DIRECTORATE OF FILM FESTIVALS
PRESS RELEASE
One of the pioneers of New Indian Cinema, Shri Shyam Benegal has
been selected for the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2005. The award
will be conferred on Shri Shyam Benegal by the Hon’ble President of India at a
ceremony later this year. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.2,00,000/, a Swarna Kamal and a shawl.
Shri Shyam Benegal is considered one of the leading filmmakers in
the country with his first feature film Ankur, which broke new grounds from the
cinematic trends of the seventies. His films have been seen and acclaimed
widely in
The core subjects of his films have been varied in nature but
mainly centered around contemporary Indian experience.
Problems of development, social and cultural change appear on many levels as a
continuing thread in practically all his films. Apart from fiction features, he
has made a number of documentaries on different subjects ranging from cultural
anthropology and problems of industrialization, to music and so on.
His work on television consists of several popular series based on
international stories, short stories by well-known Indian writers and a mammoth
53 part series on the history of
Shyam
Benegal taught mass-communication techniques between 1966 and 1973 and
later took an active role in shaping film education as Chairman of the Film
Television Institute of India during 1980-83
and 1989-92.
He was part of the National Integration Council (1986-89) and the National Council of Art. The Government of India
has conferred on him two of its most prestigious awards - Padma Shri (1976) and Padma Bhushan (1991).
He has made 24
fiction features for the Cinema, several documentaries and TV series, Some of
his other prominent films are Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika, Kondura, Junoon, Kalyug, Mandi, Trikal, Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda, Mammo, Sardari Begum, Samar, The Making of the
Mahatma, Zubeida and Netaji Subhash
Chandra Bose.
Shyam Benegal is presently a Member of Parliament, Rajya
Sabha.
