Well Done Abba, Shyam Benegal’s satire on water scarcity, released in 2010. Thereafter he directed no film, not counting Mujib: The Making Of A Nation in 2023 which is best forgotten. Drawn from the innermost recesses of its extraordinarily versatile, profound and prolific creator’s mind, somewhat like the water that emerges from Boman Irani’s well at the end of this delicately-drawn satire on babu-giri and redtapism, set in Hyderabad Well Done Abba is a little sparkling gem of a film.
One of his first feature films Ankur (still considered by many to be his finest) was set in rural Hyderabad. It was real grim and relentlessly dark in showing subjugation and injustice. With Well Done Abba, Shyam Babu had mellowed. His vision was far more forgiving of our bureaucratic trespasses.
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Sammir Dattani, who played the romantic lead opposite Minissha Lamba in Well Done Abba, remembers the great man with much reverence. “Working with THE Shyam Benegal so early in my film career, came with a lot of responsibility. Shyam Babu was an institution. He gave cinema such actors as Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. His films like Ankur, Bhumika, and Junoon were definitive moments in Indian cinema. So I was very very nervous to be working with him.”
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To Sammir’s surprise, Shyam Babu was a delight to work with. “He was completely chilled out. Minissha and I were the newcomers on the set. Other actors like Rajit Kapoor, Ila Arun and Salim Ghouse had worked with Shyam Babu. He sensed my nervousness. Put me at ease by speaking to me. His knowledge of any and everything under the sun was vast. Just hanging around him was life-changing.”