Sunday, February 11, 2001		Scene Stealers

The name Shyam Benegal conjures up images of good cinema and strong women protagonists. He is the country’s top directors and has presided over parallel cinema for more than a quarter of a century. It was in 1974 that he kick-started the movement with a classic like Ankur. He followed it up with Manthan and Bhumika. He also made an opus on the early life of Mahatma Gandhi and filmed Nehru’s vision through Bharat Ek Khoj. His latest offering, Zubeidaa, is a much-talked about film.

There are strong reactions from the critics but it is being appreciated and discussed by others. It has sterling performances by Rekha and Karisma, while the music by Rehman and lyrics by Javed Akhtar are soulful. The late 1940s have been authentically recreated in this sensitively-made film.

Shyam Benegal wanted to be film maker when he was just six years old, and he, thereafter, never felt like changing his decision. Since his father was a professional photographer, he used to have a 16 mm camera. He made home movies in which the growth of each child was recorded. On one of his birthdays, his father presented him with a magic lantern (a small projector) and as Benegal recalls: ‘‘I used to make cuttings of films, put them together and show it to my family." He wrote a short story for his school magazine and it became the basis of his first film -- Ankur.

Not only has Benegal kept the flag of good cinema flying, he also symbolises the intellectual face of Bollywood. As such, he has emerged as a director whose opinions are respected. He has won 17 National Awards and the Padma Bhushan. Benegal has also been on the jury of no less than six international film festivals.

Benegal first visualises a concept and then weaves a story around it. He tries to go beyond sentimentality in order to get to the essence of the story. Another of his offerings, after Zubeidaa, is Hari Bhari, a movie made specifically for the girl- child.

On Zubeidaa, Benegal says: "The film was inspired by a true story, but the narration is entirely fictional. The writer’s (Khalid Mohammed) mother’s name was Zubeidaa and she died in a plane crash along with the then Maharaja of Jodhpur. Here ends the inspiration."

He does not agree that Manoj Bajpai has been miscast. "Manoj is an excellent actor. He fits the bill of a Maharaja according to my concept. People mostly have conventional notions on most things. A prince is supposed to be arrogant but I wanted a restrained character who is not given to quick changes of temper, or is violent. Manoj essayed the role of a civilised person well. He effectively played a prince who was coming to terms with being a commoner."

On the controversy about the letter written by Maharaja of Udaipur to other princes against the so- called misrepresentation of the lifestyle of the maharajas, Benegal says, "It was misrepresentation of facts. Now there is no controversy. The Maharaja had not even seen the movie when the letter was written. Everything has settled down now."

On his other movie Hari-Bhari, he says "The movie is showing in Bombay for the last five weeks and doing well. The producers are waiting for a tax exemption for the rest of the territories."

The movie has won a National Award.It takes Benegal’s tally of awards to 18. "It is a movie with a purpose. The actors have given sterling performances."

On being askedwhether he keeps his actresses in mind when he scripts a movie, he says: "Well, it is very difficult to say how these things happen. It is difficult to pinpoint the creative process. At times, you have an actor in mind for a character. I had Rekha in mind for the role of the Maharaja’s first wife. In case of Zubeidaa’s character, I looked around and found Karisma."

Benegal is not resting on his laurels and has started work on some ideas and scripts for his future films.

— Belu Maheshwari