The making of the Constitution of India will now be available to the common man through a 10-episode television series directed by Shyam Benegal.
In an interaction programme here on Wednesday, Benegal said, “The television serial is a story of the making of the Indian Constitution. The series will be telecast on the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha channels and will be later aired on Doordarshan and other commercial channels.
” “The teleserial will leave an impact on the audiences as it mainly revolves around the present political situation. It is obvious that the politicians do not know the basic elements of the Constitution of India like the Fundamental Rights or the Directive Principles.
We should not forget that the Constitution is the image of the country,” Benegal pointed. Sharing his experiences during the film production of Manthan, Benegal said late Verghese Kurien, father of White Revolution, had invited him to make a documentary on the success story of dairy industry in Gujarat.
“We wanted to remake the documentary into a feature film for commercial purposes and for a wider audience.
The project lacked funds and the idea was lost. But Kurien brought five lakh farmers to contribute to the making of Manthan and it became a feature film with the largest number of producers.
” He fondly recalled the significant role played by actor and litterateur Girish Karnad in the movie Manthan, Benegal, the recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement, explained.
Talking about the present situation in Kannada cinema, Benegal said, “Kannada films have a huge problem in getting theatres to screen movies.
There is a need for socially engaging movies which depict gender and empowerment issues. By far, the real energy in cinema comes from audience,” adding that all should be given opportunities to make Kannada cinema. Renowned film critic Narahari Rao, actors Girish Karnad and Tara were present in the event