A heartfelt, unfeigned card with a thank you note, a flower, perhaps a few chocolates and maybe a “Happy Teachers’ Day” sticker over WhatsApp text is what we are well-attuned with when it comes to celebrating the guiding lights of our lives, the teachers who help us traverse through the complex tapestry of school, college and education. But how do you express gratitude to a teacher who is a luminary in the field of parallel cinema, a virtuoso filmmaker who has ambitiously worked in producing innumerable legendary feature films, TV series and documentaries and has won several National Film Awards as well as Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan?
Shyam Benegal, a name that is revolutionary with alternative cinema, his debut feature film Ankur has turned 50 this year. With an impressive career arc ranging from Nishant, Manthan, Samar, Hari-Bhari, Well Done Abba, Bhumika, Mandi, Sardari Begum, and several more, his career started even before that in the advertising industry, where he met Mohan Bijlani, who was the first to finance in Benegal’s movies. Therefore, manifestly, a student of Shyam Benegal too would be a peerless actor and filmmaker, just like Satish Sharma, who first associated with Shyam Benegal while he was making Hari-Bhari. He played a role in Benegal’s film Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose-The Forgotten Hero (2004), garnering the privilege of being a part of Benegal’s directorial team, where they worked together on films like Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), Well Done Abba (20009), Samvidhaan (TV series-2014) and Mujib: The Making of a Nation (2023). In 2024, Satish Sharma added another feather to his cap with his written and directed 10-minute short film Yaan which has been globally acclaimed for being a cinematic masterpiece. Taking it one step further, apart from this short film winning the National Award in the Best Sound Design Category and travelling across multiple film festivals, Satish Sharma dedicated this film to his guru, Shyam Benegal.
In a vivacious conversation with The Statesman, Shyam Benegal and Satish Sharma share the memories of their days together and beyond.
Q. Completing 50 years in cinema and being a path-breaking filmmaker, what kept you going?
Shyam Benegal: Well, this is the only thing I know. I don’t know how to do anything else except make movies (laughing).
Your journey with Mr Benegal started when you acted in his movie Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero. Can you help us walk through it?
Satish Sharma: Well, I was extremely fortunate to meet Shyam babu; that is what I call him fondly. We actually met at the Hari-Bhari set, where I had gone to introduce myself, but his team thought that there was no role for me in the film. I had taken my nephew there because they required a kid for a role, and my nephew got the part. That is exactly how I had the privilege of being in close association with Shyam babu for those 30 days in Hyderabad. After that, I came to Bombay, and then later on, when Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero happened, he called me for it. Shyam babu knew what he wanted from me, yet I did not!
Can you share a few memorable moments that you had while working with Mr Benegal from the sets of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, your first film together and Mujib– your last film together?
Satish Sharma: Shyam babu is an institution. When you are around him, you get positivity and knowledge; he is an encyclopaedia, and he knows everything. You know, even when you are a master of your subject, and you sit beside Shyam babu, you will start counting your knowledge because he knows so much. During the phase of shooting for Netaji, Shyam babu knew that I knew Russian, and that was also a reason why I was taken for the movie; he made me realise my capabilities, that I could handle production, direction as well as acting. For Mujib, I was his shadow. We did our shooting during a very troubled time with Covid and everything, and Shyam babu gave me the huge responsibility of handling the production of the film, and I will always be grateful for that. It was one of the biggest projects we had worked on.
Being in the industry for so many years, can you share your journey when it comes to understanding the evolution of cinema.?
Shyam Benegal: My experience in cinema has now crossed the threshold of 60 years, so naturally, it’s been a long time. The entire medium itself is changing. It is now the world of technology, and technology will always keep on developing, which means you have to keep on learning all the time, and that is what makes it so interesting. If there hadn’t been development, let’s say it had stopped 20 years ago; it would have been boring then, and I probably wouldn’t have done it till now. Technology in cinema is changing so much, it keeps you on your toes all the time.
If you look at cinema from then to now, the change has been so dramatic. It sometimes is difficult to keep track of everything. Fortunately for me, I have always kept my interest in cinema ignited. Equipment, camera, everything has now changed. You know you don’t use celluloid anymore. In the world of cinema, you stumble upon something new every day. You know, previously, until you got that one great shot, you continued with that one shot and then moved on to the next, but now it is so much simpler.
I have done everything you could possibly do in the cinema. I have not just directed but operated the cameras, handled new lenses, and been a part of the editing team; you almost tend to become Charlie Chaplin, who used to write, direct, and star in his own movies, except that I never acted.
Satish Sharma: Advancement of new technology and AI; while we do not know really what is going to happen, the change has been humongous and has benefitted us a lot as well.
What have been the biggest lessons you have garnered from this veteran filmmaker?
Satish Sharma: Whatever is there in my film. How to tell a story, how to choose the right frames, locations, and actors and how to write well. How to give your heart and soul to whatever you do, so I guess everything.
Who has been your teacher and guide/inspiration while you made films?
Shyam Benegal: I have learned from so many people and not just one. But I’ll say, Satyajit Ray. It was way back in the 1950s when Satyajit Ray had made his first film, Pather Panchali, and it won the Cannes Film Festival Award. I wanted to watch it; however, they hadn’t released the film in places where Bengali was not spoken. So I had to travel to Calcutta to see the film. Made on a shoestring budget, and he was a graphic artist; because he was an artist, he had scripted shot by shot to understand how he wanted each shot to look, and the whole story of the film was done as a storybook and that had blown me away.
Can you walk us through your experience of having Satish Sharma as your pupil for so many years?
Shyam Benegal: I don’t see him as a student but as a person who works with me. He participated in everything and handled so much. He was there all the time, looking after different aspects of filmmaking. He is an enormous asset; he and I speak the same language- the language of cinema.
Your film Yaan has solidified its position as a landmark film at various film festivals. What influenced you to write and direct this film?
Satish Sharma: One day, I was watching a piece of news of this horrible incident where an individual could not take his loved one to the hospital because of poverty and no ambulance, and I cried that whole night. The next day I woke up, and I decided that I needed to write it and make a short film.
Dedicating Yaan to Shyam Benegal, how has he influenced you and what you are today?
Satish Sharma: You know Manthan was re-released this year in several cities, and I told Shyam babu that it’s impossible how much I have inherited so much from my teacher, my guru. When I saw Yaan, I realised I had imbibed the qualities that Shyam babu had used while making Manthan, and I had done the same thing with my national award-winning short film. When I saw the film, even the viewers who saw it realised that it was close to Manthan and the qualities you receive from your teacher. I am no equal to him, but if I could do something with the lessons I have received from him, it would be an achievement.
How would you describe Satish Sharma’s achievement in directing Yaan and paying this film as a tribute to you?
Shyam Benegal: It only flatters me. He is more of a colleague, and we have been working together for many years.
Satish Sharma: This is the best thing about Shyam babu. Look at where I am and where he is, yet he is there, elevating and supporting you always.
You have often been considered a pioneer of parallel cinema, known for showing the reality of society. Is there any plot in life based on real current challenges that you think should be focused upon and should be made into a film?
Shyam Benegal: You learn from everything. In a film, the subject matter or plot has always been what I have seen in life. I am not saying that I am making a film right now, but the concept of ‘Lakhpati Didi’, which focuses on the achievements and economic empowerment of rural women, has caught my attention because I feel it is a great initiative.
Just like how Shyam Benegal has been an integral part of your learning, a teacher in a true sense, how do you plan on passing the baton and your learnings to the future filmmakers
Satish Sharma: When you work together as a team, you always have younger ones coming in and joining. Years ago, I became a part of this team, and, while doing Mujib, we had several interns and students joining us. (Shyam Benegal is receiving a call from an intern.) Perfect timing! Just while answering this question, now we have an intern calling, the perfect example of passing on the baton because, ultimately, it’s about passing on the characteristics, the zeal, and your learnings to the younger ones.