Shyam Benegal

14.12.1934-23.12.2024
Pic: Courtesy: Brittanica.com

Amidst celebrating the centenary of two of Indian cinema's greatest luminaries comes the news that another legend has doffed his directorial hat and handed in his camera for the last time. While I will pay him a befitting tribute later on, I could not not take note of his passing - with Shyam Benegal's demise, an era has truly ended.

The Dada Saheb Phalke awardee won 18 national awards and countless international honours. He was a cornerstone of the parallel cinema movement and his social commentaries via his films and his documentaries were biting and realistic. Benegal reinvented himself over and over, his creative energy staying relevant to the times. But the core of his film-making did not change; whether he was making documentaries, feature films, short films or television serials, Benegal's voice remained authentic, visionary and uncompromising. In telling the stories he believed in, Benegal also established himself as a feminist director - his women were independent, assertive and had agency. They were neither devi nor daayan, just ordinary, flawed human beings who were strongly individual.

The world of cinema is the poorer for his passing.