Society Promoting Indian
Cinematic Entertainment
Cinematic Entertainment
| 14.12.1934 * | |
| Place of Birth | Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh) |
Shyam Benegal started as and ad filmmaker before he began to make feature films. Taking Satyajit Ray as a role model, Benegal made his early movies Ankur, Nishant, Manthan and Bhumika. These movies became prototypes of a new realistic cinema in the 1970s, which was later named Indian parallel cinema or New Indian cinema. In his films Shyam Benegal introduced new actresses and actors like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri. The cinematographer of Benegal's early movies Govind Nihalani turned director in the early 1980s and also became an important icon of New Indian cinema.
In the late 1970s Benegal teamed up with Shashi Kapoor:330:, who produced and acted in Junoon Kalyug. When in the mid 1980's the new cinema movement collapsed with most of its directors turning towards mainstream commercial cinema, Benegal started to direct TV films and make documentaries. In the 1990s he made Sooraj Ka Satwan Ghoda and Samar and in 2001 with popular actress Karishma Kapoor and the famous composer A. R. Rahman he made Zubeida, combining his style with contemporary Bollywood aesthetics.
Benegal continues to remain an active public figure as a diretor and member of the Rajya Sabha. In 2007 his received the Dadasaheb Phalke award for his lifetime achviement.