Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal passes away at 90
Mumbai, Dec 24: Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who heralded the Indian parallel cinema movement in the 1970s and 1980s with films such as "Ankur", "Nishant" and "Manthan", died on Monday, his daughter Pia said. He was 90.
The filmmaker passed away at Mumbai's Wockhardt Hospital due to chronic kidney disease, Pia Benegal told PTI.
"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," she said.
Wockhardt Hospital sources said Benegal had been admitted in the ICU.
In his prolific career, Benegal made films on diverse issues, documentaries and television serials, including "Bharat Ek Khoj" and "Samvidhaan". He had celebrated his 90th birthday just 10 days ago on December 14.
The director told PTI on the occasion that he had to frequently visit the hospital and was on dialysis.
Benegal is survived by his wife Nira Benegal and daughter.
His films include "Bhumika", "Junoon", "Mandi", "Suraj Ka Satvaan Ghoda", "Mammo" and "Sardari Begum", most counted as classics in Hindi cinema.
The director's most recent work was the 2023 biographical "Mujib: The Making of a Nation".
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'Minor incidents' do happen in such a big event: UP minister on Maha Kumbh stampede
Hardoi (UP) (PTI): Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad on Wednesday expressed grief over the stampede in Mahakumbh Nagar and said "minor incidents" do happen in "such a big event".
Nishad is the chief of the Nishad party and fisheries minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.
"In such a big event and when there is such a huge crowd, minor incidents do happen," he said while calling it sad.
He said Chief Minister Adityanath is looking into this matter. One should take a bath wherever one finds space and one should not believe in rumours, he added.
Asked about Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's allegation of mismanagement in Maha Kumbh, he said, he would not want to comment on it.
"The arrangements that have been made and the crowd that is there will not be anywhere else in the world. Where such big arrangements are made and such a huge crowd gathers, some small incidents take place somewhere or the other," he said.
"This incident is sad for us and I want this not to happen in the future. We people and the entire government are alert," he said.
The stampede took place in Mahakumbh Nagar in which 30 people died and 60 suffered injuries.
