Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda isn’t just a film; it’s an experience—like reading a literary novel
Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda isn’t just a film; it’s an experience—like reading a literary novel, rich in subtext, filled with pauses for reflection, and layered with meaning that gradually unfolds.
Adapting Dharamvir Bharati’s celebrated novel is no small feat, but Shyam Benegal ensures the film retains the book’s literary depth without losing its cinematic appeal.
It’s no surprise that Benegal’s film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1993.
The conscience keeper of Indian cinema, Benegal died on 23 December in Mumbai, just days after celebrating his 90th birthday.
Shyam Benegal has lamented time and again about the two facets of Indian Cinema that have lost their will and fervent projection of truth. Within the manifest postmodern media rhetoric, popular Hindi Cinema showcased a ‘standardized urban view of Indian society’ while making sure the total disappearance of rural India was accelerated. Benegal’s approach against such a political sidelining emphasized the association of the rural plea with the urban verdict. Whether it’s “Ankur” (1974), “Nishant” (1975), or “Mammo” (1994), the characteristics of realism are revised to document the rural subjects in their plight, extremities, and desperate predicament.
When Shyam Benegal approached Dr. Dharamvir Bharati to adapt his acclaimed metafiction Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda into a film, the literary giant agreed without hesitation. But his well-wishers expressed concern.
