Donning a new role

For as long as her father, the legendary Shyam Benegal, was alive, she was more than content designing costumes for his films. But today, as his talented daughter, noted costume designer Pia Benegal, takes on his company, Sahyadri Films, she intends to carry forward his legacy and is eyeing a new role for herself. In the near future, she intends to don the producer’s hat. In Chandigarh for the Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF), where she attended a workshop on production, she wants to learn the ropes.

One might assume that being the daughter of a father whose eye for production design was as exemplary as his directorial vision, she would require no training, but she shares how she would earlier not get down to the nitty-gritty of what all producing a film entailed.

So, what kind of films would she like to make? Pia says she certainly wants her films to be sensible and sensitive, as was her father’s wont, but she is not going to limit herself to his signature style. “Whatever he made was his. I can’t be in a repeat mode. I will have to move with the times. Today, style has changed, the sense of humour is different and more importantly, the audience taste has undergone a paradigm shift, as has technology.”

However, make no mistake — she is exceptionally proud of the kind of films her father made. The ones screened at the CIFF retrospective hold a special place in her heart, and for different reasons. While she was the costume designer for both ‘Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda’ and ‘Mammo’, she was way too young at the time of ‘Manthan’. Yet, she vividly remembers the discussions she would have with her father on this film and many more, thus moulding her cinematic sensibilities.

Going back to her younger days, she recalls how the Benegal name was more of a burden and less of a privilege, and did not open any doors. Her father, too, ensured that opportunities were not served to her on a platter. Thus, she had no option but to start at the juniormost position in his company. As serendipity would have it, one fine day, he asked her to design costumes for his film. She was aghast and countered his offer with: “I don’t know a thing about tailoring or clothing or even styling.” But being her father’s daughter, she took the challenge head-on and plunged into the world of fabrics, colours and fits, seeing characters’ personas in outfits. She, thereafter, designed costumes for many of his films and his magnum opus mini-series ‘Samvidhaan’, and ‘dressed up’ many heroes of the freedom struggle.

Pia has just finished designing costumes for Hansal Mehta’s web series on Mahatma Gandhi. She admits, “Period projects are certainly a bigger challenge as these involve painstaking research. Besides, budgets become a constraint.” Of course, the experience of designing costumes for Benegal’s ‘The Making of the Mahatma’ came in handy, but each film/series is a different beast and requires a different skill set. If clothes make a man, remember what Colleen Atwood said, “Costumes are the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth; it really does establish who they are.” Any wonder then that Pratik Gandhi, who plays Father of the Nation in the Hansal Mehta series, was more than happy with Pia’s designs for his Gandhi look.

For her, however, minor characters are as significant as the protagonists. Equality among the cast is a lesson she imbibed from her egalitarian father. Among the many things she learnt from him, the guiding light has been how Benegal allowed her to grow as an individual, as her own person. She recalls, “He told me: ‘Many will try to put you down — for whose child you are, for who you are. Some might body-shame you. Pay no attention to such naysayers.’” With unconcealed pride, she observes how he touched not only her life, but that of many others too. And that’s precisely why she wants to keep the Benegal flag flying high. Right now, many ideas are brewing in her mind, but are at a very nascent stage. What she knows is: “Script is at the heart of all good cinema.”

Compared to the 1990s, filmmakers have certainly begun to recognise the significance of costumes, too. She herself feels that dialogues, clothes and makeup are the three vital elements which help an actor get into the skin of the character. Moreover, she adds, “When lines are not a zinger, then costumes and makeup make up for it.”

On whether we have reached a stage where costumes are no longer confused with fashion design, she quips, “Varies from project to project.” Starry tantrums, indeed, are a reality. But ‘Zubiedaa’, starring the beautiful Karishma Kapoor and the eternal diva Rekha, was a pure delight. Pia had restored regal finery for their royal look.

Part of an industry where much of the objectification of women starts with clothes, has she ever faced any dilemma? She shares how during the making of Benegal’s last film, ‘Mujib’, a peculiar problem presented itself. “Women in that era went about bare-breasted. I did toy with several options like skin-coloured clothing, but finally forsaking period authenticity, for the sake of aesthetics, I settled for proper blouses,” says Pia.

She might not have stepped into her father’s shoes, but has certainly inherited his forthright spirit, coupled with his gentle nature. As the axiom goes: Whenever at her best, she is her father’s daughter.

Arts