Filmmaker Shyam Benegal cremated with full state honours

MUMBAI: 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.

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. His body was wrapped in the national flag and decked with garlands.

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. A priest later performed a puja in the memory of the filmmaker.

There are some things which cannot be expressed in words, said a visibly emotional Naseeruddin Shah.

"I think you should try to understand what's in my heart. Shyam sahab, I owe everything I am and everything I have to him. I really don't know what else to say," he told PTI.

Filmmaker Govind Nihalani, who lensed many of Benegal's films like "Ankur", "Nishant", and "Manthan" as a cinematographer, could only muster to say: "I can't say anything, please."

Veteran action director Sham Kaushal, who was part of Benegal's 90th birthday celebration, said the filmmaker was looking forward to life and movies.

According to Kaushal, the team of "Mujib: The Making of a Nation" -- Benegal's most recent film -- went to surprise the director at his office on his birthday.

"We sang a birthday song for him. He didn't expect all of this because we never celebrated his birthday when we worked with him for two years on the movie. We talked about the making of 'Mujib', he also said he is working on his next movie. It was a memorable day for him and all of us but we didn't expect it to be the last one," he told PTI.

Kaushal, who also worked with Benegal in "Bose: The Forgotten Hero" and "Well Done Abba", said his films were different when it comes to stunts.

"He would narrate the entire action sequence and ask to shoot it in one take with multiple cameras so that it looks organic and maintains the rhythm and story... His passion for movies was intact... He encouraged all of us to pursue our passion and not be deterred by age," he added.

Also present at the funeral were actor Ratna Pathak Shah, her son Vivaan Shah, writer-poet Gulzar, director Hansal Mehta, lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar, actors Divya Dutta, Boman Irani, Kunal Kapoor and Anang Desai.

Akhtar said both he and his actor wife Shabana Azmi, Benegal's frequent collaborator and mentee, are saddened by the filmmaker's death.

"It is very unfortunate. Shabana was there on his 90th birthday but I wasn't in Mumbai. And, today she is not in Mumbai. Shabana treats him like a father, and I spoke to her and she cried (when she found out about Benegal's death). He was a wonderful person and director. He will be missed dearly," Akhtar told reporters after the cremation.

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.

Irani said he is fortunate to have worked with the director in 2009's "Well Done Abba", set in Hyderabad.

"I remember him as a boy when I first saw 'Ankur' and I saw photographs of him, Shabana Azmi, Govind Nilhani. I thought films were very glamorous. I thought if someday I become an actor, I wish I had a chance to work with him. He called me 30 to 35 years later and asked me to do 'Well Done Abba'.

"I've never cried leaving a film set but that day I cried because I knew that experience will never come back in my life. I learnt so much about cinema, life, women (on his set). Most importantly, he treated everyone equally. It is the end of an era," he told reporters.

Benegal set many of his films, including his debut "Ankur", "Nishant", "Susman", and "Mandi" in and around Telangana, earlier part of his home state Andhra Pradesh.

Actor Shreyas Talpade, who played the lead role in Benegal's satire "Welcome to Sajjanpur" (2008), said the film was one of his most memorable shooting experiences because of Benegal.

"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.

Actor Nandita Das said it was Benegal who inspired her to become a director.

"He contributed so much and touched so many lives, he made them better human beings and thoughtful... He was very encouraging, every film I directed he would call me, or send me an email about it. He was like a mentor," Das said.

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, whose Film Heritage Foundation recently restored Benegal's 1976 "Manthan" for a screening at the Cannes Film Festival, was also present.