Shyam Benegal to be presented with South Asian Cinema Foundation's Excellence in Cinema Award

The South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF) in association with British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank and The Nehru Centre decided to honour the work of veteran Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal with the South Asian Cinema Foundation's 'Excellence in Cinema Award' on 9 June 2012. He is to be presented the award in recognition of his contribution to new wave Indian cinema. Benegal who is also a recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, will be sixth filmmaker to be honoured by SACF.

Previous recipients of the award include M S Sathyu (2004), Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2006), Saeed Akhtar Mirza (2008), Girish Kasaravalli (2009) and poet and Oscar winning lyricist of Slumdog Millionaire fame, Gulzar (2010).

Director and screenwriter Shyam Benegal is considered the father of the New Wave in Indian cinema. Benegal made 26 fiction features, several and TV series, notably a 53-hour TV series on the History of India. In his career spanning 50 years he made documentaries as well as features which established him as highly accomplished and deeply humanitarian filmmaker. His critique of sexual and social inequality was represented in all his work.

Benegal's movies like Nishant (Night's End, 1976), Bhumika (The Role, 1977), Trikal (Past Present Future, 1985), Junoon (Obsession, 1978) and Zubeidaa (2000) documented social change in India after the end of the British Raj. His movies had a deep impact in Bollywood in terms of creation of new content.

Benegal had taught mass-communication techniques between 1966 and 1973 and had also taken an active role in shaping film education as Chairman of the Film Television Institute of India during 1980-83 and 1989-92. Benegal was part of the National Integration Council (1986-89) and the National Council of Art.

Benegal was a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) between 2006 and 2012.

The Government of India conferred on him two of its most prestigious awards Padma Shri (1976) and Padma Bhushan (1991). He also won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005 and bagged several National film awards in his illustrious career.