I do what I believe in

— Shyam Benegal

His films are just as good as his characters — authentic and powerful. Aditi Tandon meets Shyam Benegal, the master filmmaker who stamps reel with the real

SHYAM Benegal, it seems, is ready for a fresh start. Exuding a childlike exuberance, he puts age behind him to celebrate life and all that comes in its wake. Life, after all, has been a constant source of inspiration for the filmmaker’s magical reels. It still titillates him with renewed charms, while he wanders around cinematic landscapes scurrying for that picture-perfect setting in which life comes alive as it is, not as it should be.

Sermonising is not Benegal’s cup of tea. All that interests him is truth telling. That’s what he has done through three decades of his career — from Ankur and Nishant days to the more recent times when he captured the popular imagination with not-so-popular subjects in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero and Zubeida.

"I do what I believe in," says the filmmaker, whose presence lifted the second Chandigarh Film Festival held recently. The four-day extravaganza featured a special Benegal selection, marked also by Bhumika though fans would have preferred Nishant better.

In 1976, Nishant was an entry at Cannes, where it was pitted against Private Vices and Public Virtues, a film promoted by voyeuristic agendas. It was still not a match for Benegal’s actors — Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil — who strode into people’s hearts with the sheer charm of simplicity. Benegal’s films are just as good as his characters — simple and powerful.

"There is still no dearth of acting talent in India. What we lack is the opportunities to creatively employ that talent," says the man, who launched many stars of our times. He continues to promote good actors — Rajeshwari Sachdeva, Alka Srivastava, Urmila Matondkar being some. Not many know that Benegal was the first to introduce Urmila in Kalyug, where she played the "son" of Shashi Kapoor and Rekha. Urmila is now playing Chamki in Benegal’s next by the same name.

"The film is based on the novel, Camen by Prosper Merimee on which composer Georges Bizet made an opera 150 years ago," Benegal says, reiterating the purpose of cinema and its power to change societies.

"Individual works may not effect change," he says, ‘but together they make a difference. Cinema is the most powerful and popular medium of influence on people, and the need is to view it as a potent art form. By stressing on entertainment alone, you are not giving films their due," says Benegal.

His own takes on social realities in Samar (a National Award-winning film about social oppression and dalits), Hari Bhari (a film about women’s reproductive rights) and Manthan (a film he made for the National Diary Development Board in Gujarat) made an impact. So much so that he was pursued by several clients interested in social change.

No wonder Benegal’s earlier works were mostly commissioned like Aarohan for the CPI-M-led West Bengal Government; Susman for Handloom Co-operatives, Yatra for the Indian Railways and the 53-episode televised Bharat Ek Khoj.

In most of his works, Benegal celebrated the strengths of rural India and communicated the respect for human rights, especially for women. "I have been consciously working on women-centric themes. Despite constituting half of our population, women continue to live with negligible human rights. I detest the fact," he says, lauding the new-age cinema which is projecting India’s strengths.

"Shimit Amin’s Chak de India was special; it showed how Indians, known to be individual performers, can make magic with teamwork," Benegal says, not a scintilla of cynicism layering his voice. Normally you would expect a filmmaker of his repute to judge new trends in Indian cinema and berate at least some. But that’s not what comes your way, as Benegal hails Indian film industry as "vibrant and democratic."

"Films are functioning in a more democratic framework like never before; they are opening up areas for competition. What I would like to see though is more of village India in our urban films. Most of the content these days is about a small segment of our society. It’s fascinating as well because it mirrors new India. But let us not give an impression that rural India does not exist," says the man who single-handedly used films to bring the marginalised into the mainstream.

And now he is back to the village, with his latest Mahadev ka Sajjanpur. His maiden comedy, the film explores the plight of a modern-day village on the verge of technological revolution.

"This village is wrought with illiteracy, though technology is knocking its doors. My story is about Mahadev, a village youth, seeking livelihood as a letter-writer," Benegal bares threads of the story he has written; screenplay is by Ashok Mishra, decorated with many national awards. The cast is fresh as always, except for some old favourites like Rajeshwari and Ila Arun. In lead roles are Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao.

Personally for Benegal, the film marks the beginning of a new chapter, as he says, "I don’t like repeating myself. You will see in this film something you have not seen before," he says. Also growing in his repertory is a film on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, a British spy with Indian connections. This one is set to be a trademark Benegal film — complete with strong characters and solid research. Till then, the filmmaker will be romancing village India.

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