How Did Netflix’s Bard of Blood Get Written? Hear From the Writers

How did the idea for ‘Bard of Blood’ come about?

This week we speak to the writers of Bard of Blood- Mayank Tewari and Bilal Siddiqi.

(Photo: The Quint)

How many times have we all been sad about our favorite book being converted into a film? One has heard Potterheads go on and on about it all the time, and the same applies to several other popular books. But the latest fad, is books being converted into web shows, first with Sacred Games, and now the latest one is Bard of Blood on Netflix. Yes, it is based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqi.

This week on ‘OffScreen’ we are going to be talking to the writers of Bard of Blood- Mayank Tewari who has written the screenplay, and Bilal Siddiqi who wrote the book when he was actually in college in 2015. I can only imagine how worried I would be if I had written something and someone made a show or movie about it.

So did they have a lot of arguments and about what? What's the hardest part of adapting a book? How is working with Netflix different from working in Bollywood?

We also quizzed them about the criticism that the trailer evoked from a certain section of the audience stating that it stereotyped Muslims. Also, what do they think of the idea that censorship which until now was imposed only on films could enter the web space? How will it affect content that is clutter-breaking and how do filmmakers manoeuvre around this?

On OffScreen we will be talking movies, web shows and to the people who work behind the scenes to make the magic happen ‘on screen’.

Bard of Blood stars Emraan Hashmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vineet Kumar Singh, Kirti Kulhari and Jaideep Ahlawat. It streams on Netflix, 27 September onwards.

Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
Producer and Host: Nandakumar Rammohan