Shyam Benegal gave Indian cinema a new voice

Born in 1934 in Trimulgherry, a cantonment in Secunderabad, Benegal grew up in a family with strong political leanings. There were cousins who were communists, who belonged to Netaji’s Forward Bloc, or to the RSS. He was exposed to a lot of contrarian and passionate views. Yet, his great love was cinema.

He made friends with the projectionist of the local Garrison Cinema, and watched all the new releases from the projectionist’s window. He recalled cinema as a deeply immersive medium, and at 10 decided that he would be a filmmaker. So, he would scratch little figures on the celluloid he got from the projectionist and played them on the magic lantern.

At 12, he made his first film with his father’s 16mm camera, Chuttiyon Mein Mauz Maza.

Benegal grew up in a time of tremendous political turmoil. As a student at Nizam’s College, he read voraciously, took active part in theatre, and was the editor of the college magazine. He was also in the middle of the violent altercations that broke out during the fraught issue of Hyderabad’s relationship with India immediately after Independence.