SHYAM BENEGAL
Shyam Benegal (born 14 December, 1934 in Alwal, Secunderabad, then a British Cantonment) is a prolific Indian director. Benegal originated what has come to be called "middle cinema". He graduated from
His film directorial debut was Gher Betha Ganga in 1962. Benegal shot to fame with Ankur 1973, which introduced Shabana Azmi, who also starred in Nishant 1975. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. On 8th August 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for the year 2005.
The success that New India Cinema enjoyed in the 1970s and early 1980s could largely be attributed to Shyam Benegal's quartet Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977), which were artistically superior yet commercially viable films. Tapping fresh talent mainly from the FTII and NSD like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri, Benegal has made several sensitive and stimulating films.
Benegal is related to the famous film director and actor Guru Dutt Padukone - contrary to what is generally believed. His paternal grand-mother and Guru Dutt's maternal grand-mother were sisters. Both are nominally Konkani speaking Chitrapur Saraswats. He is also the founder of the Hyderabad Film Society and a former Ad Filmmaker.
With Nishant, where a teacher's wife is abducted and gang-raped by four zamindars and officialdom turns a deaf ear to the distraught husband's pleas for help and Manthan, set against the backdrop of
Bhumika looks at an individual's search for identity and self-fulfillment. The film is broadly based on the life of well-known Marathi Stage and screen actresses of the 1940s, Hansa Wadkar who led a flamboyant and unconventional life. To quote film critic Derek Malcolm
"…What Benegal has done is to paint a magnificent visual recreation of those extraordinary days and one that is also sensitive to the agonies and predicament of a talented woman whose need for security was only matched by her insistence on freedom."
Unlike most New Cinema Filmmakers Benegal has had private backers for many of his films. Following the success of these four films, he was backed by film star Shashi Kapoor for whom he made Junoon and Kalyug(1981). The former set in the turbulent period of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 is one of Benegal's most stylish films and one which is meticulously detailed and visually arresting and one that gave him much satisfaction but Kalyug, a complex narrative based on the Mahabharat in spite of some great moments doesn't quite come off.
In the 1980s however with the collapse of the New Cinema, Benegal's films have not had proper releases and the 1980s also saw him turn to TV where he directed serials like Yatra (1986) for the Indian Railways, and of course one of the biggest projects undertaken on Indian Television, Bharat ek Khoj (1988) a serial based on Nehru's Discovery of India.
He is now making a film, Mahadev, an unusual mix of a sattire & a romantic comedy set in rural
Following that Shyam Benegal is directing an epic musical about love, jealousy and betrayal, inspired by George Bizet's classic Spanish opera Carmen. The story revolves around the eponymous Chamki, a beautiful gypsy girl with a fiery temper & is written by Shama Zaidi. The music is to be composed by the internationally renowned musician A. R. Rahman & lyrics to be penned by noted film writer, Javed Akhtar. Chamki, to be produced by Chetan Motiwalla, is in the casting stage & scheduled to go on floor in October 2008.
As a person, Shyam Benegal is man with varied interests and curious mind. Deep interest in life and several domains of human enquiry. The sensibility gets reflect in his cinema which have been inspired by India including different facets e.g The Portuguese in Goa in the early 1960's explored in Trikaal, The final days of Royalty in post colonial India, Rural empowerment in Manthan.
Awards
Shyam Benegal has won the following awards and nominations.
National Film Awards
- 1975 Second Best Feature Film for Ankur
- 1976 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Nishant
- 1977 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Manthan
- 1978 Best Screenplay for Bhumika
- 1979 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Junoon
- 1982 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Arohan
- 1984 Best Historical Reconstruction for Nehru
- 1985 Best Biographical Film for Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker
- 1986 Best Director for Trikaal
- 1993 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda
- 1995 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Mammo
- 1996 Best Feature Film in English for The Making of the Mahatma
- 1997 Best Feature Film in Urdu for Sardari Begum
- 1999 Best Feature Film for
- 1999 Best Feature Film on Family Welfare for Hari-Bhari
- 2001 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Zubeidaa
- 2005 Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
Filmfare Awards
- 1980 Best Director for Junoon
- 1982 Best Director for Kalyug
Cannes
- 1976 Palme D'Or for Nishant
Berlin
- 1974 Golden
Moscow
- 1981 Golden Prize for Kalyug
Honours
- 1976 - Padma Shri[1]
- 1991 - Padma Bhushan [2]
- 2004 - Indira Gandhi Award.
- 2006 - Dadasaheb Phalke Award
Feature Films
| Year | Title | Other notes |
| 1974 | Ankur | Official Indian entry to the Oscars |
| 1975 | Charandas Chor | |
| 1975 | Nishaant | Nominated for Palme D'or |
| 1976 | Manthan | Official Indian entry to the Oscars |
| 1977 | Bhumika | Filmfare Award winner for Best Film |
| 1978 | Kondura | Featured in the Indian Panorama at the 1979 |
| 1978 | Junoon | Filmfare Award winner for Best Film |
| 1978 | Anugraham | |
| 1980 | Kalyug | Filmfare Award winner for Best Film |
| 1982 | Arohan | National Film Award for Best Film in Hindi |
| 1983 | Mandi | Invited to the 1983 |
| 1985 | Trikaal | National Film Award for Best Director |
| 1987 | Susman | Invited to the 1987 |
| 1991 | Antarnaad | |
| 1993 | Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda | National Film Award for Best Film in Hindi |
| 1994 | Mammo | National Film Award for Best Film in Hindi |
| 1996 | Sardari Begum | National Film Award for Best Film in Urdu |
| 1996 | The Making of the Mahatma | National Film Award for Best Film in English |
| 1999 | | National Film Award for Best Film |
| 2000 | Hari-Bhari | National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare |
| 2001 | Zubeidaa | National Film Award for Best Film in Hindi |
| 2005 | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero | Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration |
Documentaries
| Year | Title |
| 1967 | Close to Nature |
| 1967 | A Child of the Streets |
| 1968 | Sinhasta, or The Path to Immortality |
| 1968 | Indian Youth: An Exploration |
| 1969 | Horoscope for a Child |
| 1970 | Why Export? |
| 1970 | Quest for a Nation |
| 1971 | Tala and Rhythm |
| 1971 | Steel: A Whole New Way of Life |
| 1971 | The Pulsating Giant |
| 1972 | The Shruti and Graces of Indian Music |
| 1972 | Raga and Melody |
| 1972 | The Raag Imam Kalyan |
| 1972 | Power to the People |
| 1972 | Notes on the Green Revolution |
| 1972 | Foundations of Progress |
| 1973 | Suhani Sadak |
| 1974 | You Can Prevent Burns |
| 1974 | Violence: What Price? Who Pays? No. 5 |
| 1974 | The Quiet Revolution |
| 1974 | Learning Modules for Rural Children |
| 1974 | Bal Sansar |
| 1975 | The Quiet Revolution, Part 2 |
| 1976 | Tomorrow Begins Today: Industrial Research |
| 1976 | Epilepsy |
| 1977 | New Horizons in Steel |
| 1979 | Reaching Out to People |
| 1979 | Pashu Palan |
| 1982 | Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker |
| 1982 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 1982 | Growth for a Golden Future |
| 1983 | Tata Steel: Seventy Five Years of the Indian Steel Industry |
| 1983 | Sangathan |
| 1983 | Animal Reproduction and Artificial Insemination in Bovines |
| 1985 | Vardan |
| 1985 | Nehru |
| 1985 | Festival of |
| 1990 | A Quilt of Many Cultures: |
| 1990 | Nature Symphony |
| 1990 | Adobe of Kings: Rajasthan |
Short Films
| Year | Title |
| 1962 | Gher Betha |
| 1969 | Poovanam |
| 1969 | Flower Garden |
| 1975 | Hero |
Television
| Year | Title |
| 1986 | Yatra |
| 1986 | Katha Saagar |
| 1988 | Bharat Ek Khoj |
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