Shagufta Rafique, one of the most successful script writers working in Bollywood today, made her debut ‘performance’ as an 11-year-old at a private party in the Indian city of Mumbai.
“We had come to the house through a family connection. The gathering was all men, mostly drunk. I tied my dupatta (scarf) around my waist and danced with a lot of energy. People applauded and threw money,” recalls Rafique.
“Later I realised that the applause was linked to how much money I made. Even at that age, that was the kind of mathematics I was into, the kind of stuff I figured out really early.”
From facing abuse and poverty to dancing in bars and a brush with prostitution, it’s been a long and difficult journey for Rafique.
But the feisty 48-year-old has managed to re-script her life and emerge as one of the top screenwriters in Bollywood, with some of the industry’s recent hits to her credits.
The whole thing made me see very early how vulnerable women are, and how money decides what is respectable and what is not
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