Shyam Benegal

14.12.1934, Aliwal, Andhra Pradesh, India

 

Director
Bengal is an Indian director and screenwriter. He made his first film when he was only twelve and later founded a film association. During his studies in economy at the Osmania University he worked as an actor. After graduation he moved to Bombay where he got a job as a copywriter. After a promotion he wrote screenplays and directed commercials, which he did for more than ten years. Throughout his career he made many short films and documentaries but directed his first feature film, The Seedling (Ankur, 1974), at the age of 40. His other films include Night's End (Nishaant, 1975), The Churning (Manthan, 1976), Possessed (Junoon, 1978), The Seventh Horse of the Sun (Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda, 1993), Mammo (1994), The Making of the Mahatma (1996) and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005).

Filmography


Films by this director

Mammo

(1994)

Directed by: Shyam Benegal
PHOTOGRAPHY: Prasan Jain
Synopsis:

Mammo is the nickname given to Mehmooda Begum by her by her sisters. Because she married a man from Lahore, after the division of Indian territory, she automatically becomes Pakistani. After her husband’s death his family throws Mammo out of their house and she has to return to her sister in India. But the British division of the former Indian colony did not divide just the territory but also many families. Now, Mammo has problems with extension of her visa…

color, 130 min

The Making of the Mahatma

(1996)

Directed by: Shyam Benegal
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ashok Mehta
Synopsis:

This is a story about Mahatma Gandhi’s early days. Gandhi is a young lawyer educated in England. He is currently working in Rajkot in Kathiawad. Suddenly he gets invited to South Africa by an Indian company to lead one of their lawsuits. Soon, Gandhi starts his long-lasting fight for justice and equality which eventually turned the original Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into the widely famous and respected Mahatma Gandhi.

color, 145 min
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