Days after the death of filmmaker Shyam Benegal, his frequent collaborators and friends Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah fondly recalled his “wide, warm smile” and how he remained dedicated to his creative vision till the end.
At a memorial service at Y B Chavan Centre in south Mumbai on Saturday, several film industry people, including Javed Akhtar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ila Arun, Prahlad Kakkar, Urmila Matondkar, and Divya Dutta, gathered to honour Benegal.
The veteran director died on December 23 due to a chronic kidney disease, days after celebrating his 90th birthday on December 14. He is survived by wife Nira and daughter Pia.
Azmi, who made her acting debut with Benegal's first feature film "Ankur" in 1974, said the filmmaker was her mentor, "although a reluctant one".
"He didn't want to be called anyone's guru, but nevertheless he was my guru. He was my guru not only because he was my first director but by being around him I learnt so many lessons of life.
"I consulted him every now and then about a project that I should do or not. He wanted neither to be my guru nor my mentor. He was my friend, and equal and he created that space for this friendship. He gave me equal respect and ability to stand,” she recalled.
The actor said her first memory of Benegal, who started out as an advertising professional, was when she visited him at the office of the ad agency ASP in 1973.
"What struck me about him the most was his wide, warm smile as I went to visit him at the ASP office where he was the creative director and was looking to cast for ‘Ankur’."
After "Ankur", Azmi and Benegal went on to collaborate on a string of films like "Nishant”, "Mandi", “Junoon”, "Hari Bhari", “Susman”, and “Antarnaad”.
"The last image I've of Shyam was on December 14, 2024, when he, Nira and Pia had organised a celebration for his 90th birthday. After spending a beautiful hour with us, he was whisked away with that same warm wide smile,” she said.
Shah, who worked with Benegal on classic movies like “Nishant”, “Manthan” and “Mandi”, said the filmmaker stayed true to his pursuit as a creative person.
“Death is the unimportant part of life and what’s important is what you do with the time you've. It is undeniable that Shyam used every single moment of his life, breath and iota of energy in a creative pursuit of some kind or the other,” he said.
Azmi also shared a lesser-known anecdote from Benegal’s personal life.
“Not many people know that Shyam Benegal was a romantic man. He got to know that Nira loves yellow flowers. So the day they were supposed to get married, he sent her a bouquet of yellow flowers and a message written on it saying, ‘Only 23 hours’. "Then the bouquet kept coming every hour till they got married. Can you imagine? If I were Nira, I would've postponed the marriage, it was so lovely!” she added.
At the memorial service, actor-author Atul Tiwari gifted a book he had penned on the late director, “Maestro - A Tribute to Shyam Benegal” to his wife and daughter.
Ad filmmaker Kakkar, who assisted Benegal on several ad films, said he admired Benegal for how he inspired everyone around him, from actors to writers.
“His method was that if you are ever going to be a filmmaker, you could not have a designation, you could never say, ‘This is not my problem’. That's the one thing he taught us, that everything to do with films, from serving food to cooking to cleaning to supervising carpenters to sitting with writers, everything is your job.
“I could never imagine his great generosity of spirit, and his capacity to teach, mentor and inspire. I’ve seen him inspiring actors, writers and people around him to perform on what they could do. That’s the greatest gift to all of us,” he said.
