Shyam Benegal Funeral: Filmmaker Cremated With Full State Honours; Gulzar, Naseeruddin Shah, Javed Akhtar, Divya Dutta and Others Pay Tribute
Shyam Benegal, a pioneer of the Indian parallel cinema movement, was cremated with full state honours and a three-gun salute on Tuesday. The legendary director, known for films like 'Ankur', 'Mandi' and 'Nishant', passed away on Monday due to chronic kidney disease, with his last rites taking place at Dadar's Shivaji Park crematorium. Benegal had celebrated his 90th birthday on December 14.
Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the pioneer of the parallel cinema movement in Indian cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, was cremated on Tuesday with full state honours and a three-gun salute here. Shyam Benegal Dies at 90: PM Narendra Modi Remembers the Veteran Filmmaker’s Contribution to Indian Cinema (View Post).
Benegal, known for films such as Ankur, Mandi, Nishant, and Junoon, died on Monday at a hospital here due to chronic kidney disease. The last rites of the filmmaker, who celebrated his 90th birthday on December 14, were held around 3 pm at Dadar's Shivaji Park crematorium.
Gulzar Pays Tribute to Shyam Benegal
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Benegal's cinema contemporaries, colleagues and younger generations of actors and artists accompanied wife Nira and daughter Pia in paying their last respects to the icon, whose movies captured the many realities of India.
Naseeruddin Shah, Rajit Kapoor, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Ila Arun, who starred in many of Benegal's films, were present to bid adieu to the director.
Also present were actor Ratna Pathak Shah, her son Vivaan Shah, writer-poet Gulzar, director Hansal Mehta, lyricisit-writer Javed Akhtar, actors Divya Dutta, Boman Irani, Kunal Kapoor and Anang Desai.
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, whose Film Heritage Foundation recently restored Benegal's 1976 Manthan for a screening at the Cannes Film Festival, was also present.
Gulzar said what Benegal brought to cinema was a revolution that will never come again.
"He hasn't departed, we have departed from him and seen him off. He brought a revolution, he has gone with that revolution of change in cinema. Nobody else will be able to bring that wave, revolution once again. We will remember him for a long time and we will talk about him for a long to come," Gulzar told PTI.
Actor Shreyas Talpade, who played the lead role in Benegal's satire Welcome to Sajjanpur, said the film was one of his most memorable shooting experiences because of Benegal. Shyam Benegal Dies at 90: From ‘Ankur’ to ‘Kalyug’, 7 Best Movies Made by National-Award Winning Director Ranked by IMDb and Where To Watch Them Online.
"I was a changed person after I returned from the shoot of the film. I think we will miss his talks the most. He mesmerised us whenever he used to talk. It's a huge loss," Talpade said.