Kochi: Noted film personality Shyam Benegal, 90, passed away on Monday, media reports said.
Benegal redefined film direction, screenwriting and documentary filmmaking among others in his own way.
He had received several awards including 18 National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan among others.
Benegal started his career as a copywriter.
Benegal’s popular feature films include Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977).
Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa (2001) won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Benegal won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. He was awarded the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Shyam Benegal was born on December 14, 1934 in a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family in Hyderabad, as Shyam Sunder Benegal. His father hailed from Karnataka. He made his first film with a camera given to him by his photographer father Sridhar B Benegal when he was only 12.
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