Renowned Filmmaker Shyam Benegal Dies At 90

Mumbai, Dec 23: Shyam Benegal, who heralded a new era in Hindi cinema with the ‘parallel movement’ in the 1970s and 1980s with classics such as “Ankur”, “Mandi” and “Manthan”, died on Monday after battling chronic kidney disease.

He was 90.

The filmmaker, a star in the pantheon of Indian cinema’s great auteurs, died at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital where he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

According to reports, he passed away at 6.38 pm at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central. He had been suffering from chronic kidney disease for several years but it had gotten very bad. That’s the reason for his death.

Shyam Benegal, born on December 14, 1934, in Hyderabad, hailed from a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family. His father, Sridhar B. Benegal, originally from Karnataka, was a photographer who inspired Shyam’s early interest in filmmaking. At just 12 years old, Shyam created his first film using a camera gifted by his father. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in Economics from Osmania University, Hyderabad, where he also founded the Hyderabad Film Society, marking the beginning of his illustrious journey in cinema.