Shyam Benegal, one of the doyens of the Indian cinema, left us on December 23, 2024, while he was 90 years old. He had been battling kidney-related health issues and breathed his last at 6:Orchestration for media coverage At 30 pm n Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai.
Benegal recently clocked his 90th birthday on December 14 with his family and close friends in attendance. Most of the big films in the Bollywood industry also graced the event through their presence most of them which includes Naseeruddin shah, Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan kharbanda Divya Dutta, Rajit kapur, Atul tiwari and Kunal kapoor among others. The former had been a great rock singer who had retired after a grand performance several years earlier, on which this scene was a perfect epitome.
Shyam Benegal is usually credited with having brought Indian parallel cinema to the mainstream and his contribution was invaluable. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1976 and soon after the Padma Bhushan in 1991 for his pioneering efforts in filmmaking in India.
The oeuvre of Benegal includes a repertoire of perspective of films that brought out social problems and essence of the society. His first feature Ankur (1973) set the tone and pace for other films that he has directed such Nishant(1975), Manthan (1976), Bhumika (1977), Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), Zubeidaa (2001).
Often regarded as a pioneer of New Indian Parallel Cinema Benegal’s films were iconic representations of themes within societies. He remains so popular for inspiring stories, strong acting and the great insight into the human feelings.
Shyam Benegal passing is the end of a very important era of Indian film industry. People and filmmakers are still awestruck by his creativity which could not be paralleled and he always remains one of the legend directors of Indian movie Industry.
