Shyam Benegal is recognised as a giant in Indian parallel cinema. He was born on December 14, 1934, in Hyderabad. His father, Sridhar Benegal, was a renowned photographer. Shyam first created a short film at 12, utilising a camera gifted by his father. His family includes notable figures in Indian cinema; his cousin is a famous actor and director, and his niece is filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi. Although Shyam had connections with some friends in the film industry, he independently forged his path in cinema.
Before becoming a film director, Shyam worked as a copywriter at Lintas Advertising in 1959, where he had the opportunity to write scripts for advertisements. During this period, he created his first documentary film, Gher Betha Ganga, in 1962, which was in Gujarati. From 1966 to 1973, he served as a film teacher at the Film and Television Institute of India. During this time, his documentary A Child of Streets (1967) received considerable acclaim.
Breakthrough with Ankur
Shyam’s first feature film, Ankur, was released in 1974. This film introduced a new dimension to Hindi cinema and was a significant turning point for Indian art/parallel cinema. The movie starred Shabana Azmi, marking her film debut, and cinematographer Govind Nihalani was one of the collaborators. Ankur examines the lives of people divided by caste, religion, and nationality in a specific context in India. It stands out in a time when commercial cinema dominated Hindi film, featuring few commercial elements and no song-and-dance sequences, relying only on background music. The film’s success marked a substantial risk taken by Shyam, redirecting Hindi parallel cinema onto a new pathway. For this film, he won the Second Best Feature Film award at the National Film Awards, with Shabana Azmi and Sadhu Meher receiving accolades for their performances.
Acclaimed Works: Nishant and Manthan
Shyam’s films Nishant (1975) and Manthan (1976) also received extensive audience and critical appreciation. Both films dealt with struggles within Indian rural society. Nishant was taken to the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or, achieving high international recognition despite not winning. Manthan, which focused on the struggles of milk farmers in Gujarat, was produced with contributions from thousands of farmers, and it performed well at the box office.
Through films like Ankur, Nishant, and Manthan, Benegal portrayed various aspects of Indian rural society and later explored different narrative themes. His subsequent works included Bhumika (1977), which revolved around a woman’s life story, Junoon (1978), based on the 1857 Indian struggle for independence, Kalyug (1981), inspired by the epic Mahabharata, and Mandi, which dealt with the profession of courtesans. Each of these films was critically acclaimed.
In the mid-1980s, due to a shift in the film industry and a lack of producers willing to engage with parallel cinema, Shyam turned to television, creating popular series like Yatra (1986) and Bharat Ek Khoj (1988).
Exploration of Diverse Themes
In the 1990s, Shyam Benegal produced another significant series of films focused on the lives of Indian Muslim women, including Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), and Zubeidaa (2001). Notably, Zubeidaa incorporated several elements of commercial Hindi masala cinema while collaborating with major music composer A. R. Rahman for its soundtrack. It won the National Film Awards for Best Hindi Feature Film, setting a record for the most wins for a film by a single director in that category.
Over the past two decades, Shyam Benegal’s directorial work has been rather limited, with films like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005), Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), Well Done Abba (2010), and Mujib: The Making of Nation (2023).
In 2024, Shyam Benegal’s cinematic journey would have reached 50 years. Tragically, shortly after celebrating his 90th birthday on December 23, he passed away from kidney disease, leaving behind an indelible mark as one of the most distinguished directors in Indian cinema.
