Actor Naseeruddin Shah expresses gratitude & respect towards the dynamic director Shyam Benegal at the prayer meet ceremony of the legendary filmmaker. Shah credits Benegal for his immense contribution to the Indian Film Industry in turn thanking him for playing a pivotal part in shaping his career.
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00:00I guess I should be slave number dot.
00:05I guess there's no point talking about what Shyam meant to me and how much he did for me and what I owe him.
00:14And how his filmic vision affected the landscape of filmmaking in the country and his generosity and his kindness.
00:25These are all givens.
00:28There is a line by Kahlil Gibran in his book, The Prophet, where he says,
00:35Work is love made visible.
00:40And if you cannot work with love, then it's better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take arms from those who work with joy.
00:51These words seem like they were written for Shyam.
00:55I've always believed that death is the most unimportant part of life and ironically the only inevitable part.
01:04What is important is what you do with the time you have.
01:07And it's undeniable that Shyam used every single moment of his life, every breath, every iota of energy in a creative pursuit of some kind or the other.
01:21And something tells me he's not true.
01:24Because I can see this wonderful film being made in the big studio in the sky with Shyam directing and assisted by his trustee assistants, Kirish Kanekar,
01:39Mandeep Kapkar, Khinjpal Kasturi, which is a name I owe to Prahlad.
01:45And Ashok Mehta is behind the camera.
01:50Varunmala Bhatia is doing the music.
01:54The screenplay is written by Vijay Tendulkar, only slightly ruined by Dubeyji's dreadful dialogue.
02:02And of course it stars Kirish and Smita and Amrish and Om with guest appearances by Sadhu Meher and Priyad Tendulkar.
02:12I feel kind of wistful I'm not in that film.
02:15I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.
02:18But there are another couple of passages I would like to read to you from The Prophet.
02:27Which may offer some solace to my foster mother, Neera, and my foster sister, Priya.
02:36And a woman said, speak to us of joy and sorrow.
02:41And he answered, your joy is your sorrow, unmasked.
02:48And the self-same well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
02:55And how else can it be?
02:58When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you will find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
03:10When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart and you will find that you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
03:22Some of you say joy is greater than sorrow and others say nay, sorrow is the greater.
03:29But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
03:33Together they come.
03:37And when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
03:48Just as the heart of a fruit must break that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
04:01And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem more, less wondrous than your joy.
04:12And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you always accept the seasons that pass over your fields.
04:21And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.