Shyam Benegal, the pioneer of parallel films, was a director who, like Bimal Roy, was known for complete discipline in every matter. Realistic characters, grounded story and average budget – all this was a part of his every film project. Didn't compromise on values, made films with vision on conditions. Many filmmakers drifted into new trends with time and compromised with the changing commercial dimensions of cinema, but Shyam Benegal's way of working, which was seen in Ankur and Nishant, released in 74-75, was released in 2023. It remained intact till Mujeeb. Every film of Shyam Benegal proved to be a milestone in many ways.
Last December 14, he celebrated his 90th birthday among his fans, the picture of which was widely shared on social media. During this time, veteran actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Naseeruddin Shah, Divya Dutta, Shabana Azmi, Rajit Kapoor, Atul Tiwari, film producer-actor and Shashi Kapoor's son Kunal Kapoor and many other artists were part of the ceremony. On his 90th birthday, Shyam Benegal also talked to journalists about some upcoming projects. He had said- I am working on 2 to 3 projects. They are all different from each other. But it is difficult to say which of these I will be able to make. Although all those projects were for the big screen.
Shyam Benegal's films like Manthan, Bhumika, Aarohan, Antarnaad, Junoon, Kalyug, Vijeta, Hari Bhari, Suraj Ka Seventh Ghoda, Zubaida are stories of artistry and creativity. His films were books written on the silver screen. And when he made a serial based on Discovery of India written by former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, that too on the small screen was in the form of a book. Every episode was like a chapter. Every frame of this serial is worth watching. Making each episode of the serial by going through thousands of years of history was like a research work.
Shyam Benegal entered films at a time when masala films were in vogue. After the seventies, many films were becoming extremely escapist. The story was meaningless and those films existed only because of the songs. The rise of Rajesh Khanna and soon after him Amitabh Bachchan changed the parameters of cinema's popularity. In such a situation, the need for art cinema was felt, in which the truth of the society could be presented in a realistic style. It was given the form of a movement. Shyam Benegal made films with actors like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Smita Patil who had nothing to do with superstardom.
Shyam Benegal believed that there is no need for fantasy and stardom to show the truth. The characters and situations should be like the stories written in books. Public education can be propagated only in a realistic style, as he showed in Manthan. Obviously this was extremely risky work. There were full chances of losing money in this but cinema was never a commercial venture for him. However, he also does not like to make independent films. Every film of his raises some problem or the other and takes it to a certain point. He gave opportunity to artists like Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Ompuri, Deepti Naval, Smita Patil, Amrish Puri. He gave new consciousness to an entire generation of his time through films.
The recognition of his cinema reached not only in India but also at the international level. His biggest quality is discipline. It was his nature to produce meaningful films continuously without rest. He has worked to educate and culture the people of this country through his films. Last year, in collaboration with the Government of India and the Government of Bangladesh, he produced a biopic based on the life of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which gained international fame. In this sense, Shyam Benegal is a filmmaker in the tradition of great filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak.
