Shyam Benegal: Celebrating the Legacy of a Visionary Filmmaker

On the 23rd of December in 2024, Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, a key figure in Indian cinematography, passed away owing to chronic kidney disease at the age of ninety years.

Beginning in the 1970s, Benegal’s profession was characterized by the roll out of epic films that were socially relevant.

“Ankur” (1974), “Nishant” (1975), “Manthan” (1976) and “Bhumika” (1977) depicted lives of common people and thus were far removed from the mainstream bollywood story lines.

Apart from the movies, Benegal also got famous for the TV series “Bharat Ek Khoj” which comprised of 53 episodes, where he presented a history of the country with starting point the ancient history till the present day based on Discovery of India book written by Jawaharlal Nehru.

He directed the biographical films “Mujib: The Making of a Nation” which depicted Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the first leader of Bangladesh) in the year 2023.

Benegal was a teacher to a number of actresses who became iconic in the industry of Indian cinema such as Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri.

As an indication of his talent, he received several National Film Awards, the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award which is the most prestigious award in cinematography in India.

Numerous other officers have joined in and paid their respects.

The films that Benegal directed were ‘raw and re,’ according to filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.