Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of

parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...

, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

and a

Nandi Award The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

. In 2005, he was honoured with the

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broad ...

, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

with the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

. Benegal was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

to Sridhar B. Benegal who was prominent in the field of photography. Starting his career as a copywriter, he made his first

Documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, ''Gher Betha Ganga'' (Ganges at the Doorstep) in 1962. Benegal's first four feature films '' Ankur'' (1973), '' Nishant'' (1975), '' Manthan'' (1976) and '' Bhumika'' (1977) made him a pioneer of the new wave film movement of that period. Benegal's films, Mammo (1994), along with Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa (2001) all of which won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film, form the ''Muslim women Trilogy''. Benegal has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. He was awarded the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Early life and education

Shyam Benegal was born on 14 December 1934 in

, as Shyam Sunder Benegal. When he was twelve years old, he made his first film, on a camera given to him by his photographer father Sridhar B. Benegal. He received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

from

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farma ...

. There he established the Hyderabad Film Society.

Family

Film director and actor Guru Dutt's maternal grandmother and Shyam's paternal grandmother were sisters, thus making Dutt and Shyam

second cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Career

Shyam Benegal Indian director and screenwriter at International Film Festival of Kerala 2016 02

Early career

In 1959, he started working as a copywriter at a Mumbai-based

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

, Lintas Advertising, where he steadily rose to become the creative head. Meanwhile, Benegal made his first documentary in

, ''Gher Betha Ganga'' (Ganges at the Doorstep) in 1962. His first feature film had to wait another decade while he worked on the script. In 1963 he had a brief stint with another advertising agency called ASP (Advertising, Sales and Promotion). During his advertising years, he directed over 900 sponsored documentaries and advertising films. Between 1966 and 1973, Shyam taught at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII),

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, and twice served as the institute's chairman: 1980–83 and 1989–92. By this time he had already started making documentaries. One of his early documentaries ''A Child of the Streets'' (1967), garnered him wide acclaim. In all, he has made over 70 documentary and short films. He was awarded the Homi J. Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72)Homi Bhabha Fellowship Council, Fellows, Biodata
, "During the period of his Fellowship, Mr. Benegal wrote and directed short films on social themes with special relevance to the lower-income groups of the middle and working classes. He also visited the US, the UK and Japan to study educational television films." which allowed him to work at the Children's Television Workshop, New York, and later at Boston's

WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded on-air as GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship property of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns Boston's se ...

Feature films

After returning to Mumbai, he received independent financing and '' Ankur'' (''The Seedling'') was finally made in 1973. It was a realistic drama of economic and sexual exploitation in his home state,

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

, and Benegal instantly shot to fame. The film introduced actors

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

and

Anant Nag Dr Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and En ...

and Benegal won the 1975

National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film was one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It was one of several a ...

. Shabana won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wi ...

. The success that New India Cinema enjoyed in the 1970s and early 1980s could largely be attributed to Shyam Benegal's quartet: ''Ankur'' (1973), ''Nishant'' (1975), ''Manthan'' (1976) and ''Bhumika'' (1977). Benegal used a variety of new actors, mainly from the FTII and

NSD In Internet computing, NSD (for "name server daemon") is an open-source Domain Name System (DNS) server. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server (i.e., not imple ...

, such as Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi,

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...

and

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actor ...

. In Benegal's next film, '' Nishant'' (''Night's End'') (1975), a teacher's wife is abducted and gang-raped by four

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

s; officialdom turns a deaf ear to the distraught husband's pleas for help. '' Manthan'' (''The Churning'') (1976) is a film on rural empowerment and is set against the backdrop of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

's fledgling dairy industry. For the first time, over five lakh (half a million) rural farmers in Gujarat contributed 2 each and thus became the film's producers. Upon its release, truckloads of farmers came to see "their" film, making it a success at the box office. After this trilogy on rural oppression, Benegal made a biopic '' Bhumika'' (''The Role'') (1977), broadly based on the life of well-known

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

stage and film actress of the 1940s,

Hansa Wadkar Hansa Wadkar (1923–1971) was a Marathi and Hindi film and stage actress of Indian cinema. She started her acting career at the age of thirteen years, as a heroine in the bilingual film ''Vijaychi Lagne'' (1936). Wadkar went on to make a na ...

(played by Smita Patil), who led a flamboyant and unconventional life. The main character sets out on an individual search for identity and self-fulfilment, while also grappling with exploitation by men. In the early 1970s, Shyam made 21 film modules for

Satellite Instructional Television Experiment Satellite Instructional Television Experiment or SITE was an experimental satellite communications project launched in India in 1975, designed jointly by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The project made available informatio ...

(SITE), sponsored by

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

. This allowed him to interact with children of SITE and many folk artists. Eventually he used many of these children in his feature length rendition of the classic folk tale ''

Charandas Chor Charandas Chor (''Charandas the Thief'') is a 1975 children's film by noted director Shyam Benegal, based on the famous play by Habib Tanvir, which itself was an adaptation of a classical Rajasthani folktale by Vijaydan Detha. The lyrics of th ...

'' (''Charandas the Thief'') in 1975. He made it for the

Children's Film Society, India Children's Film Society India (CFSI) was a nodal organization of Government of India that produced children's films and various TV programs in various Indian languages. Established in 1955, CFSI functioned under the Ministry of Information and ...

. To quote film critic Derek Malcolm:

what Benegal has done is to paint a magnificent visual recreation of those extraordinary days and one that is also sensitive to the agonies and predicament of a talented woman whose need for security was only matched by her insistence on freedom.

The 1980s

Unlike most New Cinema filmmakers, Benegal has had private backers for many of his films and institutional backing for a few, including ''Manthan'' (

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) is an Indian dairy state government cooperative society, based in Anand, Gujarat. Formed in 1946, it is a cooperative brand managed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today i ...

) and '' Susman'' (1987) (Handloom Co-operatives). However, his films did not have proper releases. He turned to TV where he directed serials such as ''

Yatra ( sa, यात्रा, 'journey', 'procession'), in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated ...

'' (1986), for the Indian Railways, and one of the biggest projects undertaken on Indian television, the 53-episode television serial ''

Bharat Ek Khoj ''Bharat Ek Khoj'' () is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book '' The Discovery of India'' (1946) by Jawaharlal Nehru that covers a 5,000-year history of India from its beginnings to independence from the British in 1947. The ...

'' (1988) based on

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

's book, '' Discovery of India''.Shyam Benegal at rediff.com 1999
''

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'', 28 July 1999. This gave him an added advantage, as he managed to survive the collapse of the New Cinema movement in the late 1980s due to paucity of funding, with which were lost many neo-realist filmmakers. Benegal continued making films throughout the next two decades. He also served as the Director of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) from 1980 to 1986. Following the success of these four films, Benegal was backed by star Shashi Kapoor, for whom he made '' Junoon'' (1978) and '' Kalyug'' (1981). The former was an interracial love story set amidst the turbulent period of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, while the latter was based on the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

'' and was not a big hit, although both won

Filmfare Best Movie Award The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. Eac ...

s in 1980 and 1982, respectively. Benegal's next film '' Mandi'' (1983), was a satirical comedy about politics and prostitution, starring Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Later, working from his own story, based on the last days of Portuguese in Goa, in the early 1960s, Shyam explored human relationships in ''

Trikal Trikal (Past, Present and Future) is a 1985 Indian movie written and directed by Shyam Benegal, set in Goa during the twilight of Portuguese rule, It marked the return of Leela Naidu in her first film appearance since 1969. The film was sele ...

'' (1985). Soon, Shyam Benegal stepped beyond traditional narrative films and took to biographical material to achieve greater freedom of expression. His first venture in this genre was with a documentary film based on Satyajit Ray's life, ''Satyajit Ray'', in 1985. This was followed by works such as ''

Sardari Begum ''Sardari Begum'' is a 1996 Indian musical film directed by Shyam Benegal. The film stars Kiron Kher, Amrish Puri, Rajit Kapur and Rajeshwari Sachdev. The film's lead actress Kiron Kher won the 1997 National Film Award - Special Jury Award. ...

'' (1996) and ''

Zubeidaa ''Zubeidaa'' is a 2001 Indian film directed by Shyam Benegal and written by Khalid Mohammed. It stars Karisma Kapoor, Rekha, Manoj Bajpayee, Surekha Sikri, Rajit Kapoor, Lillete Dubey, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, and Shakti Kapoor. A.R. Rah ...

'', which was written by filmmaker and critic

Khalid Mohamed Khalid Mohamed is an Indian journalist, editing, editor, Film criticism, film critic, screenwriter and film director. He formerly worked for the ''Hindustan Times'' and was the lead editor for ''Filmfare'' magazine. He is the son of Bollywoo ...

. In 1985 he was a member of the jury at the

14th Moscow International Film Festival The 14th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 28 June to 12 July 1985. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Soviet film ''Come and See'' directed by Elem Klimov, the American film ''A Soldier's Story'' directed by Norman Jewison an ...

The 1990s and beyond

The 1990s saw Shyam Benegal making a trilogy on Indian Muslim women, starting with ''

Mammo ''Mammo'' is a 1994 Indian Hindi film by Shyam Benegal. It stars Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri, Amit Phalke and Rajit Kapur. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1995. Farida Jalal won Filmfare Critics Award ...

'' (1994), ''

'' (1996) and ''

'' (2001). With ''Zubeidaa'', he entered mainstream

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, as it starred top Bollywood star

Karishma Kapoor Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress, who works in Hindi films. A member of the Kapoor family, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards. Kapoor made her acting de ...

and boasted music by A. R. Rahman. In 1992, he made '' Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'' (''Seventh Horse of the Sun''), based on a novel by

Dharmavir Bharati Dharamvir Bharati (25 December 1926 – 4 September 1997) was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the chief editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine '' Dharmayug'', from 1960 till 1987.The Illustr ...

, which won the 1993 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. In 1996 he made another film based on the book '' The Making of the Mahatma'', based on Fatima Meer's, ''The Apprenticeship of a Mahatma''. This turn to biographical material resulted in '' Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero'', his 2005 English language film. He criticised the Indian caste system in ''

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

'' (1999), which went on to win the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

. Benegal is the current president of the

Federation of Film Societies of India Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) is the umbrella body of film-screening societies in India. FFSI is currently a member of the International Federation of Film Society that has its Central Office in Paris. The international organisati ...

. He owns a production company called Sahyadri Films. He has authored three books based on his own films: ''The Churning'' with

Vijay Tendulkar Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. His Marathi plays established him as ...

(1984), based on '' Manthan''; ''Satyajit Ray'' (1988), based on his biographical film, ''Satyajit Ray''; and ''The Marketplace'' (1989), which was based on '' Mandi''. In 2009 he was a member of the jury at the 31st Moscow International Film Festival.

Recent projects

In 2008, his film ''

Welcome to Sajjanpur ''Welcome to Sajjanpur'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi comedy film directed by Shyam Benegal and starring Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao in the lead roles. The film is by noted Parallel cinema director, Shyam Benegal, marking his return to comedy after ...

'', starring

Shreyas Talpade Shreyas Talpade (born 27 January 1976) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who appears in Hindi and Marathi films. He has appeared in several critically and commercially successful films. He is better known for his role as Shah Ruk ...

and

Amrita Rao Amrita Rao (born 7 June 1981), is an Indian actress who is known primarily for her work in Hindi films. Rao made her acting debut in ''Ab Ke Baras'' (2002), which earned her a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut in 2003. She su ...

, was released to a good response. Its music was composed by

Shantanu Moitra Shantanu Moitra (born 22 January 1968) is an Indian score composer, musician and pianist who has composed songs for the Hindi film industry, and is most known for his scores in the films '' Parineeta'' (2005), ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (20 ...

, and it was produced by Chetan Motiwalla. Shyam Benegal is slated to direct an epic musical, ''Chamki Chameli'', inspired by Georges Bizet's classic Spanish opera '' Carmen''. The story revolves around the eponymous Chamki, a beautiful gypsy girl with a fiery temper and is written by

Shama Zaidi Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938) is an Indian screenplay writer, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary film maker. She is married to director M. S. Sathyu. Shama Zaidi Was Honored with Lifetime Achieve ...

. The music is by A. R. Rahman and lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. In March 2010, Benegal released the political satire ''

Well Done Abba ''Well Done Abba'' () is a 2010 Indian political satire Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal, starring Boman Irani, Minissha Lamba and Sameer Dattani in pivotal roles. It is the remake of the 2007 Marathi film, Jau Tithe Khau. It was based on t ...

''. One of Benegal's future projects is a film based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, daughter of

Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his ...

and descendant of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

, who served as a British spy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Benegal made a comeback on the small screen with '' Samvidhaan'', a 10-part mini-series revolving around the making of the Indian Constitution, to be aired on

Rajya Sabha TV Rajya Sabha TV was an Indian public cable television network channel owned and operated by Rajya Sabha that covered the proceedings of Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of the Parliament of India). It has now been replaced by Sansad TV. Apart from ...

from 2 March 2014. Along with Benegal,

Tom Alter Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Early life Born in Mussoorie ...

Dalip Tahil Dalip Tahil (born as Dalip Tahilramani; 30 October 1952) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor. He studied at Sherwood College in Nainital, India. After attending Aligarh Muslim University for a year, he graduated from St. Xavier's C ...

Sachin Khedekar Sachin Khedekar (born 14 May 1965) is an Indian actor and director known for his work in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Gujarati language films. His well-known films include '' Kaksparsh'', '' Astitva'' and Shyam Benegal's '' ...

Divya Dutta Divya Dutta (born 25 September 1977) is an Indian actress and model. She has appeared in Hindi and Punjabi cinema, in addition to Malayalam and English-language films. She has received many awards including a National Film Award, a Filmfare Awa ...

Rajendra Gupta Rajendra Gupta (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor and director who is known for his television roles of Adina Beg Khan Sahib e Azam in 2010 series of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Pandit Jagannath in the 1990s Doorda ...

, K K Raina, and

Ila Arun Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk and folk-pop singer. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood movies such as ''Lamhe'', ''Jodhaa Akbar'', ''Shaadi Ke Side Effects'' and ''Begum Jaan''. Personal life Arun ...

were seen at the press conference for the TV series.

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

has confirmed Benegal would direct the biopic of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

named '' Mujib: The Making of a Nation''. The film will be released presumably by 2022.

Personal life

Shyam Benegal is married to Nira Benegal and has a daughter named Pia Benegal, a costume designer, who worked for many films.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

;Non Feature Films * 1984 Best Historical Reconstruction for ''

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

'' * 1985 Best Biographical Film for ''Satyajit Ray'' ;Feature Films * 1986

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

for ''

'' * 1993 Best Feature Film in Hindi for '' Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'' * 1995 Best Feature Film in Hindi for ''

'' * 1996 Best Feature Film in English for '' The Making of the Mahatma'' * 1997 Best Feature Film in Urdu for ''

'' * 1999 Best Feature Film for ''

'' * 1999 Best Feature Film on Family Welfare for '' Hari-Bhari'' * 2001 Best Feature Film in Hindi for ''

'' * 2005

Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one o ...

for '' Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero'' * Best Film on Other Social Issues for

; Filmfare Awards * 1980

for '' Junoon'' ;

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

Golden Palm The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

: '' Nishant'': Nominated ;

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

* 1974

Golden Berlin Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

for '' Ankur'': Nominated ;

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Golden Prize: '' Kalyug'' *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Golden St. George: ''

'': Nominated ;

All Lights India International Film Festival All Lights India International Film festival (ALIIFF), is an annual film festival of India conducted in Hyderabad. It is usually conducted in December every year. The 4th edition was held from Dec 1-4, 2018 at PVR Inorbit Mall, Hyderabad. Popular M ...

* 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award ;

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

* B. N. Reddy National Award for contribution to

Indian Cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

Honours

* 1970 Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72) * 1976

* 1989 Sovietland Nehru Award * 1991

* 2012 D. Litt. ''Honoris Causa'' of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, ...

* 2013 ANR National Award * 2016 D. Litt. "Honoris Causa" of

ITM University, Gwalior ITM University is a multidisciplinary private university based in Gwalior, India. The subjects are offered in the field of sciences, engineering, management, fine arts, social sciences, arts, and nursing. It was established under the Act of ...

(M.P.)

Bibliography

* ''Benegal on Ray: Satyajit Ray, a Film'', by Shyam Benegal, Alaknanda Datta, Samik Banerjee. Seagull Books, 1988. . * ''Shyam Benegal's the Churning (Manthan): Screenplay'', by, Vijay Tendulkar, Shyam Benegal, Samik Banerjee. Seagull Books, 1984. .

References

External links

Shyam Benegal's Retrospective Abu Dhabi Sept27-30,2012
b
Indian Film Society of UAE
*

interview a
BAFTA

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benegal, Shyam Osmania University alumni 20th-century Indian film directors Indian male screenwriters Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Hindi-language film directors Indian documentary filmmakers Filmfare Awards winners Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients Film directors from Hyderabad, India 1934 births Living people Best Director National Film Award winners 21st-century Indian film directors Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Special Jury Award (feature film) National Film Award winners Producers who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Directors who won the Best Film on Family Welfare National Film Award Directors who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award Directors who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award