Famous film director, screenwriter and producer Shyam Benegal passed away in Mumbai on Monday. He breathed his last at 6:30 pm at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central. He is survived by his wife Nira Benegal and daughter Pia Benegal.
His last rites will be performed on Tuesday. His daughter Pia Benegal said, ‘He was suffering from kidney disease for a long time.’ Two years ago both his kidneys failed. Since then he was undergoing treatment with dialysis.
Shyam Benegal holds the record of winning the most National Awards.
Shyam Benegal was born on 14 December 1934 in Hyderabad. He is also considered the father of art cinema in Bollywood. When he was twelve years old, he made his first film on the camera given by his photographer father Sridhar B. Benegal. He celebrated 90th birthday on 14 December.
Shyam Benegal’s films gave great artists to Indian cinema, prominent among them are Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Anant Nag, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and cinematographer Govind Nihalani.
Apart from making documentaries on Jawaharlal Nehru and Satyajit Ray, he also directed serials ‘Yatra’, ‘Katha Sagar’ and ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ for Doordarshan.
Shyam has made 24 films, 45 documentaries and 15 ad films. He directed dozens of great films like Zubeida, The Making of the Mahatma, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Mandi, Aarohan, Welcome to Sajjanpur.
For his contribution to the film world, he was awarded Padma Shri in 1976 and Padma Bhushan in 1991. Apart from this, he has 8 National Awards to his credit. He holds the record of winning the most National Awards.
Benegal was also given the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour of Indian cinema, in 2005.
Shyam Benegal made his first film Ankur in 1974. In this film, he raised the issues of farmers of Andhra Pradesh. ‘Mujib – The Making of a Nation’ was his last film. Mujib was shot for two years. This film was based on the life of Mujibur Rahman.
Shyam Sunder Benegal was born on 14 December 1934 in a middle class family in Hyderabad. He is the cousin of famous actor and filmmaker Guru Dutt.
Shyam’s father was fond of still photography. Shyam also used to take pictures of children often. After doing MA in Economics, he started photography. Before making his first film ‘Ankur’, he had made many ad films for ad agencies. Before making films and ads, Shyam used to work as a copywriter.
