BIFFes 2024: Why Lifetime Achievement Award to M. S. Sathyu was long overdue

This observation by Verina Glassner, a critic, holds true even after 45 years of the cinematic journey of the maverick filmmaker Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu, fondly referred to as M. S. Sathyu by the Indian film fraternity. On March 6, the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) conferred the Lifetime Achievement award on Sathyu, who turns 94 on July 6, but still exudes the vigour and spirit he had when he made Garm Hava (Scorching Winds) in 1973. While he should have been considered for this recognition long ago, it is better late than never.

Widely regarded as one of the luminaries in the illustrious history of Indian cinema spanning 125 years, Sathyu is credited with changing its profile, along with Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak. He is still thinking, eating, and sleeping films. The nonagenarian, far from calling it quits, still hopes to make a movie, provided he receives financial support.

Portrait of the artist-philosopher

Though Sathyu has made eight feature films, three telefilms, and four tele serials, besides directing nine plays in his 60-plus years of creative journey, he is best known for his post-partition classic, Garm Hava, which pioneered a new wave of art cinema in Hindi films, along with Shyam Benegal’s Ankur, also made in the same year. Garm Hava, with its subtexts of communalism, political bigotry, and intolerance in the wake of Partition, resonates more than ever in our polarised times.

Recreating the real world with a historical and political backdrop is the quintessential strength of Sathyu. He can only be compared to Mrinal Sen (whose retrospective was held at the 15th edition of BIFFes), who also dealt with political issues. No one can describe Sathyu’s personality the way noted writer and film critic Arun Sachdev does. In his piece on Sathyu, published in Film India-The New Generation 1960-1980, Sachdev portrays Sathyu as: “a strange enigmatic figure. Mystifying. A contradiction. Intensely shy. Yet, extremely controversial. A very private person, espousing the most public of causes. The face of an artist. Or a philosopher.”

Garm Hava: A compelling exploration of Partition’s aftermath

Garm Hava, Sathyu’s first directorial venture, is based on an unpublished short story of noted Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai; its script was written by Shama Zaidi while Kaifi Azmi penned the lyrics. According to critics, it is the most compelling human exploration of the aftermath of Partition. After nearly four decades, the restored version of Garm Hava was re-released in 2013, in over 100 screens across the country, after the film was digitally remastered. The film, through the microcosm of a Muslim family in Agra, gives a human dimension to our understanding of the carving out of the Indian subcontinent.

The film also carries universal implications in its reflection of the personal tragedies experienced by lands and families, the questioning of loyalties, the exacerbation of deep-rooted prejudices, and, above all, the uprooting of centuries-old traditions. Garm Hava distinguishes itself by addressing the context of violence without explicitly depicting it, delicately handling the personal anguish of a community with authority and strength. While the ending may seem overly optimistic, it appears to be the only path towards maintaining sanity.

A competitive entry in the Cannes Film Festival in 1974, Garam Hava is the first Indian film to feature there after a gap of ten years. The film got India’s top film award, National Film Award, for serving the cause of national integration. When the film was shown at the Cannes, Tom Hutchinson wrote in Sunday Telegraph: “Remarkably mature both politically and cinematically, this film is directed with rare delicacy”.

Garm Hava is, in a way, one of the most controversial films in the history of Indian cinema. It was promptly labelled as pro-Muslim by many who had not even watched it. A fanatic organisation demanded the immediate arrest of Sathyu. Shiv Sena demanded a pre-release screening to allow the film to be shown in Bombay. Anticipating communal riots, producers withheld the film’s release for a while. Political leaders such as L.K. Advani accused Sathyu of getting Pakistani funds for making the film.

Garm Hava and the CAA

The mention of Garm Hava crops up whenever issues pertaining to the minority community take center stage. When the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed in Parliament, Sathyu was furious over what he dubbed the government as “highly prejudiced and discriminatory against a minority community, especially Muslims”. Early in the film, Salim Mirza (essayed by Balraj Sahni) waves goodbye to a train at the station and seats himself down in a horse-drawn cart. The tangawalla, who takes him, renders a couplet by Hafeez Jalandhari in a charming manner: “Wafaon ke badle jafa kar rahen hain/Main kya kar raha hoon, woh kya kar rahen hain?” (In exchange for loyalty, they are inflicting betrayal/ What am I doing, and what they are doing).

This meditative remark reflects the deep sense of living through an eventful time, yet all of it is leavened by the comforting chatter of everyday life, by the interactions with casual acquaintances who make up one’s sense of home. Sathyu’s personal life itself is compelling enough to merit a film. His father wanted him to be a scientist or an engineer. But Sathyu had no interest in academic education being imparted at formal institutions. He wanted to become a filmmaker. After completing his primary and higher education in Mysore and Bengaluru, he abandoned his college studies where he was pursuing a science degree and ventured to Bombay to realise his dream of becoming a filmmaker.

After being unemployed for some time, he worked as an animator and then joined filmmaker Chetan Anand. For some time, he sold the Bombay Youth newspaper in front of Church Gate Station. His art direction work for Haqeeqat (1964), directed by Chetan Anand, got him a Filmfare award and he found a place in Bombay cinema. As theatre was his first passion, Sathyu joined the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), a left-learning troup. But his heart was in films. Through Garm Hava, Sathyu proved his superb cinematic vision and confidence in handling the narrative form.

His second film, Kanneshwara Rama (1977), chronicles the tumultuous journey of a humble peasant who evolves into a legendary outlaw reminiscent of Robin Hood, challenging the British during the early days of the Nonviolent Movement. The film’s strength lies in its exploration of the folk technique of storytelling, notably employing a ballad at the outset, which serves as an allegorical backdrop.

Chitegu Chinte (A Restless Corpse, 1978) is a political commentary and a hilarious satire. Bara (1980), based on a short story by Jnanpith Award winner U R Ananthamurthy, brought Sathyu to the limelight again, largely because of the way he depicted the conflict between bureaucrats and politicians. Sathyu exposed the interference of politicians in the distribution of food in drought-hit areas of Bidar. He also dealt with the mental turmoil of the idealistic Deputy Commissioner (Ananth Nag), who got stuck in the conflict. It was a commercial hit, too. The film ran for 14 weeks in one of the theatres in Bengaluru. The then CM Gundu Rao attended the inaugural show. After watching the film, he told Sathyu that had he been contacted before making the film, Sathyu would have got some interesting inside information. Such was the impact of the film. In fact, Shashi Kapoor helped Sathyu in making the film by contributing Rs 25,000.

Sathyu shot his 1981 film Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gaya in Kolkata. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Sharon Prabhakar, Nitin Sethi, Neesha Singh, and Reeta Rani Kaul. He received help from the West Bengal government for the film, which is centred on the helplessness of the youth, and how they drift from responsibilities. Lamenting the system, Sathyu pointed out how the degenerated system was producing nothing but mediocrity. Galige (Twenty-Four Minutes, 1994) marks Sathyu’s return to his favoured theme of secularism. He addressed the Khalistan issue through the lens of caste and religion. Galige grappled with the politics of secularism at a critical historical juncture.

The film, which explores the conflict between tradition and modernity, dealt with the issue of the exploitation of devadasis in the name of customs. The film, which premiered at the Ahmedabad International Film Festival, was also screened at the Minsk International Film Festival in Belarus. Sathyu has also made Kotta (1999), a film based on the novel by former chief minister M Veerappa Moily.

Theatre, Sathyu’s first love

Consumed by films, Sathyu has not neglected his passion for theatre. Having started his career as a stage art director, he was one of the forerunners of the IPTA. His first love has always been theatre. Though he has been making films at regular intervals never did he lose touch with theatre. Till date, he has directed nine plays, including Dara Shikoh, Mudrarakshasa, Aakhri Shama, Rashomon, Bakri (Kuri in Kannada; against the Emergency), Girija Ke Sapne, Mote Ram Ka Satyagraha, Emil’s Enemies (a play revolving around the last assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler; Emil was the code name given by the German underground for Hitler), Safed Kundali, Amritha (a sublime love story) and Gulebakavali (a fantasy adventure).

His play, Dara Shikoh, is considered a modern classic and marks a turning point in traditional theatrical sensibilities. The play, written by Danish Iqbal, portrays the story of the young Mughal prince and heir apparent to Shah Jahan, who was trying to bring about unity amongst Hindus and Muslims, but was defeated by Aurangzeb, widely seen as a fundamentalist. Another of his landmark plays is Amrita, based on the work of Iqbal, which brings into focus the mystic love of Amrita Pritam, the renowned Punjabi writer. Sathyu’s stage design set a new standard for theatre and cinema. He uses his distinctive stagecraft in the films, too, to make political statements. Acknowledging Sathyu’s contribution to the field of theatre, Sangeet Natak Akademi honoured him with an award and fellowship.

To understand Sathyu’s love for artistic images, one has to watch Ghalib, a sensitively made documentary on the Urdu poet, whose verses are still loved. The film reflects Mirza Ghalib’s frustration and repeated attempts to escape from the clutches of poverty and have the freedom of unfettered wandering. The images are drawn from contemporary miniatures, monuments, and drawings. He also made serials such as Pratidhwani (based on stories of yet another Jnanpith awardee, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar), Choli-Daaman, Kayar, and Antim Raja of Kodagu.

Most films made by Sathyu are political in nature. “I am branded as a political filmmaker and political theatre person,” he asserts. In a way, Sathyu reveals a keen eye for the specific realities of the Indian experience. With his flowing beard, and intense, meditating eyes, he triggers the curiosity of those who talk to him about public causes. Underlining the importance of performing arts, Sathyu observes that the performing arts have a responsibility to allow debate and discussion on socio-economic and political issues to make people aware of things happening around them. “Otherwise, we will become immune to the issue the country is facing,” he says. He never minces words when it comes to the current political dispensation, and its efforts to curb freedom of expression.

Needless to say, Sathyu has a huge following. Preethi Nagaraj, one of his ardent admirers, says: “The legend that Sathyu has become, even from his early years until now; he could only have been that. Did he belong to the cinema or theatre? Did he belong to Mysore or Bangalore, or for that matter, Mumbai? India or the world? Where does he stand? Whenever time has attempted to categorize him into a specific place or field, Sathyu has effortlessly crossed boundaries into other artistic realms and absolutely owned them. Sathyu is an enigma. Describing his persona and works in words is like feeling an elephant in the dark. You can only perceive it as much as your senses allow; much of that gigantic elephant exists beyond your comprehension. This is exactly who Sathyu is — to the world that he has created, and the one that he inhabits.”