Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was 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 Cinema of India, 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, ...

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

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, a

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...

and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

. He died on 23 December 2024, aged 90, at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, where he was receiving treatment for chronic kidney disease. Benegal was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

to Sridhar B. Benegal who was prominent in the field of photography. Starting his career as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to incre ...

, he made his first

Documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

in Gujarati, ''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 "Muslim Women Trilogy" films '' Mammo'' (1994), '' Sardari Begum'' (1996), and '' Zubeidaa'' (2001) all won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi. 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 a

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

-speaking

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

family in

, as Shyam Sunder Benegal. His father hailed from

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. 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. in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

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, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

, Hyderabad. There he established the Hyderabad Film Society. Film director and actor Guru Dutt's maternal grandmother and Shyam's paternal grandmother were sisters, thus making Dutt and Shyam second cousins. Shyam Benegal married Nira Benegal. They have a daughter, Pia Benegal, a costume designer. Shyam's brother, Som, died in 2014, and his nephews, Dev and Rahul, have also pursued careers in filmmaking.

Career

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

Early career

In 1959, he started working as a

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 generall ...

, Lintas Advertising, where he steadily rose to become the creative head. Meanwhile, Benegal made his first documentary in Gujarati, ''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 ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, 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 GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...

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 States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

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

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...

and Anant Nag and Benegal won the 1975 National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film. Shabana won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 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 within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...

. 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, 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 ...

and Amrish Puri. In Benegal's next film, '' Nishant'' (''Night's End'') (1975), a teacher's wife is abducted and gang-raped by four zamindars; 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 States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

'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 stage and film actress of the 1940s, Hansa Wadkar (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 ISRO, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The project made available inf ...

(SITE), sponsored by

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. 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 the Thief'') in 1975. He made it for the Children's Film Society, India. 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 ) 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 ''Yatra'' (, ), in Indian religion, Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of River#Sacred rivers, sacred rivers, Sacred mountains#India, sacred mount ...

'' (1986), for the Indian Railways, and one of the biggest projects undertaken on Indian television, the 53-episode television serial '' Bharat Ek Khoj'' (1988) based on

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

's book, '' Discovery of India''.Shyam Benegal at rediff.com 1999
'' Rediff.com'', 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 Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, while the latter was based on the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' and was not a big hit, although both won Filmfare Best Movie Awards 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'' (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 Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

's life, ''Satyajit Ray'', in 1985. This was followed by works such as '' Sardari Begum'' (1996) and '' Zubeidaa'', which was written by filmmaker and critic Khalid Mohamed. In 1985 he was a member of the jury at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.

The 1990s and beyond

The 1990s saw Shyam Benegal making a trilogy on Indian Muslim women, starting with '' Mammo'' (1994), '' Sardari Begum'' (1996) and '' Zubeidaa'' (2001). With ''Zubeidaa'', he entered mainstream

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

, as it starred top Bollywood star Karishma Kapoor 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, 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'' (1999), which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Benegal served as a president of the president of the Federation of Film Societies of India. He was the owner of a production company called Sahyadri Films. He was the author of three books based on his own films: ''The Churning'' with Vijay Tendulkar (1984), which was based on '' Manthan''; ''Satyajit Ray'' (1988), based on his biographical cinema, ''Satyajit Ray''; and ''The Marketplace'' (1989), based on '' Mandi''. In 2009 he was a member of the jury at the 31st Moscow International Film Festival.

Later projects

In 2008, his film '' Welcome to Sajjanpur'', starring Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao, was released to a good response. Its music was composed by Shantanu Moitra, 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. The music is by A. R. Rahman and lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. In March 2010, Benegal released the political satire '' Well Done Abba''. One of Benegal's last projects was a film based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, daughter of Inayat Khan and descendant of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

, who served as a British spy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 from 2 March 2014.

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

has confirmed Benegal would direct the biopic of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

named '' Mujib: The Making of a Nation''. The film was released in 2023.

Personal life and death

Shyam Benegal was married to Nira Benegal and had a daughter, Pia Benegal, a costume designer, who worked for many films. Benegal died of

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an Inflammation, inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Infla ...

at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central, on 23 December 2024, at the age of 90.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

;Non Feature Films * 1984 Best Historical Reconstruction for '' Nehru'' * 1985 Best Biographical Film for ''Satyajit Ray'' ;Feature Films * 1986 Best Director for '' Trikal'' * 1993 Best Feature Film in Hindi for '' Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'' * 1995 Best Feature Film in Hindi for '' Mammo'' * 1996 Best Feature Film in English for '' The Making of the Mahatma'' * 1997 Best Feature Film in Urdu for '' Sardari Begum'' * 1999 Best Feature Film for '' Samar'' * 1999 Best Feature Film on Family Welfare for '' Hari-Bhari'' * 2001 Best Feature Film in Hindi for '' Zubeidaa'' * 2005 Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for '' Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero'' * Best Film on Other Social Issues for Well Done Abba ;

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

* 1980 Best Director for '' Junoon'' ;

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

: Golden Palm: '' Nishant'': Nominated ;

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

* 1974 Golden Berlin Bear for '' Ankur'': Nominated ;

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Golden Prize: '' Kalyug'' *

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Golden St. George: '' Sardari Begum'': Nominated ; ;*

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

* B. N. Reddy National Award for contribution to

Indian Cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

Honours

* 1970 Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72) * 1976 Padma Shri * 1989 Sovietland Nehru Award * 1991 Padma Bhushan * 2012 D. Litt. ''Honoris Causa'' of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

* 2013 ANR National Award * 2016 D. Litt. "Honoris Causa" of ITM University, Gwalior (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. . *''Shyam Benegal: Film-maker of the Real India'', by Arjun Sengupta. Niyogi Books, 2024. .

References

External links