BEHIND THE SCENES

I am skilled in plagiarising—from life,” Sai Paranjpye writes in her candid memoir, A Patchwork Quilt. The immediate context is a millworker’s remark that Paranjpye incorporated into her screenplay for the 1990 film Disha, but reading this book one realises that such skilful “plagiarism” applies to much of her output over a long, versatile career.

During a phone interview, she elucidates by recalling a scene in her