Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who handed away on Monday on the age of 90, left behind a outstanding physique of labor. Nonetheless, amongst his many achievements, one of the crucial celebrated will not be a function movie however a tv collection that chronicles India’s historical past. The 53-episode historic drama Bharat Ek Khoj was primarily based on the ebook The Discovery of India (1946), penned by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Whereas Benegal held a deep appreciation for the ebook, having learn it a number of occasions since childhood, do you know that the thought for the present originated from a request made by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Nehru’s grandson? Sure, you heard that proper. Curiously, Rajiv Gandhi’s request was for Benegal to create a piece that will function India’s third nice epic.
In a dialog with the state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan — which commissioned the collection — that aired a few years in the past, Benegal defined how the thought took place and why he selected The Discovery of India as its basis. “When discussions on this had been occurring, the thought was to make three main epic serials. Rajiv Gandhi saab felt that it could in all probability be a superb concept to — similar to how there are two of our foundational epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata — make a 3rd factor which really offers with the historical past of India. I instantly stated I needed to do it and I had just one concept in thoughts, The Discovery of India. It not solely has the historical past of India but additionally the confluence of many cultures within the nation and the reason to the idea of ‘unity in range’,” he stated.
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Shyam Benegal additionally mirrored on the themes of Jawaharlal Nehru’s ebook: “Secondly, he noticed historical past whereas being incarcerated in Ahmednagar Jail (the Ahmednagar Fort was used as a jail through the British Raj). However on this thoughts, the thought was that ‘we might anyway develop into unbiased; then, what’s the sort of nation that we’re going to create?’ If you happen to take a look at Hindustan, there’s a lot range and the unity that emerges from it must be the character of the nation. This was the thrilling half, not solely would I get to inform the historical past of India, but additionally the evolution of this historical past that finally leads to a degree the place all of it comes collectively.”
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Spanning 53 episodes, Bharat Ek Khoj, created by Benegal, traced 5,000 years of Indian historical past from its historic beginnings to the attainment of independence in 1947. That includes a stellar ensemble forged, together with Roshan Seth, Om Puri, Tom Alter, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Naseeruddin Shah, Fortunate Ali, Seema Kelkar, Mita Vashisht, Pallavi Joshi and Anjan Srivastav, the collection aired between November 1988 and November 1989.
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