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The End of Benegal Era!
Shyam( babu) Benegal was a giant film- maker of 80s and 90s. He was methodological Direcor,not worrying about anything,anybody. He shot the films so systematically that even Stalwarts like Satyajit Ray were surprised to see Shyam Babu s style of working.
He was born on 14th December 1934 at Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh). He graduated from the Nizama’s College of Osmania University Hyderabad ( now in Telangana). He is often regarded as a pioneer of parallel cinema and considered as one of the greatest filmmakers of 70s.
He received various awards of which 18 were National Film awards, A filmfare award. He was awarded with coveted Dadasaheb Phalke award and also awarded with Padmashri by Indian government.
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His father was famous Photographer from Karnataka which influenced early appreciation for visual arts. He began his professional career in Mumbai working for ad agency. He made more than 900 commercial and AD films, also made numerous Documentaries. His first feature film was Ankur in 1974. It marked the begining of parallel cinema.
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He made some all time classics and memorable movies like Nishant(1975), Manthan (1976), Bhumika (1977). He was very fond of tackling social issues and he was the person who introduced actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi.
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He also worked for Television. His notable work for TV was Bharat Ek Khoj, based on Jawaharlal Nehru s book Discovery of India (1990).
He was cousin of Gurudutt,famous director and admirer of Begali director Satyajit Ray. He served as chairman of Film and television Institute of India,Pune. twice.
This jewel of jewels passed away on 23 December 2024. We salute to this great film personality.
