Shyam Benegal’s Life In Pictures

Shyam
Benegal


passed
into
the
ages
on
December
23,
leaving
behind
a
rich
legacy.
We
look
back
at
some
interesting
moments
from
his
life.

Shyam
Benegal
goes
to
Cannes
with
Shabana
Azmi
and
Smita
Patil,
his
leading
ladies
for
many
of
his
early
films.
Here,
they
are
taking
their
film

Nishant
to
the
film
festival
in
1976.

Shabana,
in
fact,
has
worked
the
most
with
him,
in
films
like
her
debut

Ankur
(1974),

Nishant
(1975),

Junoon
(1978),

Mandi
(1982),

Susman
(1987),

Antarnaad
(1991)
and

Hari
Bhari
(2000).

On
the
sets
of
a
film.

Shyambabu
and
Shabana
shared
a
close
bond
lasting
decades.

Shyam
Benegal
and
Smita
Patil
chat
during
the
shoot
of

Charandas
Chor,
his
only
children’s
film.

‘People
smirked
when
they
heard
I
was
playing
a
prince
in

Zubeidaa.
They
thought
Manoj
Bajpayee
is
not
even
good
looking.
How
can
he
play
a
prince?
But
Shyam
Benegal
was
not
making
a
story
on
a
calendar
prince;
he
was
making
a
story
where
the
prince
was
real,
someone
who
existed
in
our
society,’


Manoj
Bajpayee
had
once
said
of
Shyam
Benegal.

Here,
he
is
seen
with
Karisma
Kapoor,
who
played
the
film’s
title
role,
and
the
director.

A
rare
picture
of
legendary
directors:
Mrinal
Sen,
Shyam
Benegal
and
Satyajit
Ray.

Benegal
directed
a
documentary
on
Ray
in
1985,
a
classic
study
of
the
auteur.

Adoor
Gopalakrishnan,
another
directorial
legend,
second
from
right,
joins
Mrinal
Sen
and
Benegal
to
address
an
informal
gathering.

Then
President
Giani
Zail
Singh
felicitates
Benegal
at
the
National
Awards
in
1985.

Benegal
won
18
National
Awards
in
his
lifetime.
In
1985,
he
bagged
an
award
for
the
English
documentary

Nehru,
based
on
the
life
of
India’s
first
prime
minister.

On
the
sets
of
his
1987
film,

Susman,
starring
Shabana
Azmi
and
Neena
Gupta.

In
conversation
with
American
Producer
Muriel
Peters,
who
passed
away
last
year.

Benegal’s

The
Making
of
the
Mahatma
premiered
on
Gandhi’s
birth
anniversary
in
1996
in
New
Delhi
and
was
attended
by
then
prime
minister
H
D
Deve
Gowda,
hwn
I&B
minister
C
M
Ibrahim,
cast
members
Rajit
Kapur
and
Pallavi
Joshi
and
Benegal
himself.

An
international
co-production
between
India
and
South
Africa,
it
enjoyed
its
world
premiere
in
Durban
in
a
ceremony
attended
by
then
South
African
president
Nelson
Mandela.

French
actor
Jeanne
Moreau
with
Benegal
at
the
inauguration
of
a
film
festival
in
New
Delhi.

Sachin
Khedekar


had
said
that
he
had
been
‘very
uncomfortable
with
the
idea
of
shaving
off
his
moustache’
but
he
was
so
convinced
about
playing
the
titular
role
in

Bose:
The
Forgotten
Hero
that
he
grabbed
the
opportunity.

Shyam
Benegal
directs
Jisshu
Sengupta,
Sachin
Khedekar
and
Divya
Dutta
on
the
sets
of

Bose.

Ila
Arun
has
worked
extensively
in
Benegal’s
films
like

Mandi,
Trikal,
Suraj
Ka
Satvan
Ghoda,
Bose:
The
Forgotten
Hero,
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur,
Well
Done
Abba
and
television
serials
like

Samvidan
and

Bharat
Ek
Khoj
and


she
shares
some
beautiful
anecdotes
here.

Here,
she
attends
the
world
premiere
of

Bose:
The
Forgotten
Hero
in
Kolkata
on
May
11,
2005.

Shabana
Azmi
and
Naseeruddin
Shah
celebrate
Shyam
Benegal’s
90th
birthday
on
December
14,
2024.

She
captions
this
picture,
‘On
#Shyam
Benegal’s
90th
birthday
with
my
coactor
of
many
films
and
my
favourite
actor
@Naseeruddin
Shah.’

A
beautiful
reunion
marking
Benegal’s
last
birthday:
Shabana
Azmi,
Shyam
Benegal,
Kunal
Kapoor,
Kulbhushan
Kharbanda,
Naseeruddin
Shah,
Atul
Tiwari,
Rajit
Kapoor
and
Divya
Dutta.

Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff.com