great filmmaker Shyam Benegal He left this world on Monday, December 23, 2024, after battling chronic kidney disease for years. After remaining unwell for several days, he breathed his last at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai. Benegal was 90 years old.
A pioneer of the ‘New Wave’ in Indian cinema during the 60-70s, Shyam Benegal became a stalwart in the world of films with his work that not only reflected the society but also questioned the socio-political scenario in the country. Starting his career as a copywriter at Lintas Advertising, a Mumbai-based advertising agency, Benegal made his first documentary in Gujarati, Gher Baitha Ganga (Ganges at the Doorstep) in 1962.
Born in Hyderabad to renowned photographer Sridhar B Benegal, the veteran filmmaker was honored with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards in 1991 and 1976 respectively.
Benegal was suffering from chronic kidney disease And even though he had to go to the hospital frequently for dialysis, his passion to show magic on the big screen did not diminish, as he once told news agency PTI about working on 2-3 projects.
His daughter Pia told the agency, “He passed away at 6.38 pm at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central. He was suffering from chronic kidney disease for many years, but it had worsened. This is the reason for his death.”
Pioneer of parallel cinema
Out of Benegal’s corpus of work, his first four feature films which included Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) made everyone sit back and think about those times. Forced on in which we lived. And it gave birth to a new generation. ‘New wave’ of Indian cinema
his later works Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubaida (2001) He also came from the same ‘parallel’ world of film production. With his writing and directing prowess, the world got a chance to see stalwarts like the late Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal, late Surekha Sikri, late Smita Patel and others. The pinnacle of Indian parallel cinema – These artistes and many others got a platform and the filmmaker behind their success story stood silently watching them tell their stories.
He made documentaries, short films and TV series, including 21 film modules for the UNICEF-sponsored Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE).
India a discovery…
When most of his films could not be released on the big screen, Benegal turned to television with series such as Yatra (1986) for the Indian Railways and the 53-episode television serial Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s book . Discovery of India.
He also served as the Director of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) from 1980 to 1986.
Other notable works of Shyam Benegal
In addition to a lot of hard work projects. His other great works include Mandi (1983), Trikaal (1985), Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992), Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubaida (2001). He made other notable films including Welcome to Sajjanpur, Well Done Abba.
National Award Winning Director
Not once or twice but 7 times his films have won the prestigious National Film Awards respectively. He also received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for ‘Overall Contribution to Indian Cinema’ and the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero).
Shyam Benegal is survived by his wife Neera Benegal and daughter Piya.
The world of ‘realism’ in celluloid would never be the same again. The demise of the iconic Shyam Benegal has left a huge void which no one can ever fill.
