Shyam Benegal To entice saif-eena

This doyen of Indian film industry has more awards to his credit than any of his peers. With around 17 National Awards and several popular awards jostling for space on the various shelves of his home, Shyam Benegal still remains as modest and humble as ever.

After getting the lifetime achievement award in Bangkok, he talks to NT about his professional dreams and future plans.

Ask him whether an award still has a meaning for him at this stage, when his movies like Ankur, Nishant, Junoon, Sardari Begum and Zubeidaa are considered to be the benchmarks in filmmaking, and Shyam says, "Awards are a form of appreciation and recognition. And I haven't turned so cynical as to think that I don't need to be appreciated. You can never have enough of appreciation."

He explains his stance thus: "For an experimental filmmaker like me, getting recognition from the mainstream cinema is all the more pleasant. After all, mainstream cinema is all about playing in the commercial ambit, whereas I have always been on it's margin. It just goes to show that people appreciate the quality and content of my kind of cinema."

Ask him whether it is yet another example of blurring of lines between the commercial and art cinema and the 73-year-old filmmaker says, "The lines blurred a long time back. The basic difference lay in the narrative style and form. But, now it is the content, which is getting the ultimate recognition. And at the end of the day, it is the viability of a project, which makes a difference. Films like Life in a...Metro and Bheja Fry are the examples of this major transition."

But will he ever make an Om Shanti Om or a Krrish? "I will not be able to do such projects. It's all about different sensibilities and I can not function on those lines," says Shyam.

The director, however, adds that he would certainly like to work with some of the biggest stars of Bollywood. He says with a disarming honesty, "Kareena and Ash are the actresses, who have proved it that along with captivating looks, they are also capable of terrific portrayals. They have, in fact, emerged as very strong performers today. I would really like to work with them. Among the male stars, it is Saif Ali Khan, who has impressed me a lot. I will somehow try and entice him and Kareena to work with me someday."

Shyam, who is giving final touches to his film Mahadev ka Sajjanpur, is very excited about his forthcoming project Chamki, a musical tale of love, jealousy and betrayal. Ask him how does he manage to remain so energetic at this age and he modestly says, "It's the quest to discover my inner creativity, which keeps me going. I have so much to do, and a lot to discover within."