I grew up around Shyam Benegal—a close friend of my family, he headed the film department at an ad agency my dad ran in the 60s, called ASP (Advertising and Sales Promotion)--but features were in his DNA, his true calling.

Indian cinema in the 70s, was primarily “masala Bollywood slanted”, escapist by nature, what was referred to as “leave your brains at home” type of “fillums”—a more serious alternate cinema, like a today’s Lapataa Ladies or a 12th Fail hadn’t blossomed yet. Anything that wasn’t “naach-gaana”, and “dishoom dishoom” became “rona-dhona”, but it did form the seeds of a powerful Parallel cinema. The movement, I’d say, had a founder—Shri Shyam Benegal—sans a second layer of comfort like the present day OTT system, you were lucky as a director-producer to get a morning show at Eros or screenings at the erstwhile Akashwani theatre.