Mr Shyam Benegal

Shyam Benegal’s career started with a job as a copywriter in advertising before he turned to full time filmmaking. He has made 26 fiction features, several documentaries and television series, notably an immensely popular and well-researched 53-hour television series on the history of India titled “Bharat – Ek Khoj”. Practically all his films have won national awards. Several of them have been awarded internationally. Benegal was a Homi Bhabha fellow (1970-72) during which time he studied children’s television with CTW in New York and worked as associate producer with WGBH, Boston. The Government of India has conferred on him two of its most prestigious awards – Padma Shri in 1976 and Padma Bhushan in 1991. He is also the recipient of Indira Gandhi National Integration Award 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement 2005. In 2007, he was conferred with a D.Litt (Honoris Causa) from the Jamia Millia University, New Delhi and also from University of Calcutta in 2011. Shyam Benegal runs a film production company in Mumbai, Sahyadri Films, and was Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, from 2006 to 2012.