Goodbye Shyam Benegal!

Just when the country needed him most, Shyam Benegal decided to call it a day. The 90-year-old filmmaker passed away on December 23 drowning the country in sorrow.

Benegal has gone at a time when Indian cinema is under pressure to seduce society with lies. It would have been nice to have more films made by Benegal that combat the fantasy being encouraged on screen today.

Benegal will be missed as a shield against propaganda films increasingly patronized by politicians who want to use cinema to twist and turn stories so that they are able to remain in power. Benegal’s films mirror different shades of reality in the country. His cinema was an earnest attempt to understand post independent India as a nation.

According to author Arjun Sengupta who has recently published a monograph on Benegal, the film maker was forever interested in stories that were in search of the truth. Truth is probably the most important motivation behind all Benegal’s artistic efforts, writes Sengupta.

Despite the magical power of cinema and its ability to create illusions, Benegal had little time for beautiful, poetic, fiction movies with escapist tendencies. This is because he did not believe that most popular Hindi films were honest. Benegal preferred to stay away from fantasies and lies. For him cinema was a powerful tool to deliver the truth.

As writer and director, Benegal had tried to explore the tension in India between an ancient past and the demands of modernity after independence. In the process he had succeeded in laying bare the exploitation in rural India by an entrenched feudal class.

The complex web of interacting forces that have led to inequality, ostracism and exploitation in India had intrigued him. He had zoomed in upon the marginalized and those who were denied a voice in society.

He had impressed the world of cinema in his first feature film from 1974 called “Ankur”. Benegal’s storytelling was without parallel, making “Ankur” a commercial and critical success. “Ankur” remains a supreme example of how to make films that matter.

Benegal’s cinema that followed “Ankur” continued to be appreciated, and will always be remembered for its search for the truth. After “Ankur”, the film maker spent nearly half a century examining India’s intricate and multifaceted present and its relationship with our collective past. On the way, Benegal taught himself to tell stories from different corners of the country, celebrating its diversity but also exposing all the oppression and marginalization that continues to thrive beneath the country’s social, political and economic façade.

His cinema looked at the history of our country from the perspective of the dispossessed and the forgotten. The purpose was to capture on celluloid the country’s struggle to reconcile the need for modernity with century old traditions still practiced. He looked at the way India dealt with the scars of history and how Indians continue to create fresh wounds that the nation will have to heal in the future.

Benegal spent a lifetime portraying the social, economic and political realities of the country earnestly, and with sensitivity and honesty. He tried to give a voice to those who have had none and made audiences around the world aware of harsh truths that continue to haunt humanity.

Benegal’s stories prove that India is no monolithic idea but a conglomeration of baffling multiplicities that co-exist in complicated symbiotic and sometimes conflicting ways. Benegal’s social and political beliefs remained rock solid till his dying day. His sympathy with the victims of social evils like the caste system was steadfast. He continued to champion women’s rights on screen in films like “Bhumika”, “Zubeida” and “Sardari Begum”, inspiring countless aspiring filmmakers to do the same.

The repression and emancipation of women concerned him deeply. The debilitating effects of patriarchal oppression on women, whether in rural or urban India had bothered him. It made him sad that no matter what the origin or extent of repressive forces in our society women always received the worst of it.

Even through the eye of the camera all that Benegal had looked for was equality amongst human beings, and the urgent need for social justice.

From “Ankur” to all the other documentaries and television shows that he made throughout his 50-year career, he displayed rare compassion and understanding for his characters. He spent a lifetime meticulously documenting in cinema the staggering complexity and diversity of this country bringing hidden realities to light and focusing on the plight of individual human beings subjected to frightening forces by fellow citizens.

It is impossible to pigeon hole Benegal into a neat box called parallel cinema. Benegal’s vast body of work is proof that he was much more than just the founder of parallel cinema. He was in reality just a filmmaker who was able to reach into the heart and mind of audiences with his honest storytelling.

In his own words, Benegal said that cinema for him has been about creating a space which will lead to awareness among the audience.

“I didn’t want to tell them what to think. I have been interested in talking about India. I tried to show that it is not a single unidimensional monolithic idea. It is more like a palimpsest. Over centuries, layer after layer of history leaves its sediments, modifying it; more importantly, evolving into something more and more complex. Every aspect of a culture has a place in it- the history, lore and mythology. If you are open to it, then you will be a part of it,” Benegal told Sengupta in an interview published in the same monograph that is part of a series published by Niyogi books called “Pioneers of Modern India”.