Shyam Benegal: Un-parallel in Parliament

New Delhi: My first introduction to Shyam Benegal, rather his voice, was in the early eighties. My uncle, a film buff, had interviewed him in Lucknow. Benegal had by then made a name for himself in the parallel cinema.

My only lasting memory of the interview is that of an audio cassette that would come popping out of a red tape recorder at the finishing line like a crisp bread from a toaster.

My first introduction to Benegal’s work was through my mother’s uncle, an archeologist by profession who worked closely with Benegal on the televised version of Nehru’s Discovery of India.

The context was the treatment of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana (that ran into more than 70 episodes) vis a vis how Benegal captured the essence of the entire epic in just a couple of episodes.

Nominated to Rajya Sabha almost two decades later, I got to know Shyam Benegal more closely while covering the Upper House of Parliament.

Gate number 12 in the old building was where RS members generally disembarked from their cars. A cabinet minister rushing into field queries in the question hour. An Amar Singh, chased by intrepid reporters for a sound bite. A Vijay Mallya flashing diamond ear studs. A Subbarami Reddy in sartorial finesse.

And then, an old rickety green Hyundai Santro would halt at the gate, and Benegal would quietly get down and enter the chambers- un-assuming and un-affected.

When everyone was shouting at the top of their voice to be heard, Benegal would quietly slide into his allocated seat and listen. Parliament was not his arena, nor grandstanding his metere.  

But Benegal looked alert to his surroundings. Seeing, hearing, and absorbing all about him. Without being judgemental. Traits that shaped his body of work and created an entirely new genre in Indian cinema and small screen.

In the six years that he remained a member, the celebrated filmmaker intervened less but absorbed all that went around him. Benegal’s attendance in the house in some sessions even touched 100%. Exemplary, if one were to compare it with celebrities who like him have been nominated to the Upper House.

During his 6 years in the House, Benegal’s interventions were few and far between. But whenever he spoke, Benegal would not dither in giving his piece of mind — even if he were to disagree with the government of the day or his fellow members.

During a discussion on increasing obscenity and vulgarity in television programmes, he said the government did not have “any serious role” in regulating TV content while explaining the evolution of culture from classic and folk to popular and mass culture in the 20th century.

In another intervention during a debate on the Right to Education Bill, Benegal dipped into his experiences as a filmmaker in the early 70s in Chhattisgarh.

“Oral learning is a valve…the moment you bring literal learning into that, the oral learning valve closes,” Benegal observed while listing issues that may have led to high drop-out rates in rural schools.