Shyam Benegal dies: A week back, Shabana Azmi shared legendary filmmaker's 90th birthday celebration pic

Legendary film director and screenwriter Shyam Benegal passed away on Monday, December 23. The veteran filmmaker breathed his last at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai. 

Benegal was undergoing dialysis and was visiting the hospital nearly three times a week. Yet the veteran director remained passionate about cinema, even at the age of 90. 

Benegal pioneered the parallel cinema movement in India, along with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. His noted films include Ankur, Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika, Junoon, and Mandi. 

Benegal celebrated his 90th birthday a few days ago. Indian film icon Shabana Azmi shared a photo from the celebrations on December 15. 

Benegal told the news agency PTI on his 90th birthday, “We all grow old. I don’t do anything great (on my birthday). It may be a special day but I don’t celebrate it specifically. I cut a cake at the office with my team.”

“Some of his actors with Shyam Benegal’s on his 90th birthday Mashallah,” said Shabana Azmi in her post on platform X. The photo also highlighted Benegal sharing a snapshot with other famous film industry personnel like Naseeruddin Shah. 

On his birthday, Benegal also told the news agency that he was working on two to three projects and talked about how different they were from each other. 

“I’m working on two to three projects; they are all different from one another. It’s difficult to say which one I will make. They are all for the big screen,” said the director. 

Benegal's most recent film release was a biographical in 2023, named “Mujib: The Making of a Nation.” 

Benegal's life

Shyam Benegal was born in Tirumalagiri, in Hyderabad (British India time), which now belongs to the state of Telangana. At the young age of 12, he made his first film with the camera presented to him by his photographer father. 

Later, he did a Master's degree in Economics from Osmania University, Hyderabad. From starting out as a copywriter in a Mumbai-based advertising agency, he made his way to become one of the most prominent directors India has ever given to the world. Throughout his life, he has received multiple awards and recognitions, including the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, for his contribution to Indian cinema and art.