Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal passes away at 90

Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal died on December 23 at Mumbai's Wockhardt Hospital after battling a chronic kidney-related disease. 

The 90-year-old filmmaker was renowned for films like 'Ankur', 'Mandi', 'Nishant', 'Manthan', among others - most of which were released in the mid-70s or 80s. He came to be known as part of parallel cinema in India.

"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," she said.

The filmmaker celebrated his birthday on December 14 with friends and family, also joined by actors Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Naseeruddin Shah, Divya Dutta, Shabana Azmi, Rajit Kapur, Atul Tiwari, filmmaker-actor and Shashi Kapoor's son Kunal Kapoor, and others.

Benegal was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. 

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 later earned 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.