TELLING
THE STORY OF THE BIRTH OF A NATION IS NEVER EASY:
SHYAM BENEGAL
Mumbai:
21st
Feb, 2014: “Telling
the story of the birth of a nation is never easy. Especially if that nation is
as big and diverse as India,” says Shyam Benegal about ‘Samvidhaan – The Making of the Constitution of India’. “Our
founding fathers took 2 years 11 months and 17 days to frame our constitution.
The story of telling how they did this has nearly taken us that much time.”
Samvidaan
is a 10 part mini-series produced by Rajya Sabha Television that will go on air
beginning March 2 at 10 AM every Sunday. Written by Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari
from a concept by Rajya Sabha Television, the series stars Sachin Khedekar as
Dr B R Ambedkar, Neeraj Kabi as Mahatma Gandhi, Dalip Tahil as Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, Utkarsh Majumdar as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Gupta
as Dr Rajendra Prasad, Tom Alter as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Rajeshwari as
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Narendra Jha as Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Divya
Dutta as Shrimati Purnima Benerji and Ila Arun as Hansa Mehta among 150 others
in the series.
“India
is the largest democracy in the world. It has more language and ethnic groups
than any other nation. Despite the diversity and its many contradictions, India
has travelled a great deal as a nation. It is the Constitution of India that
created the framework for a strong, vibrant and progressive nation. The
inspiring story of the making of our constitution has never been attempted
before. At Rajya Sabha Television our endeavour is to create programs that
document contemporary history of Independent India. ‘Samvidhaan’ (the making of
the Constitution of India) was a natural progress in this journey,” says
Gurdeep Singh Sappal, CEO Rajya Sabha Television who have produced the series.
After
more than a year and a half of extensive research during which the writing also
commenced, Samvidhaan went on the floor in August 2013. After over two months
of shooting at Film City, Mumbai where the set of a replica of the Central Hall
of Parliament was constructed. The action shifted to the Parliament House in
New Delhi where for three weeks the crew shot extensively on its premises – for
the first time that this has been allowed.
Mr.
Benegal also said, “Samvidhaan is not really a 10 part series. It is a 10 hour
long film. Since it was impossible to tell this story in the two or three hours
duration of a cinema film, the format of a mini-series for television was the
only alternative. The execution, the camera work, the look and feel of it is entirely
cinematic.”
“Before
independence we had a feudal, hierarchical and divisive society. To root that
out by looking into the future to build a constitution that can last hundreds
of years was I think the greatest achievement of these 300 odd men and women
who worked on the constitution and Samvidhaan is their story,” said writer
Shama Zaidi.
Co-writer
Atul Tiwari who also essays the important role of Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant
says, “It was a challenge to design the story of the designing of a nation. But
we are all proud of the way this series has turned out. It is a landmark not
only in Indian television, but is an important milestone in the recounting of
democratic history of the world. This is a story that has the potential to
inspire people around the world.”
Sachin
Khedekar who plays Dr B R Ambedkar said, “It was a privilege to play the role
of a man who is known as the father of the Constitution. But it was perhaps the
most challenging role of my life. What I found most exciting is that what Ambedkar
and others said in the constituent assembly, continues to be relevant till
date. Essaying the role was hence a real delight.”
Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru is being played by Dalip Tahil, for the second time in his
career. He said, “I had to loose weight for the role. I had to be like Nehru,
think like Nehru. It was a challenge, but it has also been a big high to play a
man who was an ideologist yet was practical enough to lay the foundation of a
modern India. We talk of development today, but the man who not only showed
India, but the world how to develop a nation quickly, was Pandit Nehru.”
Neeraj Kabi who plays Gandhi said, “It had
always been a lifelong dream as an actor, to work with Shyam Benegal. That I
got to do by essaying Mahatma Gandhi is the icing on the cake. It is
fascinating to know that though Gandhi never even visited the Constituent
Assembly, his gentle spirit guided the constitution. His greatest contribution
was that he insisted on having Ambedkar in the constituent assembly.”
A special 23 minute curtain raiser was shown
to the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and the members of both houses
of the Parliament today. This special capsule was simultaneously shown on Rajya
Sabha TV today as members of both houses watched Shyam Benegal’s TV venture
after 25 years.
CREW OF
SAMVIDHAAN:
Director
SHYAM
BENEGAL
Executive
Producer
GURDEEP SINGH SAPPAL
Associate
Director
DAYAL NIHALANI
Director of
Photography
AKASHDEEP
PANDEY
Music
SHANTANU MOITRA
Script &
Dialogue
SHAMA
ZAIDI
ATUL
TIWARI
Costume
Pia
Benegal
Art Directors
CHETAN
PATHAK
LEELA
CHANDA
Editor
ASEEM
SINHA
CAST OF
SAMVIDHAAN:
NEERAJ
KABI as Mahatma Gandhi
DALIP
TAHILRAMANI as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
SACHIN KHEDEKAR as Dr B R Ambedkar
NARENDRA
N JHA as Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
UTKARSH
MAZUMDAR as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
RAJENDRA
GUPTA as Dr Rajendra Prasad
RAJESHWARI
SACHDEV as Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
TOM ALTER as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
KENNY
DESAI as Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee
DIVYA
DUTTA as Srimati Purnima Banerji
DEEPIKA
AMIN as Srimati Renuka Ray
K
K RAINA as Dr K M Munshi
RAJIT
KAPUR as Shri Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
ILA
ARUN as Srimati Hansa Mehta
PARESH
GANATRA as Prof K T Shah
HIMANI
SHIVPURI as Begum Aijaz Rasul
Anchor: SWARA BHASKAR
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