ABSTRACT
Discussing the films from 1978 to the early 1990s, which covers the span of 30 to little more than 40 years after India’s independence, this chapter focuses on the negotiations and tensions between the old socio-political order and Indian modernity. There are narratives critiquing religiosity in the wake of modernity; narratives of transformation, of resistance and narratives of struggle discussed in this chapter. Benegal’s approach in these films is one of dispassionate realism. He pays equal attention to the challenges and difficulties while portraying narratives of social change. The ideology embedded in these narratives is not radical, but progressive, keeping within the democratic frame. This chapter studies films titled Kondura, Aarohan, Susman, Samar and Antarnaad. Towards the end, linking the debate around realism given in the introduction, this chapter also discusses the changing shades of realism in Benegal’s cinema.
