The making of a constitution

Film-maker Shyam Benegal gives a peek into the making of his comeback serial Samvidhaan, and the challenges that came along with it

The actors shooting on the sets of the Constituent Assembly

It’s hard to visualise a series around the constitution of India, even though it is a significant slice of history. More so since it is assumed that creating a framework of laws, principles, rights and government duties of a nation lacks the drama and conflicts that preceded the Independence. But Shyam Benegal’s Samvidhaan, which recently premiered Rajya Sabha TV, aims to change that perception.
The veteran film-maker is a master of political based subjects — be it as films or television, as fiction dramas or documented subjects like Bharat Ek Khoj, one of India’s earliest television historicals on Doordarshan. However, there’s been a lacunae since then, with an exception being Wodehousian laced humour, Ji Mantriji starring Farooque Shaikh. However, the interest in Indian history has once again revived with Shekhar Kapur’s Pradhanmantri, who took a look at the life and times of Prime Ministers of India so far, and their role in the modern Indian political ethos. Benegal’s Samvidhaan seems to be an extension of the trend has kicked in recently.
Samvidhaan tracks the origins of the Indian constitution —the conflicts, the efforts, and brainstorming that went into the three years of its making. The series features all events that took place during the making of the constitution between 1946 to 1949, and the people behind the rules, clauses and amendments in it. A 10-episode series, it features prominent actors like Divya Dutta, Neeraj Kabi, Dalip Tahil, Sachin Khedekar, Narendra Jha, Utkarsh Mazumdar, Ila Arun, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Tom Alter among others, in significant roles; popular character actress Swara Bhaskar will be seen as an anchor on the show. Ask Benegal, the process of bringing together an ensemble like this, and he says, “It’s not easy. If they get accepted, that’s my achievement. To be able to get into the personality and soul of the character is difficult. Also, I’ve worked with most of these actors before, so, I have a certain comfort level with them, because of which they agreed to be a part of Samvidhaan.”
The entire series was shot over a period of three months, with nearly a year of research behind it. The portions with Bhaskar as the anchor, were shot separately, after a fortnight of preparations and readings with her.
Interestingly, the show, which has subtitles in Hindi and English, will also be dubbed in other languages. “We are planning to dub the show in many languages, but all that work is yet to begin,” informs Benegal.
The biggest challenge for Benegal was to recreate the post-Independence era. “Challenges are always there when you’re attempting to recreate an era. Moreover, since the people behind the constitution were national leaders and icons, the biggest challenge was to make these people look like believable. Even the dialogues in the series are more or less similar to what was spoken in the constituent assembly. A lot of research went into getting that right,” explains the National award winning film-makers.
Rajya Sabha TV, which has also produced Samvidhaan along with Shyam Benegal’s Sahyadri Films, plans to screen it at schools, to help kids have a better understanding of the constitution. “People don’t know what is constitutional in our country and what’s not. So, it’s important to make people aware of it, especially kids, who are the future of our country,” says
Gurdeep Singh Sappal, CEO and Executive Editor, Rajya Sabha TV.

Looking the part

A look at the prominent characters of Samvidhaan and how the actors got it right!

Dalip Tahil as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

“I have to say that all the actors had a lot of faith in Mr Benegal, and Samvidhaan is something that we would all have wanted be involved with. Considering the magnitude of production, everything happened in a remarkable short period of time. We shot this in about three months. Playing Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was sort of psychologically disturbing. From 1946 to the time when the constitution was almost made, there was a change in his role-playing. I had to basically work on seeing the way he walked and talked. Panditji had a different tone in his pitch than I have naturally. For that, I listened to a lot of his speeches. I sat on a harmonium and actually found his speaking key, and then tried to incorporate that, so you had to be as accurate as possible. There are no shortcuts when you work with someone like Mr Benegal. I was always nervous, but fortunately it worked out. I have to be thankful to Shyam Babu. It’s a team effort, and no one actor can do anything on his own.”

Neeraj Kabi as Mahatma Gandhi

“The physical transformation to play Mahatma Gandhi meant that I shave my head and lose a little weight. The rest of the look was achieved by prosthetics that make-up man, Vikram Gaekwad took care of. I then read and saw a lot documentaries related to the constitution, because you need to understand the soul of the character you’re playing, and that takes time. I started to device my own techniques to speak the way he did. But more than the techniques, it’s about why he speaks the way he does, or why he walks the way he does. That comes from the soul of the person, and it takes a while to get. He spoke of non-violence, but he had so much aggression within. I bought a charkha, and practiced on it, I ate what he ate — boiled rice, karela. I enjoy that process a lot, it takes you to another high altogether when there’s no difference between the an actor and the character he plays.”

Ila Arun as Hansaben Mehta

“When Shyam Babu sits with you to narrate a character, he tells you what it demands. As an actor, I see the mannerisms. Hansa Mehta was an editor, and she was fearless. Plus, the topics touched upon during the debates in the Constituent Assembly are issues very close to my heart. Then obviously, the costume and make-up also helps you get into the character.”

Utkarsh Mazumdar as Sardar Vallabhai Patel

“Shyam Benegal is like google, we had him for all the information and help we needed to portray our characters. I had to bring in the certain kind of intensity to play Vallabhai Patel, and speak how he did. It was challenging, but having Shyam Babu and a team like this, was of a great help.”

Sachin Khedekar as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar

“I’m glad to be able to play the part of Ambedkar. It’s always difficult to play a leader of his stature as people know a lot about them. It’s a larger responsibility for an actor to be as authentic as it gets. For us, we had all the research material with us. We had excellent make-up and costume team. So, the external was taken care of. Everything we said is documented and available in the libraries. We were to make this about six months ago, and I was with it for over a year. We had enough time to research about it, and make it our own.”

Divya Dutta as Purnima Banerji

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“It’s a prestigious thing to belong to something like this. Shyam Benegal, even if he asks me to just stand in a frame, I’ll be right there. When he was making Samar, I had gone to his office and told him that I’d really like to work with him. He said, “There’s a song in my film, would you like to do it?” Working with Shyam Babu is not just an experience you cherish in front of the camera, but there’s a lot that goes behind the camera. It’s nice to be with people you enjoy working with, that’s what you cherish always. What I enjoyed about the character that I play is that she has some witty lines; she has a habit of putting her point forward in a sarcastic way. She fought for the women rights.”

Recreating the sets

The plan, initially, was to shoot the show in the Parliament, but the team later settled for a set. Art director Chetan Pathak explains, “There’s been a lot of transformation in how the Assembly looked then, and how it looks now. So we researched, saw old authentic photographs and took dimensions in order to be accurate. Later sub-sets like Jawaharlal Nehru’s house, the Muslim League, and others were created, so it was challenging.” Though, Swara Bhaskar’s part was actually shot in the parliament.

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