Shyam Benegal

DirectorWriterActorProducer

Shyam Benegal (December 14, 1934–December 23, 2024) was a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975) Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) he created a new genre, which has now come to be called the "middle cinema" in India although he himself has expressed dislike in the term preferring his work to be called New or Alternate cinema. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. On 8 August 2007, he was awarded the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005. He has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. Benegal died of kidney disease on 23 December 2024 in Mumbai and is survived by his daughter.

14-12-1934

Birthday

Sagittarius

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Also known as (male)

Alwal, Hyderabad, British India (now Andhra Pradesh, India)

Place of Birth

14-12-1934

Birthday

Sagittarius

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Also Known As (male)

Alwal, Hyderabad, British India (now Andhra Pradesh, India)

Place of Birth

Popular works

Media

Creative career

actor

5 Works

producer

2 Works

director

42 Works

writer

13 Works

other

1 Works

The Last Adieu

Having the need to resolve the unfinished relationship with her father who had died suddenly when she was only fourteen, Shabnam decides to confront her mother and talk to all the people who had known him. She is eager to fill the holes in her sketchy memory only to find out that he had always been there with her and influenced her at every stage in her life without her knowing it. After thirty years she is now ready to claim her father as she discovers his significance in her life.

0.0

Year:

2014

Celluloid Man

Indian documentary about Indian film history and P. K. Nair, the founder of the National Film Archive of India and guardian of Indian cinema. He built the archive can by can in a country where the archiving of cinema was considered unimportant.

7.0

Year:

2012

Pride of India: Shama Zaidi

The film starts with the earliest form of cinema and how Shama Zaidi became an integral part of the evolution of Indian Cinema.

0.0

Year:

2011

Smita

This biographical film is a tribute to a pioneering actress Smita Patil through her works a tribute to the parallel cinema. Her realistic dignified portrayals of the emerging women's movement in India creating a space for women on screen and role models for them off-screen.

0.0

Year:

2001

In Search of Guru Dutt

This documentary is a three-part tribute to director Guru Dutt, who died in 1964 at the age of 39. The work traces Guru Dutt's personal story through many interviews with his family members and colleagues and observes his work through the use of extensive film excerpts. The documentary was produced by the British television network Channel 4 producer Nasreen Munni Kabir.

6.0

Year:

1989