Shyam Benegal Funeral: Family And Close Friends Gather For Veteran Filmmaker's Last Rites

Shyam Benegal, who heralded a new era in Hindi cinema with the 'parallel movement' in the 1970s and 1980s with classics such as Ankur, Mandi and Manthan, died on Monday after battling chronic kidney disease. He was 90. His last rites were held in Mumbai in Dadar's Smashan Bhoomi, with close friends and family members gathered for the filmmaker's final farewell.

"He passed away at 6.38 pm at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central. He had been suffering from chronic kidney disease for several years but it had gotten very bad. That's the reason for his death," his daughter Pia Benegal told PTI. Benegal is survived by his daughter and wife Nira Benegal.

Shyam Benegal: A lasting legacy in Indian cinema

In his prolific almost seven-decade career, Shyam Benegal straddled diverse worlds, diverse mediums and diverse issues, right from rural distress and feminist concerns to sharp satires and biopics. His oeuvre encompassed documentaries, films and epic television shows, including Bharat Ek Khoj, an adaptation of Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India and Samvidhaan, a 10-part show on the making of the Constitution.

And he wasn't calling it quits anytime soon. “I’m working on two to three projects; they are all different from one another. It’s difficult to say which one I will make. They are all for the big screen,” Benegal told PTI just last week on the occasion of his 90th birthday.