The storyteller who made films like Ankur, Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika and many such thought-provoking social dramas, Shyam Benegal, will be conferred with the Excellence in Cinema Award India at the 2018 JIO MAMI Mumbai Film Festival later this year. When asked how it feels to be recognised, over and over again, in a career that spans over five decades, the 83-year-old filmmaker says, “It is nice to know that people still go back to my films that were made such a long time ago, particularly because films are notorious for their short life. It is always delightful when people continue to watch your films. If comments are nice, I feel good, if the comments are bad, I feel bad. But it also means that the films aren’t dated and it is wonderful.”
Paying tribute
The reason Benegal’s films are timeless, even though filmmaking has advanced technically, is because of the films’ subjects. Although, today, Indian cinema seems to be offering the spotlight to female characters, Benegal had claimed this space during the ’70s and ’80s. “When I started, I didn’t think of it like that. But eventually, I did. By and large, Indian cinema was a repository of patriarchal values. It was always the man who was more important than the woman. My films tended to tell stories that were largely female-centric in a landscape that was predominantly male,” he explains.
Though his last full-length feature film was Well Done Abba (2009), the filmmaker has been busy with docuseries. “I continue to make films but not necessarily films for cinema. I made a whole series on India’s constitution (Samvidhaan: The Making of the Constitution of India, a 10-part television mini series) and a feature length film on the history of Punjab (Jange-Azadi). I have also been reading a lot. I just finished reading a biography on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the founding father of Bangladesh),”says the filmmaker who has been approached by the government of Bangladesh for a prospective film on the late Rahman.
When asked where he finds his inspiration to make such films, Benegal says, “I always drew inspiration from life. But yes, I have used some literary works as sources (like the film Suraj ka Satvan Ghoda, based on a short story of the same name and Bhumika, based on Sangtye Aika, the autobiography of Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar). But most of my material comes from life.”
The Puri slap
Talking about Bhumika that starred Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Amrish Puri and Anant Nag, the filmmaker recollects one of the most memorable scenes when Amrish had to slap Smita Patil. “He (Amrish) was slapping her lightly and I said, ‘You can’t slap like that, it needs to be a proper slap.’ He then slapped so hard that Smita almost fainted. There were two three times when poor Smita got slapped in my films but she was extremely professional. But as a director, I used to be worried because the red welts would show on the cheek and wouldn’t disappear easily. So whenever Amrish Puri slapped, we had to keep ice ready to apply it immediately,” reminisces Benegal.
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