Shabana Azmi recollects 'Ankur' days when Shyam Benegal made her sit on a corner and have food
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Thiruvananthapuram: Fifty years after the release of her first major film 'Ankur,' legendary Indian actor Shabana Azmi has remembered how director Shyam Benegal transformed her into the village girl in the movie from an urban college girl. Azmi recollected her experience of working with the master filmmaker ahead of the screening of 'Ankur' on the second day of the 29th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
Azmi said she had never entered a village before the shoot of the film in which she played Lakshmi, a poor dalit girl. She said she had found it difficult to sit on haunches though it was necessary for the character. Benegal, who was directing his debut film, made her sit on the corner of the dining area as a way of practising the gestures of the character.
“When I did Ankur, I was a girl from St Xavier's College (Mumbai); urban, middle class. I had never entered a village in my life and when I went to the village, Shyam Benegal made me wear the clothes of the character and walk around so that I would get my posture correct. I used to find it very difficult to sit on my haunches and all of it was about me sitting on the haunches. So what Shyam Benegal said is you sit on that corner and eat your food there while we will all sit at the dining table. For four or five days, I used to sit over there and one day some young college boys came and they looked at me, they looked at Shyam Benegal and they said, where's the heroine of the film? I said, she's on holiday. And what are you playing? I said, the ayah (help). And they went away. Shyam Benegal saw this and said, you have convinced those boys. From now you can sit with us at the table and you earn your spot. So that was the kind of training I received for Angur,” Azmi said.
The screening of the film coincided with Benegal’s birthday and Azmi said she was glad about it. Azmi was the guest of honour at the inauguration of the film festival on Friday. The festival has also included a segment titled 'Celebrating Shabana Azmi,' which began with Ankur. The other four films in the segment are 'Arth', 'Khandhar', 'Paar', and 'Fire'.