Shyam Benegal, the pioneer of parallel cinema, played a pivotal role in Shabana Azmi’s career as the actor says he was a guru who influenced not only her approach towards acting but also her understanding of life.
Benegal, known for his socially relevant and thought-provoking films such as Ankur (1974), Mandi (1983), Mamma (1994) and Zubeida (2001) , died in Mumbai on Monday evening, just nine days after his 90th birthday.
It was Benegal who gave Azmi her first acting role in his directorial debut Ankurwhich explored themes of caste, class, and sexual politics, with a focus on the struggles of rural women.
Over the years, the duo collaborated on several projects, including Nishant (1975), Junoon (1978), Susman (1978) and Internaad (1992).
“Shyam Benegal has been my guru in everything, not just in acting but in the way I view the world. When I went abroad for Ankur with him to the Berlin Film Festival and, as a young kid with stars in my eyes, I wanted to run to the first shopping place,” Azmi told PTI in a recent interview.
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