I want a break from serious direction: Benegal

The country's most recognisable face of parallel cinema now thinks that he has had enough.

He is the most prolific director among the present lot in Indian film industry, who revived the filmmaking with his serious kind of cinema like Ankur, Nishant, Manthan and Bhumika, but the celebrated director wants to take a break from the serious direction for a while.

Five-time national award winner director, Shyam Benegal, feels that in last few years lots of serious cinema has been done by him and the time has come to do something different.

“For the last few years, I was feeling the urge that I need to take a break from serious direction and try something different. A lot of serious cinema has been done by me in these years and the time is ripe for a change,” the noted director said.

Story continues below this ad

So, the director is taking a shot with comedy after a span of almost 25 years and is ready with his soon to be released movie Mahadev Ka Sajjanpur starring Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao. But, the director feels that it is very difficult to make a comedy film and it is not an easy job.

This film is based on the letter writers in village post offices and their importance in the rural scenario. The director is currently busy in giving shape to his new idea- an international film based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, the courageous Indian woman who was a secret agent in World War II and was awarded the “George Cross” for her bravery.

“Noor was the daughter of the Sufi master, Hazrat Inayat Khan and was born in Moscow, and was brought up in France and Britain. The script is in process and Lord Meghnad Desai and Kishwar Desai are writing the script of that movie,” says Benegal.

Based on the best-selling and critically acclaimed book ‘The Spy Princess’ by Shrabani Basu, it will be the first Indian film where the language will be English, French, German and Hindi.

Story continues below this ad

Illustrious director, who has won the five national awards and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991, says he had faced great difficulties in his initial days of filmmaking.

“Those were the days, when I was made to wait for hours just to narrate my scripts. There was no space, no place for the young lot to prove themselves. I had to wait for 13 years to get the work and make it my way.”

The recipient of highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005, loves to work with new generation of stars as they are very talented.

“The new kids on the block are very talented and very enthusiastic. They will make you feel young as you work with them. It looks like they have inherent acting skills and I didn’t face any kind of difficulty with the fresh lot,” says Benegal.