By Cynthia Chandran

Shyam Benegal, pioneer of Middle and New cinema in India has been making waves in and out of the country since his first film, 'Ankur' released way back in 1973.

Benegal, now a member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, recently was in London to promote his latest comedy film, 'Well Done Abba', when he spoke at length to Media Voice, on a variety of issues.

While in London he also took part in the launch of India Media Centre.

How do you feel to be associated with the University of Westminster's 'India Media Centre'?

I have been in media for long. Since it's the world's first research and knowledge centre wholly dedicated to the study of the Indian media and films, I decided to be a part of it.

But don't you think that you should have been in the Rajya Sabha which has been witnessing furore in passing the Women's Reservation Bill?

I did not expect the bill to be presented this week. I knew it was going to happen and when it happened, I was glued to the television to see actually what was happening. I felt very depressed because the house had several disruptions and put to vote only after a debate. I liked the points made by Arun Jaitley and Brinda Karat, who spoke extremely well.

Do you enjoy being known as a Rajyasabha MP?

I am a politician by accident in the sense that am accidentally there (laughing). I do not really understand the intricacies of the politics. But there are some days which is absolutely marvelous, debates can go brilliantly well and of course general decibel levels going high and you wonder why (laughing again).

How is your relation with the other members of the film fraternity in the Parliament?

Unlike Jaya Bachan, Jaya Prada, Hemamalini, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, I am not politically attached to any political party. I take a rather liberal political position on political issues. My heart is with the people who are politically inclusive having politically exclusive minds (laughing).

5. You were one of the first creative people to comment on painter M. F. Hussain's Qatar citizenship issue. Do you feel that the Indian government had mishandled the issue?

I think the attacks against M. F. Hussain were orchestrated. The government should have been pretty strong against the threats and it should not have been allowed to grow too much. But since it grew into a political dimension, it was also not easy. Most people are dead at this time and at 95, he is still so creative and is doing so much creative work. And why shouldn't we allow him to do that work?

How do you look back on your career taking off as a copy writer with Lintas Advertising and now as a universally acclaimed filmmaker?

It's the manner in which leads one thing to another. But eventually, my goal was always to be a film maker. All my works in advertising helped me to be trained as a film maker.

How were you able to switch over to mainstream Bollywood industry with 'Zubeidaa'?

I do not agree to the terminology, mainstream. But you get pushed to the margins if your work is not on the same level of popularity as other films. When you are telling a story, you make audiences laugh and cry. All film makers try to create a film that has better chance to be success in the market. So if somebody says you have become mainstream film maker just because you have included a few songs, it makes no sense. I enjoyed doing 'Zubeidaa' very much and it was acclaimed by all as an excellent movie.

How was it making a comedy film, 'Welcome to Sajjanpur'?

Oh, I enjoyed it tremendously. That was a strategic decision also. I wanted to do a comedy film because I felt that you can engage an audience more quickly with a comedy. Because the intent is continuous to be the same and there are strong social concerns expressed in the film, views, attitudes and ironies in the form of a comedy.

You have always portrayed Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi in strong women centric characters. Do you feel that Patil's seat is still lying vacant?

There were/are certain uniqueness to both of them. In the sense that neither of them had conventional filmy good looks. But both of them were/are extremely photogenic. But more than that, they have been hugely talented and being so, both were working upstream against the current. They were not asked to do unconventional performances and because of that for them too, there were huge risks. But they became hugely successful. In the film industry, they want the heroines to look fair skinned and slap on so much makeup to look fair. In a situation like that with no makeup and their natural colours showing and performing convincingly and real was what had made the difference. Shabana still continues to perform well in whatever good opportunities she gets. But Smita for those 10-11 years that she had, she had achieved a great deal.

Your current projects?

I have just finished 'Well Done Abba' that was previewed in London's Apollo Theatre. It's being released on 26th March. I am working on a couple of projects now and am not sure which one will happen because the scripts are not ready. I always wanted to make a film on Noor Inayat Khan, who served as a British-Indian spy during the Second World War. Since this was an international project on an Indian budget, it's not possible to make a film of that scale and size. Moreover, there are certain issues with the rights of the script.