Film and Social Reality
Film producer Shyam Benegal (right) met for an interview with Anurag Kashyup (center).
Benegal’s films connect with real contexts in India. He roots his stories in credible places and times to address social themes. In contrast, the traditional Hindi movie offered an escape from reality.
In the following audio clip from the interview, Benegal expresses his concern that a connection to the real world around us become the grist for the mill of cinema. Click below to listen to the audio clip:
One of Benegal’s films, for example, showed oppression and empowerment among dairy farmers. It was funded by over 500,000 rural farmers donating two rupees each.
Benegal’s first four films were so realistic that they led critics to coin a new genre: India’s “parallel cinema”, or “middle cinema”. Benegal himself dislikes these terms as much as the word “Bollywood”, but they attest to the innovation he brought to Indian film.
In the interview, Benegal criticized the cinema of the previous generations for being disconnected from real life. He likewise expressed concern that the new generation of films in India focus almost completely on the wealthy urban context.
Films give a view of the world, Benegal said, and the majority of India that is not wealthy and urban has dropped off the screen.
Click the thumbnails below to see movie posters of two of Benegal’s recent films.
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Duotone by Automattic.
