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One for the heart

Shyam Benegal.

Sharmila Taliculam

Perhaps it was the audience that got to him.

Them intellectuals, magnificent specimens of controlled response, who are bothered more about the intensity of the screenplay and depth of characters than the fate of the poor hero and heroine. 'Oh, what outstanding cinematography! As for the editing, well, crisp is the word!' they go.

Perhaps it was them -- the kind that watched a movie with their head than their heart -- that got to director Shyam Benegal.

Or perhaps he just felt, oh heck, let me try something else. Something like making a commercial film, something different from Ankur and Junoon and Kalyug and Sardari Begum and Mamo.

"Let me," he must have said to himself at that point, "make Zubeida."

Karisma Kapoor. Click for bigger pic!

Perhaps that was how he decided on the commercial bandwagon. Or maybe he wanted, for a change, the pleasure of focussing on his heroine's glamorous side than her acting skills (hey, don't take us too seriously, okay?).

Was that it?

Well, you decide. We shall limit ourselves to placing the facts, and nothing but the facts, before you.

So there, first things first.

Film: Zubeida

Director: Shyam Benegal

Script: Filmfare editor Khalid Mohammed, who scripted Sardari Begum and Mamo.

Heroine: Karisma Kapoor

All clear so far? Okay, here we proceed...

Zubeida was scripted a long time ago. Plus Channel, which was/is in the habit of making experimental films, liked it very much and decided to go ahead. But, as luck would have it, a spate of flops forced the company to shelve it.

"We had to find a producer who was willing to put money into such a project," says Benegal.

Which has happened. Finally. But if you think that the three-plus years of waiting has turned Benegal into less of a perfectionist, then you have a few thinks coming. He is very sure of the kind of film he wants to make. Certain as hell that he will not deviate from his style.

"Anybody who has followed my work for the last 26 years will know that I make films according to my sensibility. It will be the way I see things. I cannot make a film like someone else. I have chosen the actors according to what I think is their ability and also whether they suit the role that I have in mind," he says.

So it is a wee bit surprising that he has cast Karisma, especially when you consider that he has always stuck to his ensemble of actors. Benegal's defence is that the lady would fit his character to her cute, cutexed toenails.

"She will be playing the part I have written for her. That is the job of an actor. To play the part they are chosen for. Their ability is to be judged from the basis of their being able to do that. She is able to do a David Dhawan film and I believe she is able to do my kind of film as well," holds the director.

Click for bigger pic!

Benegal admits that Karisma wasn't his original choice. It was only after he found the new financier that he decided on her.

"This (the film) was a subject that was cooking in our minds for a long time. Khalid wrote this script sometime back. It was on the backburner for a while," he explains.

And now for the big question: when will the director start calling the shots in Zubeida?

Maybe half a year later, is the considered answer.

The reason is that Benegal, who is now busy with Haribhari in Hyderabad, would rather shoot one film at a time. His next, he promises, will be Zubeida.

"But it is going to happen only in December. So I would rather not talk about it now," he winds up.

Obviously, the master feels that so much is enough about his new project. Well, he's right there; that really is enough on Zubeida.

For the moment.