Shyam Benegal’s generosity of spirit and time

A nephew and filmmaker remembers the veteran director (1934-2024) as a collaborator who “kept on giving”

Forty-four years after having known and worked with Shyam Benegal, I finally turned my camera on him. It was January 2023.

I was asking him about his film Mandi (1984), which I had also worked on.

One of my jobs back then was to take photographs of the actors’ costumes, make-up, and jewellery. Mandi was in colour but we didn’t have a budget for a Polaroid camera. I was therefore handed a camera with a few rolls of black-and-white film.

Those photographs lay in a box for 40 years. After the pandemic, shifting houses, and sorting boxes, I rediscovered them. And thought of making a film about photographs and memory.

“I haven’t talked about the film or discussed it for many years now... the memories have faded,” Shyam said when we met in January. As my camera rolled, he spoke about its origins, the filming, all the way to its reception. By then, he was already quite unwell. Yet his memory was razor-sharp.

“It worked well because of the actors. They were part of the creative side of the film... not just their performance, but they all contributed to the story.” The movie starred Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah, among others.

Shyam was always the consummate director, never once taking credit for the world and characters he created. There was none of the auteur hubris in him. His filmmaking style was always collaborative. He encouraged his actors’ constant questioning.