Shyam Benegal, pioneer of parallel cinema, dies at 90

Famend filmmaker Shyam Benegal died on Monday on the age of 90, following a chronic kidney illness. He died round 6:30 p.m. at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, his daughter, Pia Benegal, confirmed to India In the present day.

Benegal, probably the most influential figures in Indian cinema, has been celebrated for pioneering the parallel cinema motion. His movies, like Ankur, Mandi and Manthangrew to become iconic works of the Seventies and Nineteen Eighties, opening a brand new course for Indian cinema.

The filmmaker not too long ago celebrated his ninetieth birthday on December 14, surrounded by his shut family and friends. The gathering included notable actors like Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Naseeruddin Shah, Divya Dutta, Shabana Azmi, Rajit Kapur, Atul Tiwari and Kunal Kapoor, the actor-filmmaker and son of Shashi Kapoor.

Benegal’s contribution to cinema was acknowledged by the Indian authorities, which awarded him the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. His legacy features a numerous physique of labor with hit movies resembling Manthan, Zubeidaa and Sardar Begum, amongst others.

Born on December 14, 1934 in Hyderabad, Shyam Benegal got here from a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin household. His father, Sridhar B. Benegal, a photographer from Karnataka, launched him to the world of visible storytelling. On the age of 12, Shyam made his first movie with a digicam his father gave him. Though he earned a grasp’s diploma in economics from Osmania College, Hyderabad, it was his ardour for cinema that led him to determine the Hyderabad Movie Society, marking the start of his illustrious movie journey.

A few of his most well-known works embody Ankur, Manthan, Junoon, Suraj ka Satvaan Ghoda, Mandiand rather more, which proceed to encourage generations of filmmakers and audiences.