Although, he admits that often, it is more appropriate to cast an unknown face in such a role. Benegal, who has already shot a major chunk of the movie between January and March this year at an elaborate set built inside Goregaon Film City, all amid a raging pandemic, will be soon leaving for Bangladesh to shoot the remaining portions.Īccording to Benegal, the man known for his on point castings, having introduced the likes of Naseeruddin Shah (Nishant), Shabana Azmi (Ankur), Smita Patil (Charandas Chor), Ananth Nag (Ankur), Supriya Pathak (Kalyug), Deepti Naval (Junoon), and Urmila Matondkar (Kalyug), finding a man who can play Mujib was the most challenging part. The Awami League founder, along with many of his family members, was killed on Augduring a military coup. Also, the assassination of him and his entire family barring his two daughters who weren’t in Bangladesh at that time, was a tragedy of Shakespearean dimension it isn’t an easy story to tell,” says Benegal. People who knew him are still alive, not to mention that his daughter is now the prime minister of the country.
“He is not some historical figure who existed centuries ago and you can take artistic liberties while portraying him. “A lot was written by Mujib, and then there’s a treasure of literature written on him, both in English and Bengali.” Such elaborate research should come easy to him Benegal had started his career with documentary films, and has made over 70 odd ones till now.īut this wasn’t an easy project. The subject was so interesting that I had to take it up,” says the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee.Īsk him about the research that went behind the biopic of the man who was the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh, its first president and later assumed office as the prime minister of the country, and he points towards a stash of filed papers and books rising waist-high from one corner of the floor. It is a joint production between the two countries.
“The idea of the film was part of a friendship treaty signed between India and Bangladesh. Unless he is shooting, between 10 am and 6 pm, he can be found ensconced in this cosy well-lit chamber reading up on new material, researching, and meeting journalists - he still prefers to do his interviews in person. But Shyambabu, as he is fondly called, remains a staunch believer of the old normal. This is the third time I am interviewing him in the span of less than two years, and the world has gone through almost a tectonic shift of sorts. There is no computer or laptop his tiny office room is stacked with books instead. Those are the only two gadgets in the room apart from his mobile phone, although he still uses his landline more often, and is yet to warm up to WhatsApp texts. “You are right, I was on semi-retirement,” chortles the octogenarian, as we settle my phone and my recording device on his desk for the interview. His last feature was the National Award winning 2010 film, Well Done Abba. Titled Bangabandhu, it is written by Atul Tiwari and Shama Zaidi, and sees the path-breaking director helming a feature-length movie after a gap of a decade. He is working on an ambitious biopic of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. At 86, Shyam Benegal is probably one of the busiest men in the Hindi film industry. The next day, I have a reduced time slot, which is then punctuated by elaborate phone calls. His team is scheduled to leave for Bangladesh in two days for a recce for the November schedule of his upcoming film. When I reach Shyam Benegal’s Tardeo office, after a brief wait, I am told that he is in a long meeting, and can’t make it for the interview. At 86, the ace film-maker, who is regarded as one of the pioneers of Hindi language Indian new wave cinema, is one of the busiest men in the industry