Late filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s memorial service was held today in Mumbai in the presence of his family members and close industry colleagues. In attendance were some prominent names from the industry and his collaborators such as Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Naseeruddin Shah, Ila Arun and Lillete Dubey. Divya Dutta, Urmila Matondkar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Vardhan Puri were also in attendance.
Azmi made her debut with Shyam Benegal’s film Ankur in 1974. She recalled her association with him and said Benegal was like his guru. However, she shared that the revered filmmaker did not want to be called anyone’s guru as he treated everyone as his equal.
She said, “He didn’t want to be called anyone’s guru. But he was my guru. Not because he was my first director, but also because by just being around him, I learnt so many lessons of life. He wanted to be neither my guru nor my mentor. He was my friend, my equal and he created that space for that friendship.”
Naseeruddin Shah and Atul Tiwari, too, paid tribute to Benegal. Shah made his debut with Benegal’s film Nishant. Tiwari recently penned a book on the filmmaker titled Maestro which he gifted to Benegal’s family members Nira and Pia Benegal during the service. Ending the memorial, Shabana Azmi, Atul Tiwari and others called themselves Benegal’s family.
The filmmaker passed away on December 23 after suffering from a chronic kidney disease.
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