For Indian film and TV show-makers, history has been perenially fascinating if the many movies and serials on the likes of Akbar, Rani of Jhansi, Maharana Pratap, Prithviraj Chauhan, et al, are any indication. However, these are shaped more by the makers' aesthetic and even political sensibilities than actual facts. Amidst these, Bharat Ek Khoj, a monumental telling of India's 5,000-year-old history, created by ace filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who died on Monday aged 90, stands out.
Borrowed from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's 'The Discovery of India', Bharat Ek Khoj was an exploration of India's history in the "most dispassionate and fair manner," Benegal told Prasar Bharati in an old interview.
The statement holds to date. The show starts with Nehru, played by Roshan Seth, quizzing a bunch of villagers chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', on "Who is this Bharat Mata, whose victory they want?" Notably, Bharat Ek Khoj aired in 1988-1989 when shows like Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan were at their peak, and the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi issue was gaining steam.
Benegal even showcased the much-deviled characters of Duryodhan and Alauddin Khilji, both fabulously played by Om Puri, with a humane touch, rendering them humans and not the evil characters they are understood to be. Long before filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali garnered equal amounts of praise and rebuke for Padmavat, Benegal dedicated a 45-minute episode on the same and handled it in such a manner that it neither evoked Rajput pride nor protests and threats of beheading, where there was no monstrous sultan or glory via jauhar (self-immolation). Interestingly, Bhansali features in the end credits of this particular episode as an editor.
Despite borrowing from 'The Discovery of India', Benegal was careful given that Nehru was no historian; he relied on his team of top historians, such as R Champakalakshmi, Irfan Habib, and RS Sharma, among others, each specialist in their fields. And Nehru's viewpoint, narrated by Seth, is balanced by a counterpoint by Puri, who also plays several central characters, such as Duryodhana, Ashoka, and Aurangzeb.
“I developed two viewpoints — one is that of Nehru and a counterpoint (narrated by Puri), which is a contemporary voice that fills blanks or brings in different perspectives," Benegal told the public broadcaster. While when it comes to the history of Hindustan, the focus largely remains on the north of Narmada, which is also the case with Nehru's book, Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj also focuses on the history of southern India whether it's the Chola empire or the epic 'Silappatikaram'.
Starting from the Indus Valley Civilisation until India's freedom gain, the magnum opus traverses not only India's political but cultural and social history too. One can only admire the effort undertaken, something that hasn't been attempted yet again.
One also cannot help but marvel at the stellar cast of 500 actors, which includes the 'who's who' of the world of acting — from Puri, Naseerudin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Shabana Azmi to Ratna Pathak Shah, Tom Alter, Pallavi Joshi, and Sadashiv Amrapurkar.
Shah plays Shivaji, which is arguably the best and the most balanced portrayal of the Maratha ruler to date. Amrapurkar plays Mahatma Phule in an episode dedicated rightly to India's social history.
Late actor Irrfan Khan, then freshly out of the National School of Drama, played several smaller roles. However, in episode 51, titled 'Separatism', he comes to the centre as Benegal explores the inception of Muslim separatism, which eventually culminates in the division of India on religious lines. In this golden age of the Muslim League, Khan plays Salim, a young, educated Muslim idealist.
In an age when aesthetics trump facts, Benegal paid much attention to minute details such as costumes, mannerisms, and even bricks. "Because the brick of Indus Valley will be different from that during the Mughal era," he said.
"Our identity as a nation comes because of our multiculturalism and pluralism, and without that, our nation cannot be described or defined," the maker said in an interview with Prasar Bharati. It's difficult to expect such a stellar and monumental historical show to be made today. While Benegal has left behind an exceptional body of work, this Doordarshan classic, one of his most ambitious projects, remains among his finest, if not the best.