Shyam Benegal Allowed Actors To Give âtour de forceâ Performances

There are so many things to remember Shyam Benegal by including his seminal works Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975) and Manthan (1976). Thanks to which we know what tour de force actors Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil were. All three peerless actors variously made their debuts in Benegal films. But let me also shine light on some of my other favourite Benegal films besides Ankur and Manthan. Go gently sir. May the angels always keep you.

Junoon (1979)

Jennifer Kendall showed young Hindi audiences glimpses of what she was capable of with Junoon. Shashi Kapoor who’s married to the beautiful but querulous Shabana Azmi gets obsessed with an Englishman’s daughter. Set in the days of the mutiny of 1857, by a twist of fate the fleeing “firangees” are sheltered in Shashi Kapoor’s house much to the chagrin of his childless wife. Stunning portrayals from Shabana, Jennifer. Nafisa Ali made a fine debut. The writer Ismat Chugtai shows up in a cantankerous cameo, too. But for me, despite his truncated role, Naseeruddin Shah steals the limelight. Junoon based on Ruskin Bond’s A Flight Of Pigeons is gripping without a single false note. Govind Nihalani’s camerawork is stellar.

The love between the martyred Javed Khan played by Shashi and Ruth played by Nafisa, who died unwed, is the stuff great romances are made of. The last scene in the church where Javed and Ruth meet one last time and never see each other again is poignant. Javed like a true gentleman lives up to the promise made to Ruth’s mom. Junoon was way ahead of its time and didn’t get its due. Director Shyam Benegal is on top of his game here. The flight of pigeons is probably a metaphor for the human predicament as a cry for freedom as much as it is a metaphor for the imminent danger that lurks for these innocent birds just around the corner.

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Kalyug (1981)

Kalyug was the best Hindi adaptation of the Mahabharata. How Shyam Benegal weaves the different strands of love, passion, jealousy, ambition between two warring business families who are related was beautiful. The Mahabharata parables ran through seamlessly. The Karna angle, Draupadi’s love for Arjuna, the humiliating vastraharan sequence shows in the form of IT raids, the “blind” Dhritarashtra. The retelling of the Mahabharata is the most compelling stories told and in my opinion Shyam Benegal’s best on par with Nishant, Bhumika and Manthan.

Rekha at the peak of her career played the sullen and gorgeous Draupadi. Shashi Kapoor in one of his life’s most complex roles, a lovely supporting cast of Kulbushan Kharbanda Akash Khurana. Anant Nag made for fiery scion who hates his cousin Victor Bannerjee. Supriya Pathak made a fine debut too.

On repeated viewings Kalyug has so much nuance thanks to a fine screenplay. You want the Draupadi-Karna relationship explored a bit more that doesn’t happen somehow. Overall, what an ensemble cast with Victor Bannerjee, Anant Nag, Kulbushan Kharbanda, Shashi Kapoor and Sushma Seth in scene stealing turns.

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It’s a beautifully taut screenplay by Satyadev Dubey and Shyam Benegal. Kalyug, won Best Film, Best Supporting Actor for Supriya Pathak and Best Sound Design at the Filmfare Awards. But for me it was a Rekha show all the way despite a supporting role. Her “vastraharan” scene is outstanding.

Trying to piece together the various strands of the Mahabharata and making it a modern allegory is no mean feat. Benegal uses amazing amount of innuendo, suggestion to enhance a scene.

Shashi Kapoor produced the film at the peak of his involvement in commercial cinema while Rekha in the midst of her three shifts a day reign as queen of commercial cinema took time off to do Kalyug. This one features in my top 25 not to be missed films.

Bhumika (1977)

At a time when directors are busy giving cinematic blowjobs in the name of biopics, Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika based on the life of the controversial actor Hansa Wadkar, was as much an exploration of the psyche of a troubled woman, as much as it was a comment on the changing face of Indian cinema.

All of 21, Smita Patil invested her character with a fierce intensity and quiet dignity. The film telescopes from the pat to the present painting a picture of an empowered woman who despite her stature was a pawn to the double standards and feudal behaviour of men.

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There are some spectacular performances by the supporting cast including Sulabha Deshpande, Amrish Puri and Amol Palekar in an unforgettably sleazy avatar. The Naseeruddin Shah portions still leave me bewildered and is perhaps the filmmaker’s weakest link. Vanraj Bhatia’s background score adds to the blue mood of the film.

Benegal’s camera is non-judgemental. He presents a situation and asks you to make what you will. Smita who won the National Award that year is both fierce and determined and yet vulnerable and soft.

The scene where Smita’s gold digger husband played by Palekar, makes her abort the baby because it would affect her standing in the movie marquee and her reunion with her teenaged daughter are masterstrokes. Another raw scene is when Smita’s mother hits her mercilessly for having an affair behind her husband’s back. When she agrees to a life of anonymity as the mistress to a feudal landowner, she realises that she has run away from one prison only to be imprisoned in another one.

Bhumika is a more than fair representation on the back stories of showbiz actors. It also holds up a mirror to ugly truths behind the varnished faces and glamorous lifestyles. Miss this jewel at your own risk.

Mandi (1983)

If proof is required that she’s one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema, just watch Shabana Azmi in Mandi. In my opinion, it is on par with her performances in Arth (1982) and Morning Raga (2004).

Shyam Benegal’s film was way ahead of its time. The master filmmaker cheekily crafts a story about society’s double standards. Without being preachy or didactic, Benegal drives home such truths.

At the heart of it all is the crafty but benign Rukminibai played expertly by Shabana Azmi. Shabana, who was simultaneously doing films like Masoom, Paar, Arth put on enormous amounts of weight and played the part to perfection. Her voice, her body language was excellent.

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She is surrounded by an ensemble cast. Naseeruddin Shah excels as the stoic Tungrus, who doesn’t say a word during the day, but viciously mouths profanities against Rukminibai at night in his drunken state. Neena Gupta, Anita Kanwar, Om Puri, Ila Arun excel in their parts, too. As the prime antagonist in the brothel, Soni Razdan is terrific.

The scenery chewing scenes belong to Shabana. Watch how she negotiates money dealings with Kulbushan Kharbandha. That same year she and Kulbushan played spouses in Arth, while Naseeruddin and Shabana were a married couple in Masoom. The ending of Mandi is a huge let down thanks to the meandering screenplay.

It is also testimony to Shabana’s prowess as an actress. In the midst of lamenting about the betrayal from her own girls and Tungrus, she pauses in the mirror to admire herself. That scene towards the climax is a masterstroke of acting. And then she continues to holler the place down berating Ila Arun who’s going through labour pangs. This is sheer craft and genius.Shyam Benegal recently passed away. Continue reading …Read More