Best of Shyam Benegal

Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) he was part of a new genre, which has now come to be called the "middle cinema" in India. He has expressed dislike of the term, preferring his work to be called New or Alternate cinema.^[1] Benegal was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991.^[2] On 8 August 2007, Benegal was awarded the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005. He has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times. He was awarded the V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Mumbai International Film Festival.


Zubeidaa is a 2001 Indian film directed by Shyam Benegal and written by Khalid Mohammed. It stars Karisma Kapoor, Rekha, Manoj Bajpayee, Surekha Sikri, Rajit Kapoor, Lillete Dubey, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, and Shakti Kapoor. Renowned musician A.R.Rahman has scored the background music and soundtrack for the movie.

Sardari Begum is an 1996 Indian musical film directed by Shyam Benegal. The film stars Kiron Kher, Amrish Puri, Rajit Kapur and Rajeshwari Sachdev.

The film's lead actress Kiron Kher won the 1997 National Film Award - Special Jury Award. Rajeshwari Sachdev won the 1997 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. The music by Vanraj Bhatia also received wide acclaim.

Mammo is a 1994 Indian Hindi film by Shyam Benegal. It stars Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri, Amit Phalke and Rajit Kapur.

The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1995. Farida Jalal won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, while Surekha Sikri won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. It was the first film of his Muslim trilogy, which included Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa (2001). The film was critically acclaimed and is regarded amongst Benegal's best works.

Mandi (English: Market Place) is a 1983 Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal. The rights to this film are owned by Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment.

The film is a satirical comedy on politics and prostitution, and stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil. Based on a classic Urdu short story Aanandi by writer Ghulam Abbas, the film narrates the story of a brothel, situated in the heart of a city, an area that some politicians want for its prime locality.

Junoon (Hindi: जुनून, translation: The Obsession) is a 1978 Indian Hindi language film produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal. The film is based on Ruskin Bond's fictional novella, A Flight of Pigeons, set around the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film's soundtrack was composed by Vanraj Bhatia, and cinematography by Govind Nihalani.