Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian
film director,
screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of
parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen
National Film Awards, a
Filmfare Award and a
Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the
Government of India with the
Padma Shri, the
fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded
Padma Bhushan, the
third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of
arts.
Benegal was born in
Hyderabad to Sridhar B. Benegal who was prominent in the field of photography. Starting his career as a
copywriter, he made his first
Documentary film in
Gujarati, ''Gher Betha Ganga'' (Ganges at the Doorstep) in 1962. Benegal's first four feature films ''
Ankur'' (1973), ''
Nishant'' (1975), ''
Manthan'' (1976) and ''
Bhumika'' (1977) made him a pioneer of the new wave film movement of that period. Benegal's films,
Mammo (1994), along with
Sardari Begum (1996) and
Zubeidaa (2001) all of which won
National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi, form the ''Muslim women Trilogy''. Benegal has won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. He was awarded the
V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
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