Bahnishikha Das, who has handled the development and setup as a writer of Colors TV’s newly launched show Binddii, along with the story and screenplay, says she has been a writer her entire life. Binddii is produced by Palki Malhotra and Saurav Tiwari’s banner Streetlamp & Beehive Collective LLP. From writing poems and stories that were published in newspapers to seeing her stories come to life on screen, it has been a dream come true for her.
She said, “I have always been a writer; I always had so many stories to tell. In fact, as a child, I would cook up stories, and early on, as a schoolgirl, I had written poems that were published in newspapers. From then on, I grew up not only with stories in my head but also with a dream of seeing them on screen someday, without knowing how. Then life unfolded in such a way that it brought me to Mumbai, and very soon I found my way into the Hindi television world as a writer.”
Though she did not have any formal training in writing, she always had raw and pure stories at hand. She continued, “It was one such story that I had sent to a friend who, at that time, was working with Contiloe Pictures and was looking for good stories for the supernatural/horror show Ssshhhhh Phir Koi Hai…”
“I gave one story that I was writing at that point, which, to my immense joy, was immediately picked up. It led to many more stories for Ssshhhhh Phir Koi Hai… and I was hugely appreciated as a writer. That gave me all the confidence I needed, and thereafter I went all out to look for more opportunities to write and went on to create many shows across varied genres,” she added.
A Bengali by origin, Bahnishikha’s father was an engineer, while her mother was a teacher and homemaker. Having lived in different parts of India, she was always a bright student and a topper throughout school. She completed her graduation from Delhi University and her postgraduate degree in marketing and sales. As luck would have it, she came to Mumbai with “dreams in her eyes of telling stories, of bringing forth all those stories she had within her to the world.”
She has written shows across all genres—historical, horror, crime, and family drama. She said, “I can say in all humility, and with a touch of pride, that I am a very versatile writer.”
A few of her prominent projects include Ssshhhhh Koi Hai…, Bidaai, Ranbir Rano, Godh Bharaai, Mitwa, Gulaal, Doli Armaanon Ki…, Ashoka, Maharana Pratap, Udaan, and many more. She was honoured with the Colors Golden Petal Award for Best Screenplay Writer for Udaan. She was also nominated in the Best Story Writer category at the ITA Awards for the TV series Maharana Pratap.
Not one to limit herself, she has also forayed into the OTT world with the web series Assi Nabbe Poore Sau and Naam Gum Jaayega.
Bahnishikha also excitedly shared a big reveal with us for the first time, saying, “And to add to all of that, I have just finished writing my first feature film, which will be going on floors this year itself. It is being produced under my banner Akshikha Entertainment.”
“Like they say, life comes full circle. I happened to start my television writing career with the supernatural genre, and now my foray into writing feature films is also beginning with a supernatural thriller. Isn’t it just happily ironic?”Bahnishikha concluded.
