William Van Der Heide
Shyam Benegal is one of India’s major film directors. A career spanning more than forty years includes documentaries and television programs as well as over twenty feature films. Benegal’s influences range from Satyajit Ray to Guru Dutt and Bollywood cinema more generally. He has worked with - indeed launched the careers of - many of the Bombay film industry’s major stars, such as Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri. Despite this, throughout his career, Benegal’s engagement with ’Bollywood Babylon’ has been highly individualistic. From his first feature film, Ankur, to recent work like Zubeidaa, Benegal has always combined social analysis with aesthetic pleasure. Making films in Hindi has enabled Benegal to reach the largest possible Indian audience. These lively and engaging interviews cover Benegal’s life and work and, in doing so, present a history of Indian cinema.
