Shyam Benegal Memorial Meet: Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Ila Arun, Urmila Matondkar Fondly Remember Filmmaker

Days after filmmaker Shyam Benegal passed away, his actor friends Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah on Saturday fondly recalled his “wide, warm smile” and how he stayed true in his pursuit as a creative person.

At a memorial service at Y B Chavan Centre in south Mumbai, several film industry people, including Azmi, Shah, Javed Akhtar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ila Arun, Prahlad Kakkar, Urmila Matondkar, Divya Dutta, gathered to honour Benegal.

“The first image I’ve of Shyam Benegal was in 1973 and what struck me about him the most was his wide, warm smile as I went to visit him at ASP office where he was the creative director and was looking for cast for ‘Ankur’.

"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,” Azmi said.

The filmmaker passed away on December 23 after suffering from a chronic kidney disease.

Azmi, who collaborated with Benegal on films like “Ankur”, “Nishant”, “Junoon”, “Susman”, and “Antarnaad”, shared an anecdote about Benegal’s personal life.

“Not many people know that Shyam Benegal was a romantic man. He got to know that Nira (his wife) loves yellow flowers, so the day they got 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,” Azmi added.

Shah, who worked with Benegal on classic movies like “Nishant”, “Manthan” and “Mandi”, said the filmmaker stayed true in 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.

At the memorial service, Atul Tiwari gifted Benegal's wife Nira and daughter Pia Benegal a book he had penned on the late director, “Mentor”.

Kakkar 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.

Azmi said she considered Benegal her mentor and often sought his suggestions on the offers she received as an actor.

“Shyam Benegal was my guru, 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.

“He was my mentor. 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,” Azmi recalled. PTI KKP NR