The Loss of Indian Cinema

Shyam Benegal is no more. His loss will surely be felt for a long time to come. To his credit goes the establishment of the parallel cinema in India. Recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke award for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema, Shyam Benegal changed the landscape of film making. He has the expertise of evolving the strong characters from the marginalised characters and infusing in them the substance. Thus sending a social message to make the civil society think about the sections of the society that are relegated to the background by considering them evil or on other terms not worth emulating. Benegal’s art had the capability of establishing the negative characters as the protagonists who were in fact the victims of social atrocities. He brought out the nerve of steel from the characters that set them apart from the conventional characters depicted in the traditional cinema. Shyam Benegal’s four consecutive feature films Ankur, Nishant,Manthan and Bhumika established him as one of the pioneers of the new film movement that was evolving in the 1970’s. Manthan (1976) based on the success story of the AMUL,the co-operative movement that changed the complexion of farmers in economic terms and established the Gujarat model as the viable and comprehensive model for the overall economic resurgence of the farmers under the combined leadership of Tribhuvan Das Patel and Dr. Verghese Kurien makes it clear that Shyam Benegal had a keen eye for the socio-economic undercurrents that were having impact on the national policy to empower the farmers. He developed a story that is still relevant and is a must watch for the rural management professionals who want to internalise the nuances of the Indian rural economy. The class that was represented by Shyam Benegal in his films can be traced to genes as well. Guru Dutt, an eminent film maker who was known for his sensitivity and creativity is related to Shyam Benegal. Guru Dutt’s maternal grandmother and Shyam Benegal’s paternal grandmother are related. They were sisters. Shyam Benegal was bracketed with the finest cinematic geniuses of India, Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen for their exceptional qualities. Ritwik Ghatak is known for his sensitivity towards subjects like social challenges, partition and feminism. Ghatak never reconciled to the fact that Bengal was partitioned as he well internalised the impact of genocide on the cultural and religious lives of the people. His films being rooted in the human struggles are part of the research and scholarly studies. On the other hand, Satyajit Ray was a universalist and was responsible for bringing Indian cinema to the global centre stage. He had the knack of using the simplicity of characters to depict the complexities of daily life in an effective manner. His Appu trilogy is testimony to this art of Ray.Not only that he was a sensitive writer and artist and contributed to the literature that brings out his consciousness in a vivid manner. Mrinal Sen’s themes had political undercurrents. His presence on the cinematic scene was representative of the time when there was political unrest going on in India and the Naxalite Movement making inroads. He was often labelled as a Marxist. His films were not untouched by those events. Shyam Benegal’s loss end’s the last bastion of creative and intellectual cinema. His dramatic depiction of Jawahar Lal Nehru’s “Discovery of India” as “Bharat Ek Khoj” on the Doordarshan will be remembered for ages as the masterpiece that will influence generations. A golden era has ended in Indian Cinema. The legacy will surely influence more creative minds who have a sense of sensitive cinema.