Benegal’s films shaped the perspective on life Lucknow News

Star filmmaker Shyam Benegal died at the age of 90. If Satyajit Ray was the tallest tree in Indian cinema, Benegal was certainly the most common banyan tree. Benegal Saheb was a Homi J Bhabha Fellow, Padma Bhushan awardee, Dada Saheb Phalke awardee and winner of 7 National Best Film Awards.
His first four feature films – Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) – created a new genre known in India as “art” or “middle cinema”. He didn’t like these customs and preferred to call it “New Age” or “alternative cinema.” He introduced some of the best actors Hindi cinema has ever seen like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri.
My father forced me to watch every Benegal Saheb film during my childhood – a habit that I continued later as an adult.
I once asked him why he rarely took us to mainstream masala films, but only to parallel or alternative cinemas by these directors. He said it was a kind of “investment” he made in me and he wanted to make the encounter with Benegal’s cinema part of my learning journey. No wonder Benegal’s films have shaped my sensibility as a person and my perspective on life in more ways than one.
We have every episode of Benegals “Bharat Ek Khoj‘ every week throughout my early adulthood. It was my way of connecting to my roots through the work of this master craftsman who depicts the diverse history of India based on Nehru’s ‘Discovery of India’. Since the theme song “Shritsti ka kaun hai karta, unche aakaash mein rahta, sada adhyakshya bana rahta” was on air, my family sat in silence for months so as not to miss a single episode. For my son Ujiwal, this was a part of his childhood as it was available on YouTube.
Imagine such masterpieces of Shyam Babu like Ankur, Nishant, Bhumika, Manthan, Susman, Junoon, Kalyug, Mandi, Trikal, Arohan, Mammo, Sardari Begum, Zubeidaa, Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda,
The Making of the Mahatma, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Samar and many more – the list is long! Shashi Kapoor teamed up with Benegal Saheb for Junoon (1978) for this turbulent period of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, based on Ruskin Bond’s story “The Flight of the Doves”, which was shot extensively in Lucknow and represents one of the best Lucknow films.
Benegal Saheb also made a documentary on Satyajit Ray’s life in 1985, Ray, which, in my opinion, remains the most authentic portrayal of the master craftsman. Once when Mr. Benegal came to my house for dinner, he presented me with a collection of DVDs of his “Samvidhaan” on the making of the Indian Constitution, which would remain my prized possession forever. Watching his films gave me a taste for good cinema, and it even shaped my perception of life.
Thank you very much, Mr. Benegal, you were like a “god” to me through your sensitive films and your cinematic excellence. You may have left this world, but your work will always remain relevant and inspire us forever!
(The author is a heritage advocate, skills promoter and economic reform activist.)