Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal | |
---|---|
British India (now in Telangana, India) | |
Occupation(s) | Film director, Screenwriter |
Spouse | Nira Benegal |
Children | 1 |
Relatives | Guru Dutt (cousin) |
Awards | 1976 Padma Shri 1991 Padma Bhushan 2005 Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013 ANR National Award |
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
In office 16 February 2006 – 15 February 2012 | |
Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian
Benegal was born in
Early life and education
Shyam Benegal was born on 14 December 1934 in a
Family
Film director and actor
Career
Early career
In 1959, he started working as a
In 1963 he had a brief stint with another advertising agency called ASP (Advertising, Sales and Promotion). During his advertising years, he directed over 900 sponsored documentaries and advertising films.
Between 1966 and 1973, Shyam taught at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, and twice served as the institute's chairman: 1980–83 and 1989–92. By this time he had already started making documentaries. One of his early documentaries A Child of the Streets (1967), garnered him wide acclaim.[13] In all, he has made over 70 documentary and short films.[14]
He was awarded the Homi J. Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72)[10] which allowed him to work at the Children's Television Workshop, New York, and later at Boston's WGBH-TV.
Feature films
After returning to Mumbai, he received independent financing and Ankur (The Seedling) was finally made in 1973. It was a realistic drama of economic and sexual exploitation in his home state, Telangana, and Benegal instantly shot to fame. The film introduced actors Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag and Benegal won the 1975 National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film. Shabana won the National Film Award for Best Actress.
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). Benegal used a variety of new actors, mainly from the FTII and NSD, such as Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri.
In Benegal's next film,
In the early 1970s, Shyam made 21 film modules for Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), sponsored by UNICEF. This allowed him to interact with children of SITE and many folk artists. Eventually he used many of these children in his feature length rendition of the classic folk tale Charandas Chor (Charandas the Thief) in 1975. He made it for the Children's Film Society, India.[18] 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.[19]
The 1980s
Unlike most
Following the success of these four films, Benegal was backed by star
Benegal's next film Mandi (1983), was a satirical comedy about politics and prostitution, starring Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Later, working from his own story, based on the last days of Portuguese in Goa, in the early 1960s, Shyam explored human relationships in Trikal (1985).
Soon, Shyam Benegal stepped beyond traditional narrative films and took to biographical material to achieve greater freedom of expression.[20] His first venture in this genre was with a documentary film based on Satyajit Ray's life, Satyajit Ray, in 1985. This was followed by works such as Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa, which was written by filmmaker and critic Khalid Mohamed.
In 1985 he was a member of the jury at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.[21] And in 1988, he served as the jury chairperson of 35th National Film Awards of 1987.
The 1990s and beyond
The 1990s saw Shyam Benegal making a trilogy on Indian Muslim women, starting with
In 1992, he made
Benegal is the current president of the Federation of Film Societies of India. He owns a production company called Sahyadri Films.
He has authored three books based on his own films: The Churning with Vijay Tendulkar (1984), based on Manthan; Satyajit Ray (1988), based on his biographical film, Satyajit Ray; and The Marketplace (1989), which was based on Mandi.
In 2009 he was a member of the jury at the 31st Moscow International Film Festival.[22]
Recent projects
In 2008, his film Welcome to Sajjanpur, starring Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao, was released to a good response.[23] Its music was composed by Shantanu Moitra,[24] and it was produced by Chetan Motiwalla. Shyam Benegal is slated to direct an epic musical, Chamki Chameli,[25] inspired by Georges Bizet's classic Spanish opera Carmen. The story revolves around the eponymous Chamki, a beautiful gypsy girl with a fiery temper and is written by Shama Zaidi. The music is by A. R. Rahman and lyrics are by Javed Akhtar.
In March 2010, Benegal released the political satire Well Done Abba.
One of Benegal's future projects is a film based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, daughter of Inayat Khan and descendant of Tipu Sultan, who served as a British spy during World War II.[26][27]
Benegal made a comeback on the small screen with
Government of Bangladesh has confirmed Benegal would direct the biopic of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman named Mujib: The Making of a Nation. The film will be released presumably by 2022.[29] [30]
Personal life
Shyam Benegal is married to Nira Benegal and has a daughter named Pia Benegal,[31] a costume designer, who worked for many films.[32]
Filmography
Awards and nominations
- Non Feature Films
- 1984 Nehru
- 1985 Best Biographical Film for Satyajit Ray
- Feature Films
- 1986 Best Director for Trikal
- 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 Samar
- 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
- Best Film on Other Social Issues for Well Done Abba
- 1980 Best Director for Junoon
- Golden Palm: Nishant: Nominated
- 1974 Golden Berlin Bear for Ankur: Nominated
- Kalyug[35]
- 1997 Golden St. George: Sardari Begum: Nominated[36]
- 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award
- Indian Cinema[37]
Honours
- 1970 Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72)
- 1976 Padma Shri
- 1989 Sovietland Nehru Award[10]
- 1991 Padma Bhushan
- 2012 D. Litt. Honoris Causa of the University of Calcutta[38]
- 2013 ANR National Award[39]
- 2016 ITM University, Gwalior(M.P.)
Bibliography
- Benegal on Ray: Satyajit Ray, a Film, by Shyam Benegal, Alaknanda Datta, Samik Banerjee. Seagull Books, 1988. ISBN 81-7046-021-2.
- Shyam Benegal's the Churning (Manthan): Screenplay, by, Vijay Tendulkar, Shyam Benegal, Samik Banerjee. Seagull Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86132-070-0.
References
- The Tribune. 29 January 2006. Archivedfrom the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ^ Rathor, Swati (26 January 2018). "Picture perfect: A 'flash' from the past, but 'focus' on future". The Time of India. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ "Google". www.google.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Hudson, Dale (9 October 2012). "NYUAD Hosts Shyam Benegal Retrospective". New York University Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ Srinivasaraju, Sugata (5 February 2022). "Tongue In A Twist". Outlook. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
Konkani has been the mother-tongue of some very famous Indians, like filmmakers Guru Dutt and Shyam Benegal .....
- ^ "From Mandi to Welcome to Sajjanpur". Rediff.com. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ a b Shyam Benegal at rediff.com 1999 Rediff.com, 28 July 1999.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
Benegal's father was a professional photographer originally from Karnataka, and, as a result, Benegal grew up speaking mostly Konkani and English.
- ^ a b c d Homi Bhabha Fellowship Council, Fellows, Biodata Archived 3 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, "During the period of his Fellowship, Mr. Benegal wrote and directed short films on social themes with special relevance to the lower-income groups of the middle and working classes. He also visited the US, the UK and Japan to study educational television films."
- ^ "'Book'ed for a cause". The Times of India. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ^ Shyam Benegal at ucla.net South Asia Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.
- ^ "Google". www.google.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Shyam Benegal Retrospective London's National Film Theatre, 2002[usurped] The Hindu, 17 January 2003.
- ^ "'Manthan' made on Rs 2 donations". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ NDTV movies Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine NDTV.
- ^ ""In search of Shyam Benegal," LA Weekly, 29 August 2007". Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "Shyam Benegal - Director - Films as Director:, Publications". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Shyam Benegal at Upperstall Upperstall.com.
- ^ "Movie Reviews & Film Showtimes | 'Shyam Benegal' at The Del Mar". www.metroactive.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "14th Moscow International Film Festival (1985)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "31st Moscow International Film Festival (2009)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
- ^ "Amrita Rao in Shyam Benegal's next". Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Keshavan, Shridevi (12 November 2007). "Bowled over by Benegal". DNA India. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Yashpal Sharma in Chamki[permanent dead link] NDTV.
- ^ "I want a break from serious direction: Benegal - Indian Express". The Indian Express. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Rao, H. S. (19 November 2013). "Benegal to direct film on Noor Inayat Khan, the secret agent". DNA India. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "'Samvidhaan' By Shyam Benegal". Bollywood Hungama. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "Shyam Benegal To Direct Bangabandhu Biopic". The Daily Star. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ^ "Shyam Benegal's 'Mujib' trailer out; the biopic on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to release on October 27". The Hindu.
- ^ "Gerson da Cunha turns 90, celebrates with three parties spread over three days". Mumbai Mirror. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ IANS (10 March 2014). "Pia Benegal makes 'realistic costumes' for 'Samvidhaan'". Business Standard. Mumbai. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- News18.
- ^ "Dada Saheb Phalke Award". webindia123.com.
- ^ "12th Moscow International Film Festival (1981)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ^ "20th Moscow International Film Festival (1997)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
- ^ Eenadu daily, Eeenadu Cinema, Page 10, Nandi lifetime achievement awards, retrieved, 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Annual Convocation". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012.
- ^ "ANR National Award for Rajamouli". The Hindu. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
Further reading
- Shyam Benegal (BFI World Directors) - Sangeeta Datta. 2003, British Film Institute. ISBN 0-85170-908-7.
- Bollywood Babylon: Interviews with Shyam Benegal, William van der Heide. 2006, Berg Publishers. ISBN 1-84520-405-0.
- BBC's Tom Brook interviews Shyam Benegal on 25 August 2006
- Girish Karnad interviews Shyam Benegal, National Film Theatre, 2002
- Sen, Meheli (2011) "Vernacular Modernities and Fitful Globalities in Shyam Benegal's Cinematic Provinces" on manycinemas.org 1, 8-22, Online[permanent dead link], pdf-version Archived 27 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- New Indian Cinema in Post-Independence India; The Cultural Work of Shyam Benegal’s Films, By Anuradha Dingwaney Needham, 2013
- Shyam Benegal, Philosopher and Filmmaker, By Samir Chopra, 2021.