In 1988, Arundhati Roy wrote the story and screenplay for In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, a low-budget production produced and directed by Pradip Krishen. The film had almost no big names, and was shown just once on national television in a late-night slot, when few people saw it. Despite this it acquired near cult status, especially among young English-speaking urban Indians. Set in a not-so-fictional school of Architecture in the year 1974, it is the story of dope-smoking, bellbottom-wearing, vaguely idealistic final-year students in the run up to the submission of their architectural theses. The main character, Annie—Anand Grover—doing his ninth year in college, is a misguided visionary who breeds chickens in his hostel room and is in love with a small-time cabaret dancer. There are also Radha, a bright, brash and not-so-sweet young thing, and her boyfriend Arjun; Mankind, and his Ugandan roommate Kasozi, who grinds his teeth when he dreams of Idi Amin; Lekha, who doesn't hesitate to trade coyness for marks; and Professor Y.D. Bilimoria, whom the students call Yamdoot—the messenger of the God of Death. Also a character in the film, perhaps the most important, is English as she is spoken by students in Delhi University—‘an alloy, melted down and then re-fashioned, soldered together with Hindi (occasionally even a little Punjabi).’ The screenplay of this moving, funny and unusual film is published here for the first time. Over thirty stills. A witty, nostalgic preface in which Arundhati Roy writes about the making of the film, its relevance today and its significance in the development of her art and her politics.
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