Shyam Benegal. Photo source: @shekharkapur|X
By Vinod Raghavan
Legendary film director Shyam Benegal, the creator of ‘New Wave’ Cinema and one of the stalwarts of Parallel Cinema who redefined Indian filmmaking with realism, breathed his last at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai today evening at around 6.38 pm. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. He is survived by his wife Nira Benegal and daughter, Pia Benegal, a Bollywood costume designer, who said her father was suffering from a chronic kidney disease and confirmed his death. His last rites will be performed at Shivaji Park in Mumbai tomorrow evening.
Born on December 14, 1934, at Tirumalagiri, Secunderabad, Benegal celebrated his 90th birthday just ten days ago in Mumbai in the company of thespians Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and his other actors. Shabana, who was given a break in films by Benegal himself, later shared the following photograph of the celebrations on X.
At a time when Bollywood was ruled by the likes of Kapoors, Chopras, and Khannas in the 1970s with multi-starrers and big-budget films, Benegal successfully made a dent with his powerful story-based low-budget films.
Taking new talented actors such as Shabana Azmi, the late Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Amol Palekar, and Om Puri, he showed the tinsel town that the Indian audience well takes story-based films with powerful social messages.
Naseeruddin and Shabana established themselves as a successful actor and are still going strong even after 50 years in Bollywood. Smita Patil passed away at a young age as a successful actor, not only in parallel cinema but also in commercial Bollywood films with top actors like Amitabh Bachchan and others.
Bachchan today tweeted, “We have lost another stalwart of the Film Industry today .. Shyam Benegal passes away .. Prayers and condolences.”
Benegal, who was a cousin of another great director and actor Guru Dutt, proved that looks are not important with actors like Om Puri. Benegal made films on diverse issues, and also documentaries and television serials, including Bharat Ek Khoj and Samvidhaan. He made successful and critically acclaimed films such as Ankur, Manthan, Mammo, and many more. His iconic Manthan (1976) was co-written with the father of the Indian white revolution Verghese Kurien and noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar.
His last film Mujib – A Nation, was a biopic on Bangladesh founding father Bang Bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, jointly under the banner of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
He bagged a record 18 National Film awards and was conferred with the nation’s third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan. Upon his death, eminent film director Shekhar Kapoor posted on X, “He created ‘the new wave’ cinema. #shyambenegal will always be remembered as the man who changed the direction of Indian Cinema with films like Ankur, Manthan and countless others. He created stars of great actors like Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Farewell my friend and guide”.
*Senior journalist
