That one line pretty much set the tone for the entire evening. Boman Irani didn’t just host a red carpet gala in Mumbai—he delivered a masterclass in why storytelling still sits at the heart of cinema. The occasion was the 6th April Bound gala celebrating the six-year journey of his writing mentorship platform Spiral Bound, and it turned into a powerful reminder of how stories are built from the ground up.
Speaking about the journey, Boman traced it back to the lockdown days when everything began almost accidentally. "So, this is a story that began six years ago. During the lockdown, I used to mentor two or three writers, answering their questions over the phone. Eventually, they introduced me to Zoom calls—showing and teaching me how to conduct them. The Zoom calls turned out to be incredibly successful. Consequently, I invited six of my friends—expanding the group from three to six—and told them, 'Come join us; we’ll provide mentorship.' They asked, 'How many people should we invite?' From six, the group grew to twelve; from twelve to twenty-five; and today, we have 2,000 writers learning with us. Since then—from that day until today—we have conducted 870 sessions." What started as casual phone calls has now evolved into a full-fledged creative ecosystem.
The platform has quietly grown into a massive writing community, and the gala was a celebration of that expansion. From 2,000 writers globally, only around 200–250 were present at the event, selected from a competitive process where participants submitted 11-page script excerpts. The stakes were real too—11 shortlisted scripts, with three winners set to travel to Moscow under a special collaboration with the Moscow Film Federation. For many young writers, this wasn’t just recognition—it was a potential career launchpad.
The evening also had a strong cinematic aura thanks to the presence of legendary writer Javed Akhtar, whom Boman praised with deep admiration. He highlighted the legacy of Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan, calling them an unmatched force in Indian cinema writing. Akhtar’s presence added gravitas to the event as he interacted with emerging writers and presented awards, reinforcing the importance of mentorship passing through generations.
But the most defining takeaway from the night remained Boman’s philosophy about filmmaking. He said, "This is truly important—for our cinema, and for the art of filmmaking itself. No matter how excellent the acting or the direction may be, a film simply cannot turn out well without a strong script and a compelling story. Therefore, we are making a concerted effort to start working diligently right from the very roots of the craft." In an industry often obsessed with scale and stardom, his words cut straight to the foundation.
Behind the initiative is also global expertise. Boman revealed that his mentor is Oscar-winning screenwriter Alex Dinelaris, whose teachings are being shared with the writers under Spiral Bound. Boman described it as a cycle of learning and giving back—where knowledge doesn’t just stay in one place but flows into new voices and new stories waiting to be told.
As the evening wrapped up, one thing was clear—Spiral Bound is no longer just a mentorship program. It has become a movement built on belief, discipline, and the idea that great cinema doesn’t begin on set, but on the page. And if Boman Irani’s words are anything to go by, the future of films will always belong to the writers first.