A Life in Pictures: Shyam Benegal

14 June 10

Prolific director and screenwriter Shyam Benegal shares his views on the contemporary Indian film industry and recalls highlights from his life in pictures.

Learn about the social themes in Shyam Benegal's work and his portrayal of women within Indian culture.
Discover the art of building "the flesh and muscle of the film" by casting the right actors.
Hear how he overcame struggles within the film industry during the rise of television in the 1980’s.

BAFTA webcasts are supported by The Farm Group.

On 7 March 2010 Shyam Benegal appeared on the BAFTA stage with presenter Francine Stock to share highlights and insights from his career in Indian cinema.

Watch this exclusive Life In Pictures video to learn more about this prolific director and screenwriter’s and explore the social themes present in his extraordinary body of work.

Highlights

Benegal began his working life in the advertising industry, all the while approaching film producers across Bombay with his scripts. His pursuit of a dream career in film lasted well over a decade and finally took off thanks to a lucky break.

The director recalls a producer asking him why he was wasting his time on advertising to which he replied, "Give me the money and I'll make a movie". He was subsequently granted the funding to make his first feature film, Ankur (The Seedling). Finally completed in 1973 the film won him instant acclaim and launched his prolific career.

Benegal’s films have often been met with some controversy. Nishant in particular was greeted by uproar from the Indian Government upon its release in 1975.

The film was banned after the film’s political messages were perceived to reflect negatively on the country and a controversial rape scene was deemed 'too ugly'.

In this exclusive Life in Pictures event, Benegal reveals that the ruling was finally overturned only through direct appeals to Mrs Gandhi.

The film industry talks about entertainment, I talk about engagement but the engagement and entertainment concepts must meet at some stage

About Shyam Benegal:

Shyam Benegal has long been considered one of India's leading filmmakers. Whilst the subjects of his films have varied, they have always reflected the contemporary Indian experience and hat it is like to live in India through different decades.

Benegal has made 24 fiction features for the cinema, several documentaries and TV series, most notably a 53 hour TV series on the History of India. With his first four feature films Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975) Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) he created the "middle cinema" genre in India. The success that New India Cinema enjoyed in the 1970s and early 1980s has often been attributed to these four films.

Benegal was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. On 8 August 2007, he was awarded the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005. He has also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times.

Tongues on Fire

This event was part of Tongues on Fire , London Asian Film Festival (5-14 March 2010). The festival is dedicated to expressing the drive and spirit of Asian independent media and cinema cultures of South Asia.