MIFF to honour Shyam Benegal

Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal would be conferred with the coveted V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Shorts & Animation Films (MIFF) 2018.

The award carrying a trophy, a shawl, citation and cash prize of Rs 1 million (Rs 10 lakhs) will be presented to the 83-year-old Benegal by the Maharashtra Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao at the MIFF 2018 Valedictory Function at NCPA on Saturday.

An independent committee comprising Rahul Rawail, Kiran Shantaram, Prasoon Joshi, Bharathi Pradhan and Vinod Anupam unanimously recommended the name of Benegal, taking note of his significant contribution to the growth and sustenance of documentary movements in India.

One of the leading and widely respected filmmakers of India, Benegal is known for making thought provoking films centre around contemporary Indian experience. He is credited with pioneering new cinema in the country.

While Benegal has made 28 feature films including landmark films like 'Ankur', 'Nishant', 'Mandi' and 'Junoon', his filmography also includes 41 documentaries covering a wide variety of subjects including cultural anthropology, sustainable growth, biopic, art and culture.

His 1982 documentary 'Satyajit Ray' won the National Award for Best Biographical Film, while his 1985 film 'Nehru' won the award fro Best Historical Reconstruction.

His work on television consists of several popular series including the 53 part series Bharat Ek Khoj, first broadcast on Doordarshan in 1988.

He also made the much acclaimed 'Samvidhaan - The Making of the Constitution of India".

Born in 1934 in Hyderabad, Shyam Benegal completed his M.A. in Economics from the Osmania University and began working in an advertising agency, before venturing into film making. He made his first documentary film 'Gher Behti Ganga' (Ganga at Doorstep) in Gujarati in 1963.