He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2006. His belief in the potential of Nehruvian socialism and an inclusive, democratic political system is obvious when he speaks about cinema or books or the deteriorating condition of civic life in Mumbai, the city he loves. In Mumbai’s film industry, Benegal is one of the few directors who engages with issues that affect society, and the city and its people. Before casting for Well Done Abba, he called me and said, ‘You have become a liability for me’." When he decides on a film, he wants to keep one role for me, one for Rajat (Kapoor), one for someone else who has worked with him for years. Ravi Jhankal, who has acted in all of Benegal’s feature films (he played Munnibai in Welcome to Sajjanpur, the eunuch who fights an election and wins), says: “It’s like a repertory theatre company. Over the years, his actors have become good friends and he often has them in mind while choosing a story. Like his mentor and biggest influence Satyajit Ray, he is in love with cameos. He has the knack of choosing and writing scripts with many characters, each with their own inner dynamics contributing to the story. Over the last two decades, Benegal has discovered and rediscovered some of the best actors in Indian cinema. The intellectual and activist rigour of his early films belies Benegal’s affability. He has adapted to changing times without having changed his core beliefs, which is an amazing achievement." But then, it was also so much fun because he himself is interested in having fun while making a film. There’s an unspoken wisdom which is bound to translate into the project.
When someone like Shyam Benegal takes over, there’s a lot of knowledge that comes on board." Benegal’s intellect and compassion leave their stamp on his works, observes Irani: “He is a very cerebral person who knows about and understands many things. Irani, who plays the two protagonists, says: “This has to be the most meaningful and the greatest experience I’ve had on a set. Expect the kind of understated irony, satire and gentle humour that characterized Welcome to Sajjanpur, only perhaps with better lead performances. Armaan is caught in a bureaucratic and societal maze. His boss demands an explanation, and so begins a story involving his twin brother (Boman Irani), the brother’s wife, his daughter (Minissha Lamba)-and the petty politics and corruption that surround this family. It is the story of Armaan Ali (Boman Irani), who returns to his work and family after a mysterious, self-imposed, three-month break. It deals with things like developmental schemes that the government undertakes and how the difference between a scheme and a scam is so very small." “A community well is stolen and the story kind of takes off from there.
“It is set in a small place in Andhra Pradesh in the Telangana region," he says. In tone and writing, it has similarities with Welcome to Sajjanpur. His forthcoming film, Well Done Abba, is a political satire. Madhu Kapparath / Mint and with classmates from his school days at Mahboob College School, Secunderabad, in 2007. In some, such as Zubeidaa (2001), some of the visual flourishes look out of place, even sloppy.Įven in the commercially successful Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), which marks an entirely new phase in his narrative style, Benegal does not desert the two qualities that define his cinema.Īnother life: (top) Benegal, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, outside South Block. Visual style, or the gimmicks and tricks of the camera, have never been important indexes of his success barring, perhaps, a couple of his later films such as Suraj ka Satvan Ghoda (1992) and Samar (1998). His corpus, spanning three decades of film-making and some pioneering work in television, rests almost entirely on two things: his engagement with the socially oppressed and characters-often dark and comic at the same time-that populate this milieu. Look at this man, he is an amazing stylist but without his unique point of view and his voice, My Name is Red, or this, won’t be great books."īenegal, now also a Rajya Sabha MP, pretty much summed up his own approach to his art: content over style. Recently, when I met the 75-year-old director in his office, he picked up Orhan Pamuk’s latest novel, Museum of Innocence, in the middle of our conversation and said: “Style can’t be bad, but you got to have an individual voice to go with the style. Courtesy Shyam Benegal Benegal’s first film Ankur, starring Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag. Courtesy Shyam Benegal Girish Karnad in Manthan. Courtesy Shyam Benegal Naseeruddin Shah in Nishant. Courtesy Shyam Benegal Divya Dutta in Welcome to Sajjanpur. AFP Boman Irani (left) plays the lead in Benegal’s forthcoming film Well Done Abba. Montage: (clockwise from top) Benegal behind the camera.
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