DIVING FOR THE ETERNAL PEARLS IN ‘BHARAT’ OCEAN

Dileep.M.M.

History can be considered as a device for searching the cultural/geographical/political

evolution of a particular nation and its people. A nation like India, which has a historical and
anthropological tradition of over 5000 years, could well be considered an ocean of cultural-
geographical-political evolution and would provide any student with marvelous pearls of knowledge.
And when the student also turns out to be an artist or a film maker he would seek artistic ways and
means to express what he has learned. And how to display his invaluable possession is depends upon
the artist. Any one can represent the pearls in his own view even though the pearl is famous for its
own colour. Only an artist with an eye for the detail is capable of this. Our illustrious film maker
Shyam Benegal is such an artist with that rarity. Benegal is always here to dive for the pearls from
our vast ocean of history and ready to represent its real hue. His historical teleserial Bharat Ek Khoj
[BEK] based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous book Discovery of India , is a telling example of this.
The DVD of Bharat Ek Ghoj was released recently in Delhi by Information and Broadcasting
Minister, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi. The long awaited historical wonder of the small screen is thus
ready in our modern format for the younger generations. The package contains 18 interactive DVDs,
with each contains three episodes.

144 sets, 500 actors and 53 episodes; sound like a Hollywood blockbuster? No, it is Bharat Ek
Khoj. The serial, even after 20 years of its airing on Doordarshan, remains a benchmark for socio-
historical essays on the small screen. It is something that has not been attempted since. Even today, small
screen is full of mythology in its vulgar commercialization mode, tear jerking reality hunt and soap
operasque performances. When BEK hit the screens too the small screen was full of mythology and an
odd serial or two dedicated to an emperor of ancient India or a sultan of medieval times. But nobody had
tried to bring 5000 years of Indian history in a format that can appease both the connoisseurs and common
people alike. No wonder for the reason; because it is the serial that talks of the Indus Valley civilization
and the Vedic Age, occasional stopovers for the Mahabharata and the Sangham Age and then the
conventional mode with the Cholas,Cheras,Pandyas,Pallavas,Delhi Sultanate, the Moguls and Shivaji etc.

Shyam Benegal did intense research of more than three years and painstakingly hunted for
actors and locations. “When the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi broached the subject of serializing
Pandit Nehru’s book that had been written some 40-odd years before he thought of bringing it into
television , I said yes instantly. It was both a challenge as well as a responsibility.” Benegal says. More
than three years he researched for executing this responsibility. A team of famous think tank including
R.H.Sharma, Champak Lakshmi, Irfan Habib, and K.N.Panicker helped Benegal and his venture for
becoming a reality. They contributed their expertise in various stages of the project.

Roshan Seth’s voice was used for Nehru’s. Om Puri was noted for his long presence
in the serial as Ashoka and Aurangzeb, in Mahabharata times and the British times. Then there were
other excellent performers such as those of Naseeruddin Shah, Amarish Puri, Kulbhushan
Kharbanda, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, etc.

One of the important credits was that, Benegal devoted lots of time for the depiction
of the Sangham Age, Silapaddikaram, detailed depiction of the Chola period, Vijayanagar Empire
etc. He says that we, the people, have a misconception that not much happened on the other side of
the Vindhyas. And his serial is not merely confined to political projection. He is conscious about
doing justice to the above mentioned aspect. His serial took an unconventional way by covering the
Bhakti movement, education reforms led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Mahatma Bhule and so on. The
project was not tainted by any political bias. And the serial was noted with its dispassionate attempt
on our history and culture.
 When comparing with the present context of controversy around historical/mythical
themes such as Jodha Akbar or issues related constructing the development project like Ram Sethu,
the above dispassionate attempt of Shyam Benegal gains more importance. Even a fictional character
like Jodha Bai created a lot rampage from some sections of our society. No wonder, there are only
few takers for the Benegal way! Most of the producers are just looking out for the popular ratings. In
such circumstances going back to Benegal and BEK would indeed be a great exercise. It would help
enhance not only our historical understanding, especially in objective terms and a bonus; one may
improve one’s cinematic sensibilities too. Indeed, as India celebrates its 62nd Birthday a revival of
BEK is good news.

The End.