National Awardee film-maker and 'parallel cinema' doyen Shyam Benegal dies at 90

Shyam Sunder S. Benegal, a multiple National Award winner and among the pioneers of ‘parallel cinema’ – with silver screen classics like “Junoon”, “Ankur”, “Manthan”, “Zubeida” and “The Making of the Mahatma” – passed away after a long battle with a kidney disease, his family said here on Monday.

A second-cousin brother of the late legend, actor-film-maker Guru Dutt, Benegal was 90 and breathed his last at a private hospital in Mumbai. He is survived by his wife Nira and their daughter Pia.

Conferred the Padma Shri (1976), the Padma Bhushan (1991), the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2005) and many other national-international honours, Benegal had celebrated his 90th birthday (December 14) with many colleagues from the film industry present to meet and greet him.

The details of the last rites of his mortal remains are not yet known.

Born in Hyderabad on December 14, 1934, Benegal belonged to a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahman lineage, with his photographer-father Sridhar B. Benegal having roots in Karnataka.

At the tender age of 12, the little Shyam had shot a film using a camera presented by his dad, who inspired and nurtured his interest in film-making that became his career for over six decades.

Later, Benegal went onto study MA (Economics), founded the Hyderabad Film Society, and later started his career in 1959 as a copy-writer with Lintas Advertising Agency in Mumbai, where he rose to be the Creative Head, with over 900 ad films and sponsored documentaries under his belt.

In 1962, Benegal made his first Gujarati documentary film, “Gher Betha Ganga” (Ganga At Doorsteps), taught at the prestigious Film & Television Institute of India from 1966-1973, and later served as its Chairman twice (1980-1983 & 1989-1992).

With over 70 documentaries and short films to his credit, and a stint in the USA, Benegal made his first full-length Hindi feature film, “Ankur” (1974), that shot him to fame, bagging 3 National Awards, another 43 national-international awards/honours.

Over a film career spanning more than 60 years, Benegal made many classics like “Manthan” (1976), “Bhumika” (1977), “Junoon” and “Kalyug” (1979), “Aarohan” (1982), “Mandi” (1983), “Trikaal” (1985, “Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda” (1993), “The Making of the Mahatma” (1996), “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero” (2005), “Welcome to Sajjanpur” (2008), “Mujib: The Making of a Nation” (2023), to name a few prominent ones.

He also made noteworthy and award-winning documentaries, including on India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, “Jawaharlal Nehru” (1982) and “Nehru” (1985), on the legendary film-maker Satyajit Ray, Tata Steel’s Platinum Jubilee, A Festival of India, Lost Childhood, and many more.

Benegal created memorable television serials like: “Yatra” (1986), “Bharat Ek Khoj” (1988), “Sankranti” (1997), “Samvidhaan” (2014), among several others.

Tributes poured in for Benegal on social media from actors, actresses, producers, directors, his colleagues in the Indian and international film fraternity, media groups and his legion of fans and admirers.