Lgendary Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal dies at 90

(24 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:


ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mumbai, India - 24 December 2024
1. Military band performs in front of Shyam Benegal's body, police keep guard
2. Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah (yellow shirt/ right) stands in line to pay last respects
3. Mourners place flowers and garlands on Benegal’s body
4. Various of people surrounding Shyam Benegal’s body
5. Elderly woman embraces another woman
6. People bow and pay respects
7. Various of people gathered near Benegal’s body


STORYLINE:
Shyam Benegal, a renowned Indian filmmaker known for pioneering a new wave cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s, has died after suffering from chronic kidney disease.

He was 90.

His contribution to cinema was recognized as a director, editor and screenwriter.

He was also credited with a new genre of filmmaking.

Benegal passed away on Monday at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital, and his cremation will take place on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, citing his daughter Piya.

Many paid tribute to the legendary filmmaker on social media platform X including India's current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

He was a mentor to top Indian actors, including Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, and Om Puri who made their mark in Bollywood’s popular cinema as well.

Benegal came into the limelight in the 1970s, with a series of films that challenged mainstream Bollywood.

His films Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976), and Bhumika (1977) represented a parallel cinema dealing with the social realities of a poor nation.

“Ankur” explored the feudal divide in India, while ”Manthan" was based on the story of the country’s cooperative dairy milk movement.

Benegal was widely known for his series “Bharat Ek Khoj,” a landmark 53-episode television series based on the book Discovery of India, written by India’s first prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, and chronicled the country’s troubled passages, from ancient times to modernity.

He also directed a 2023 biopic on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh’s freedom struggle against Pakistan in the 1970s.

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August following a student movement, is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Benegal was born in December 1934, in Hyderabad in southern India, and had an early launch in the world of cinema. He earned an Economics degree from Hyderabad’s Osmania University and established the Hyderabad Film Society. He also ventured into advertising, where he directed over 900 sponsored documentaries and advertising films.

Benegal is survived by his wife Nira Benegal and daughter Piya.


AP video shot by Rafiq Maqbool

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