Shyam Benegal started out as a documentary filmmaker, and his filmmaking style reflects his ability to document human life from an objective distance.
Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal passed away in Mumbai a few days after his 90th birthday. He was born on December 14, 1934.
Credited for bringing the parallel cinema movement to the forefront in India, Shyam Babu, as he is fondly called, is more than just a director. He was a social reformer and his vision of culture and society and their collaboration gave rise to the idea of cause-oriented cinema in the truest sense of the word in Hindi.
Winner of five consecutive National Awards (Ankur, Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika, Junoon) between 1975-79, he went beyond the obvious and carved out his own niche through a multi-layered approach.
He has received numerous national awards from various departments, as well as Filmfare, a model for commercial filmmaking, which means that he is equally popular and respected among artists of all types.
Actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Amrish Puri, Manoj Bajpayee and many more became the artists they are today after working with Shyam Babu.
He started out as a documentary filmmaker and his filmmaking style shows him documenting human life from an objective distance. Films like “Sardari Begum”, “Mammo”, “Zubeidaa” and “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose” are testament to his range and incredible skills. Needless to say, he is an institution in his own right, producing great creators for the future.
His last film was Mujib: The Making of a Nation. Imagine what he did even though he was 90 years old!
Mind you, his work on the small screen is a different story entirely, with both Bharat Ek Khoj and Samwidhan having endless footprints of their own.
His death creates a void that will not be replaced for a long time, if not forever.
READ | Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal dies at 90