The writing on the screen

From Bridgerton to Never Have I Ever, the on-screen narrative has changed. Meet the women of South Asian origin who are rewriting Hollywood, one script and one show at a time

- SHAHNAZ SIGANPORIA

GEETIKA LIZARDI

SCREENWRITER LOS ANGELES

Known for: Bridgerton, Mira Royal Detective, Outsourced

Geetika Lizardi’s family emigrated to the US from Chandigarh when she was two-and-a-half years old, but she visited India most summers. And in between, she spent a lot of her time translating American culture for Indians and Indian culture for Americans. “I never knew how useful that would be in my future career. So much of what I write comes from my identity as an Indian American,” she says.

Lizardi didn’t start as a scriptwriter. She majored in English at Stanford and went on to acquire an MBA before working a lucrative job at Microsoft. “I realized that this was somebody else’s dream job, not mine,” she says. Wanting to write but unsure of what to put to paper, she retreated to an old favorite. “I always loved Jane Austen because I felt like I could relate to her heroines. Their identity rested within their marriageability. The struggle in every novel revolved around finding a husband. As an Indian woman, that was part of my experience too.” Lizardi immersed herself in Regency-era literature and research, even writing a biopic on Austen, which was optioned but didn’t make it to the screen. Her interest in the period served her well when she was approached by Shondaland to come on board for season two of the steamy, binge-worthy Bridgerton. “[Writing for] it kept me sane during the lockdown,” she says.