For someone who has been part of the film industry for over five decades, Shyam Benegal has seen it all. However, the recent controversies, especially the Bollywood drug nexus debate has astounded him.

“There is as much good or bad in the film industry as there is in India. Why is everybody pinpointing the film industry as though it is some kind of den of vice. It does not make any sense to me. Everyone is making so much of something that does not deserve to have so much news print and TV time,” shares Benegal.

The 85-year-old filmmaker says he does not get the vilification narrative that is being shared by many in the current scenario. “I can’t see the vice and virtue part really. Don’t expect the film industry to become some kind of paragons of virtue. That would be rather silly. It is not an ashram in the Himalayas. It is part of life and part of our everyday existence where you have good, bad and all sorts of things. It is how life is. Film industry is a representation of that,” he explains.

However, Benegal is positive that the film industry will come out of this, and the audience will decide whether to watch a film or not purely on the basis of talent. “An actor is known for the quality of work that they bring. I don’t go to see a film because the actor in it has created a scandal. I go because I want to see quality performance,” he concludes.