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Shyam Benegal: Filmmakers can’t be propagandists
Updated On: 21 March, 2022 12:39 PM IST | Mumbai | Natasha Coutinho D`souza
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who has completed the shoot of his next, `Mujib: The Making of a Nation` speaks to mid-day.com
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Shyaam Bengal. Pic/Shadab Khan
Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal, 87, has completed the shoot of his next Mujib: The Making of a Nation, based on the life of Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh. Benegal gets in conversation about how he pulled off the shoot in between the pandemic, growth of parallel cinema, the importance of films based on history in todays day and age, how he keeps fit and much more.
When and why did you decide to make a biopic on Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh. What to you made him such a compelling figure? Was it something you had been planning over the years?
The film came out of a cultural treaty between India and Bangladesh. A feature film on Mujibur Rahman was to be made and I was suggested as a possible name as director. I was asked and I said yes! He is such a fascinating figure who created a nation and I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity! Initially I planned to make the film in Hindustani and Urdu, the languages of Bangladesh when they were part of Pakistan. Bangladeshis are a large diaspora, so we then planned to make the film in English to reach foreign audiences. Finally, I decided the film had to be made in Bengali and though I’m not fluent in the language, I had a team to help me. It was a happy experience and the dialogues came from Bangladesh since it’s a co-production.
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