I see the flaws in my films too easily: Benegal

CINEMASCOPE: Benegal says a filmmaker must invite viewers, not scare them away.

          

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Keywords: Films , Cinema

Shyam Benegal: To some extent, yes but even much more. Take Shabana for instance, her parents were Communists, she lived in a commune, the experiences she had even as a child are those which very few children would have. She can internalise so many different things, which can emerge in a performance. Smita did the same. Although she was not a trained actress, she came from a politically active family. So the concerns went beyond themselves and beyond their own lives and the betterment of their own lives. It went beyond that.

Anuradha SenGupta: Girish Karnad has said that this famous rivalry that the whole world even today keeps eluding to is rivalry that stems from the fact that both of them were rivals for your affection, or to be number one with you. Do you agree with that?

Shyam Benegal: Oh no. I think that Girish tends to exaggerate these things. I don’t really believe in all that. Although I think Girish himself, his contribution to my work has been great. I have a great admiration for him.

Anuradha SenGupta: But you don’t agree with the statements of his?

Shyam Benegal: No I don’t agree with them.

In 1993, itching to experiment with form, Benegal made Suraj Ka Saatva Ghoda based on Dharamveer Bharati’s novel. He is quick to say that if the audience doesn't get it, then filmmaker needs to go back to the drawing board.

Shyam Benegal: I don’t believe that a filmmaker should intimidate the audience. It's easy to intimidate an audience because of the position that you are in. But what is the point? Because you actually then drive them away. You should invite them into your world. Invite them with every strategic device you can put together.

Anuradha SenGupta: What do you do when they reject you?

Shyam Benegal: You try again. It is a very simple thing.

Anuradha SenGupta: You see it as your failure as a craftsperson or you see it as their inability to match up?

Shyam Benegal: I have never thought that the audience was incapable of understanding anything.

At 73, Benegal has won every accolade that the country has to offer. He was nominated into the Rajya Sabha in 2006 and is in a hurry to make his next film, the one that will have his trademark style and characters. This filmmaker wants his audience to find their own morality.

Anuradha SenGupta: Are you ambivalent then?

Shyam Benegal: I am not ambivalent. I do want people to realise that you know when some does something wrong or falls foul in the society’s accepted norms.