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Shyam Benegal | AFP file photo

Renowned Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal died on Monday, reports ndtv.com.

The legendary filmmaker is survived by his widow Nira Benegal and daughter Pia Benegal.


Benegal was admitted to the intensive care unit at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital, just days after he turned 90 on December 14, reads the report available online.

According to the report, his daughter Pia Benegal said her father was suffering from chronic kidney disease.

‘He passed away at 6:38 pm at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central. He had been suffering from chronic kidney disease for several years but it had gotten very bad. That’s the reason for his death,’ Pia said, mentioned the report.

On his 90th birthday, Shyam Benegal told news agency PTI he had been working on two-three projects.

‘We all grow old. I don’t do anything great (on my birthday). It may be a special day but I don’t celebrate it specifically. I cut a cake at the office with my team,’ he had said, read the report.

Despite the physical challenges that come with age, including frequent hospital visits for dialysis three times a week, Shyam Benegal was committed to his passion for filmmaking till the very end.

‘I’m working on two to three projects; they are all different from one another. It’s difficult to say which one I will make. They are all for the big screen,’ he told PTI on December 14.

In his prolific career, Shyam Benegal made films on diverse issues, documentaries and television serials, including ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ and ‘Samvidhaan’. ÌýHis most recent film was the 2023 biographical ‘Mujib: The Making of a Nation’. His films include ‘Bhumika’, ‘Junoon’, ‘Mandi’, ‘Suraj Ka Satvaan Ghoda’, ‘Mammo’ and ‘Sardari Begum’, most counted as classics in Hindi cinema, the report added.

Shyam Benegal started his career as a copywriter, and made his first documentary film in Gujarati, ‘Gher Betha Ganga’ in 1962. His first four feature films ‘Ankur’ (1973), ‘Nishant’ (1975), ‘Manthan’ (1976) and ‘Bhumika’ (1977) made him a pioneer of the new wave film movement of that period, the report mentioned.

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