It takes the talent and precision of Shyam Benegal to succinctly encapsulate the art and craft of Benegal, the master of parallel cinema. He did not like the expression ‘middle cinema’. It is perhaps this grammatical sensibility that characterizes Benegal’s art world. He found himself ideologically at war with mainstream interpretations of glamour, gloss and the grotesque in the name of cinema.
Of course, he wasn’t the first. However, unlike Bimal Roy or Satyen Bose, he tried to set his path quite differently. His cinema was initially or quite unexpectedly political, not even liking politics, Me Azad Hoon Wa Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.
His politics seemed to be Marxist and therefore steeped in economics rather than politics. As a graduate in economics, he understood the verticality of economics in the feudal background of the 60s and 70s. We must remember that Benegal is a product of Nehruvian India.
Admittedly, Benegal’s cinema, like Sourav Ganguly’s team, was about individual talent matched with the understanding that teamwork is essential. He has certainly worked with actors like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Supriya Pathak, Surekha Sikri, Farida Jalal, Leela Naidu, Anita Kanwar, Dakshina Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Anant Nag, Kulbhushan Kharband, Amarish Puri, Amol and others. Palekar name some.
Vanraj Bhatia was to him perhaps Shankar-Jaikishan to Raj Kapoor or SD Burman in Navketan. Apart from Well Don Abba, which starred Shantanu Moitra and AR Rahman, Vanraj Bhatia’s Saadgi became Benegal’s signature.
Govind Nihalani was his cinematographer. Another master craftsman who worked with him was Ashok Mehta (Susman). Many perceive cinema as grandeur on screen. It is actually granular on paper. His scripting team included Vijay Tendulkar, Satyadev Dubey, Shamma Zaidi, Khalid Mohammed, Girish Karnad, Ismat Chugtai, Kaifi Azmi and Ruskin Bond.
Inevitably Benegal’s sensibility is reflected in the quality of his team, their nuanced understanding of what constitutes good cinema.