

Tamashae
ahlo
karam
dekhte
hain
(let
us
test
the
generosity
of
people).

The
first
challenge
is
that
this
is
a
satiated
and
overfed
content
generation.
The
second
is
that
there
are
more
storytellers
than
listeners.

That
means
there
will
be
cacophony
and
a
lot
of
noise.
However,
everybody
has
the
right
to
tell
their
stories.

But
from
that
chaos
nectar
will
emerge.

Everybody
is
tasting
a
little
bit
of
this
and
that,
at
some
point
people
will
feel
the
need
to
go
into
depth
instead
of
just
skimming
through
content.

How
do
you
see
the
media
and
entertainment
business
today,
given
so
much
consolidation?

In
the
creative
world,
you
see
a
lot
of
entrepreneurialism
not
just
in
India
but
in
the
US
too.
In
our
time,
we
were
looking
for
the
shelter
of
a
big
company.

Today,
this
is
the
last
thing
they
want.

On
the
one
hand,
consolidation
is
happening
in
terms
of
capabilities,
tools,
and
data,
but
on
the
other
consolidation
in
talent
is
not
happening
because
talent
is
feeling
very
empowered.

Their
dream
is
to
set
up
something
on
their
own.
That
is
a
big
shift
in
the
creative
industry.

Did
your
perspective
of
the
business
change
when
you
became
CBFC
chairman
in
2017?

Hundred
per
cent.
When
a
film-maker
makes
a
film,
there
is
a
certain
honesty.

Film-makers
and
creative
people
are
not
doing
it
to
harm
anyone,
they
are
just
expressing
their
point
of
view.
The
way
other
people
are
seeing
it
never
occurred
to
the
maker.

And,
at
that
point,
the
only
thing
which
can
help
is
a
dialogue.

From
the
day
I
joined,
I
said
‘main
vivaad
nahin
samvaad
karoonga
(I
don’t
want
to
have
a
dispute,
I
want
to
have
a
discussion)’.

Has

samvaad
become
a
part
of
CBFC’s
process
now?

Yes.
I
have
N
number
of
examples
where
things
have
been
voluntarily
changed
by
film-makers
after
realising
through
discussion
that
this
never
occurred
to
them,
or
the
officers
have
felt
that
actually
what
we
were
thinking
going
by
the
rule
book,
the
point
of
view
was
different
from
that.

In
Hindi,
we
say

Swantehe
sukhae,
it
is
self-expression.
But
films
are
not
being
made
for
one’s
own
self-expression
or
pleasure.

It
is
also
a
commercial
venture,
so,
the
audience
is
equally
important.
You
have
to
make
sure
that
the
people
who
are
watching
your
content
are
making
an
informed
choice.