in the 1970s, Shyam Benegal he stood out as a key figure in the parallel cinema movement, which introduced fresh ideas and aesthetics to Indian cinema. His debut work, ‘Ankur’, got critical acclaim and a big mark Shabana Azmientering the play Interestingly, Benegal was not the original choice for the film, the director was initially approached Aparna Senbut chose to decline the offer.
Aparna Sen tells why he rejected ‘Ankur’
In a recent interview with Straight Up with Shree, Aparna explained why she rejected ‘Ankur’. The acclaimed writer-director admitted that his Hindi films did not do well and said that he never made them with the intention of becoming a mainstream hero. “They asked me and I did it. The money was tempting. I think I needed the money for something and unfortunately the choices I made were very wrong. Bengali choices were very well done but for Hindi films it was not well done. Films that I think I should have done that I didn’t do… one was Shyam Benegal’s Ankur,” he said.
Aparna Sen has praised Shabana Azmi’s performance in ‘Ankur’
He continued: “He sent me the synopsis and it was written [the protagonist] it would be speaking Hindi with a dialect that has splashes of Telugu. I thought this is far away and I would be a house help. This is not something I felt confident about. It was Shyam’s first film and he asked a lot of people and they refused to be a newcomer. I said I love the synopsis and the story, but I don’t think I will. He said, ‘Okay, okay. You just sent me the synopsis [back].’ He must have felt bad, but if he had said “why”? then I feel less confident and he would calm me down. But thanks to Shabana that didn’t happen [Azmi] it was so good! We have an actor of Shabana’s caliber!”
Award winning role of Shabana Azmi
In ‘Ankur’, Shabana Azmik played Laxmi, whose life changes when she starts working as a maid for a landlord to support herself and her deaf-mute husband, Kishtayya. The young landlord enters into an affair with Laxmi, creating a stir in the small town. Shabana’s role was praised by critics, and she won the National Award for Best Actress for her performance.
Aparna Sen and Shabana Azmi link
Over the years, Shabana Azmi and Aparna Sen became friends. The two later worked together in films like ‘Sati’ (1989) directed by Sen and the 2017 drama ‘Sonata’, where they both shared the screen.
