Shyam has just completed his film Mahadev Ka Sajjanpur.

"It is a comic satire which I hope to release in the first quarter of this year", says Shyam. Besides Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao, Ravi Kishan has also worked with him in this film for the first time.

The film, according to Shyam, is about today's Indian village. It is about how the urban population has lost interest in the villages which are invisible in Indian cinema except perhaps in Tamil, Telugu and say Bhojpuri films, after the fall out of the multiplexes.

"I decided to revisit today's village with Magadev Ka Sajjanpur", adds Shyam.

Shyam concedes that Satyajit Ray has been his biggest inspiration till today as a filmmaker.

"Once he told me that if I wanted to make a film, I should set out to do by using my own plough. I was then making ad films and documentaries for almost twelve years before I launched Ankur.

It is only ad films which have trained me as a maker. I was making on an average around 150 to 200 ad films every year then. I was breathing, eating, sleeping and living cinema then.I would say that I am a self taught filmmaker.

I got hands one experience by making ad films. Ad films were a new profession then. I was part of the second generation of ad film makers. Durga Khote belonged to the first generation.

Shyam feels that it is easy today to make a film after 35 years after he had made his first film, because of the nature of the change in the nature of film business to the extent that today he can easily get the requisite support from within the industry itself easily, "not because I have become famous but because you do not have to look at the theatre going audience as one big grey undistinguishable mass who have to be entertained".

Shyam explains lucidly his thoughts."Today you can make films to please both the majority as well as minority of the audience unlike in the past when Girish Karnad had made the film Godhuli.

I remember Godhuli was released in a theater like Novelty in South Bombay long before the multiplexes had arrived and changed the scenario of films. Novelty had a capacity of 1000 seats. To break even, then film needed to have at least 80% of the audience.

Even though as many as 500 people saw the film in each show, the film collapsed. Today most of the multiplexes have a capacity of 300. If Godhuli was released today, it could have netted excellent collections at the box office".

Looking at the vast opportunities for filmmakers, Shyam says jokingly.

" I wish I were only 25 year old today. I am 73 today. I was earnestly hoping for the last 25 years that something like this would happen. It is finally happening today. Today a lot of opportunities have grown for filmmakers to make original films".

Shyam denies media reports which stated that Hrithik Roshan had declined to play the role of Buddha in his forthcoming film on Buddha when he approached him with the offer.

"I concede that a star is a magnet that is used to lure the audience to the theatre but unless and until your film has content, it will fall flat whether a star is there or not.

Till date I have never approached any star unless and until the script is ready in front of me. The script of Buddha will be ready only after another six months and hence there is no question of me approaching any star, though a section of the media has been spreading this irresponsible news, without even bothering to verify from me whether the news is true or not.

Looking back at his career for the last 35 years, Shyam Benegal quips.

"It was an interesting period way back in the 70's when I started my career as a filmmaker with my maiden venture Ankur.

At that time, it was felt that cinema needed to reflect excitement associated with the changing times young India was going through at that point of time and we had to get away from the kind of entertainment which was being provided and reflect our own aspirations and ambitions".