To remember a city where one spent his/her childhood, it is important to have historical markers. “When an image is constantly changing, there is little that one can miss of the place which was home.” This was noted filmmaker, scriptwriter and director Shyam Benegal’s thoughts when asked if he misses Hyderabad, the place where he was born.
Bharat ek khoj
In the city for a book launch, the 81-year-old filmmaker says he was last there a couple of years ago “but it wasn’t for work. Another reason I’m losing touch with the city is because most of my friends aren’t here. I don’t have the same kind of emotional resonance. The Hyderabad I knew was a different place; now they are only names,” says the man, who gave us the wonderful 53-episode Bharat Ek Khoj, a historical drama based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s book, The Discovery of India.
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But there is a link to the fading memory of the city, “I moved out long back. The change sometimes is not visible; that happens when one lives in the city and has let the change grow in them, almost like getting immune to it. Moula-Ali and Little Moula-Ali were the areas where some of my earlier films were made. In this area, there was an old broken-down house, which I rebuilt in stages as per my shot requirement. Ankur was made where Sainikpuri stands now. Mandi too was shot in the same area. Till about the mid 80s, the city hadn’t changed; after that, it changed dramatically. It makes for good discussions with friends when we meet.”Does the filmmaker agree that the kind of movies that show gore and brutality are simply a reflection of reality, like Gangs of Wasseypur?
Reflection of reality
“Cinema is a reflection and Anurag Kashyap, fine filmmaker that he is, hasn’t made it out of thin air. The movie comes from what he has seen for himself, and if a movie like that is not made in the original flavour it will not do justice. Hindi is spoken in various ways. For a more concrete experience, the language, the dialect is important,” he says.
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He is now part of the committee formed by CBFC to look into their affairs and “write a report on what should, could and cannot be done. It is a complex process considering the complex system we live in. I have barely started work but that will keep me busy.” And does the filmmaker feel India is intolerant? “If we were, is it possible for a complex population like ours to co-exist? Sudden outbursts do happen; instead of letting them flare, we should learn how to control them.”
Had he not been a filmmaker, what would have been his vocation? “Nothing. I was clear about what I wanted to be. If I wasn’t a filmmaker solely, I would have been doing something else and even making films,” he says.