Renowned filmmaker, director and writer Shyam Benegal passed away on December 23. 90-year-old filmmaker Shyam Benegal breathed his last at 6:38 pm at Wockhardt Hospital, his last rites will take place today.
Shyam Benegal, who holds the record of 8 National Awards, is known for films like Manthan, Mandi, Aarohan, Bhumika, Zubaida. Not only is he called the father of parallel cinema, but his film Manthan was nominated for an Oscar. However, very few people know that this film was made with a donation of Rs 2 each from 5 lakh farmers, to see which people were traveling from village to village in trucks to reach the city.
From Amrish Puri to Smita Patil, Shyam Benegal introduced many great actors to cinema. His last film was Mujib: The Making of a Nation in 2023, which he made at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina. This film was controversial for many reasons, but the unique thing is that it is the only film of its type, produced jointly by two countries.
When Shyam Benegal passed away, many artists like Dalip Tahil, Ila Arun and Sham Rawat shared important stories about him.
India’s first film made through donations, the donations were made by 5 lakh farmers. The film Manthan (1976), directed by Shyam Benegal, won the Best National Film award in 1977. This film was sent to the Academy Awards that year. It was the first film in India made through donations.
The film Manthan received 2 National Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay.
In fact, this 1976 film was made about the White Revolution (Milk Revolution). The film’s co-writer was Dr. Verghese Kurien. In 1970, Varghese launched Operation Flood, which brought about the White Revolution in India and made India the largest milk-producing country in the world. Seeing this, Shyam Benegal decided to make a film about it. In the era of masala films, no producer was ready to invest money in such a story.
In such a situation, co-author Varghese sought help from the villagers. He sought help from the village cooperative society, which had 5 lakh farmers associated with it. Each farmer donated Rs 2 each for the film, through which around Rs 10 lakh was collected. The film Manthan was made with this amount.
Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad and Kulbhushan Kharbanda played important roles in the film. This film received 2 national awards for best feature film and best screenplay. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Feature Film category that year.
The screening of the film Manthan took place at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The film received a standing ovation.
Smita Patil became a heroine when Shyam Benegal caught her attention. Smita Patil was once a newspaper reader. One day, she had come to anchor at the Film and Television Institute, where Shyam Benegal was also present at that time. Shyam Benegal liked Smita Patil so much that he immediately signed her in his film Charandas Chor. This is how Smita started her acting career in 1975 with this film.
After this, Shyam Benegal cast Smita Patil in the 1976 film Manthan, which turned out to be a turning point in his career. Smita Patil also received her first National Award for Best Actress for the 1977 film Bhumika, directed by Shyam Benegal.
Smita Patil with Shyam Benegal.
Amrish Puri was once an agent, Shyam Benegal became the villain of Hindi cinema. Amrish Puri, called the most dangerous villain in Hindi cinema, was once an insurance agent. The credit for bringing it to cinema goes solely to Shyam Benegal. In fact, apart from working as an insurance agent, Amrish Puri played small roles in films. He was also associated with Satyadev Dubey’s theater troupe, where he met Shyam Benegal.
Shyam Benegal started liking Amrish Puri’s voice so much that when he had to change an actor’s voice while shooting for the film Ankur, he first thought of Amrish Puri.
It was during dubbing that he realized the talent of Amrish Puri. In such a situation, when he directed the upcoming film Nishant, he gave the villain’s role to Amrish Puri. In this way, Amrish Puri started the second innings of his career as a villain with the 1975 film Nishant and rose to fame.
Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil played important roles alongside Amrish Puri in the film Nishant.
The job was given to Dalip Tahil on the condition that he cut his hair. Dalip Tahil told Indianewsget, “I worked in his debut film Ankur. I was doing a play in Mumbai. Shyam Babu came to me and said, if you get a haircut, I have a role for you. I’m doing my first film, Ankur, I’m working on it. If you want to do it, come to Hyderabad.
In this way, Dalip Tahil got associated with cinema and started his acting career with the 1974 film Ankur. This film received 3 national awards.
Dalip Tahil played the role of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Shyam Benegal’s television miniseries Samvidhan (2014).
Ila Arun said – He always used to say that you should never ask me when my shot will come. After news of Shyam Benegal’s demise broke, Ila Arun said in a conversation with Indianewsget, “He was like a father to all of us, especially. In my opinion. Not only did he introduce me to cinema but he also gave me confidence. It’s the end of parallel cinema.
He gave a lot to Indian cinema. I will remember him very well saying that whenever you are shooting, never ask when my shot will come, because there are many forms of filmmaking, never be restless. If you are cast in the film, you will be used. It always happened that my turn didn’t come until after sunset and I asked them why my turn came only when everything had to be done quickly.
Let us tell you that after making a name for herself in singing, Ila Arun started her acting career with Shyam Benegal’s film Mandi. Eela was also seen in the 2008 Benegal release, Well Done Abba.
Ila Arun with Shyam Benegal.
Mujib, the latest film made at the behest of Sheikh Hasina, was the subject of controversy. The last film made under the direction of Shyam Benegal, Mujib: The Making of a Nation, was the subject of controversy. This film was made on the greatest leader of Bangladesh, Mujibur Rahman. The then Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, both wanted Shyam Benegal to direct this film. With this, Shyam Benegal became the director whose film was produced by two countries.
In a conversation with Indianewsget on the matter, Sham Rawat, who was close to Shyam Benegal, said, “I was with Shyam Babu for 24 years. I particularly communicated with him on Zubaida. Shyam Babu created parallel cinema with films like Ankur, Manthan. Through brainstorming, he also introduced the concept of crowdfunding for the first time in the history of Hindi films.
Mujib was his last film, it was based on Bangladesh’s greatest leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Make him Shyam Babu, Sheikh Hasina and our Prime Minister Modi ji wanted him. This film was made during the Corona period and the confinement period. With this film, Shyam Babu became the first director whose film was produced by the governments of two countries.
This film was made on a budget of Rs 70 crores. In fact, Shyam Babu had directed the film ‘Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: A Forgotten Hero’ with Sachin Khedekar in 2004, which Sheikh Hasina ji liked a lot. In such a situation, almost 20 years later, when Mujeeb was planned, Sheikh Hasina thought of asking Shyam Babu to direct this film.
During this film, I and many crew members contracted Covid, but Shyam Babu remained a volunteer. He had a strange hesitation even while wearing a mask on set. He sometimes got sick, but never took time off. He made the entire film responsibly and handed it over to both governments.
Sham Rawat, who celebrated his 90th birthday on December 14, further said that his health has definitely taken a turn for the worse since last year. He was put on dialysis and has continued to undergo dialysis ever since. He breathed his last at 6:38 p.m. on Sunday, December 23, at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai. Even on his 90th birthday, December 14, he only came to the ceremony for 15 minutes. His friends had organized his birthday.
Sham Rawat with Shyam Benegal.
Shyam Babu’s contribution is enormous. What’s interesting is that he made a film like Manthan during his Congress tenure, and a few decades later, during the BJP government, he made a film called Mujeeb. He did selective work, but he was very busy. When he made the documentary series Bharat Ek Khoj during his time, it was shot for 3 years.
He was a great director, but he didn’t take the opportunity to do anything by taking a big budget from the producer. The casting was very good. He made Dalip Tahil the most handsome Pandit Nehru. I have never seen such a glamorous Nehru. So far, whatever Nehru ji serial is, every actor seems very poor and helpless.
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal has died: he breathed his last at the age of 90; Made his first film with his father’s camera, won the National Film Award 8 times
Renowned director, screenwriter and producer Shyam Benegal passed away in Mumbai on Monday. He breathed his last at 6:38 p.m. at Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central. His daughter Piya Benegal said: “He had been suffering from kidney disease for a long time. » Shyam Benegal holds the record for winning the National Award for a maximum number of 8 films. …