Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal passed away today in Mumbai at the age of 90. Filmfare spoke to actor Manoj Bajpayee who worked with Shyam Benegal in Zubeidaa. Recalling, Benegal’s artistic flair and his vision as a storyteller, Bajpayee spoke straight from the heart. Excerpts…
Since the time I landed in Bombay in the ’90s I would make regular trips to Shyam Benegal’s office in Tardeo. On a few occasions, I mustered the courage to ask him to cast me as well. Finally, he cast me in Zubeidaa (2001) and I was shocked that he chose to cast me in the role of a prince. I remember, while shooting for the film, I questioned him on his choice of popular actors and he explained to me, Zubeidaa came from a film background and was married to royalty, so it needed a sense of history to be married with popular culture. I was aghast that he chose me to be the prince and often questioned him about it. But he was convinced with his choice.
I remember being intimidated; while doing intimate sequences with my co-stars in Zubeidaa and Shyam ji would tell me, forget your small town or village morality, think like the prince would. It helped me shed my inhibitions. I saw that he was also open to discussing and told me, don’t be bogged down only by films, keep an open mind, never stop learning.
At the peak of commercial cinema and the Amitabh Bachchan wave, Shyam babu made tour de force cinema, which some people called as parallel cinema. He spawned a new generation of filmmakers because of his own unique voice and filmmaking. From Ankur (1974) to Nishant (1975) and Bhumika (1977), Junoon (1978) to Mammo (1994), look at his legacy and how he retained his original voice and spirit.
He would never get offended or say anything when other filmmakers or actors would deride his cinema or look down upon it. He was true to his vision. A true doyen of cinema as a medium of art. He redefined it in a time when it was tough to be making films other than commercial films.
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