The well-appreciated singer-actress Ila Arun shared a close association with the deceased doyen of Indian cinema Shyam Benegal. Ila worked with Shyam in Mandi, Trikaal, Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda, Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Welcome To Sajjanpur and Well Done Abba. That’s more than Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil! When did your association with Shyam Benegal begin? My association with Shyam Babu is almost.
.. Mandi was released in 1982, so you can count the years.
I was almost in all his ventures and I was not there sometimes, but I was always connected with him, always. He was a very humble person, we all called him encyclopedia. ALSO READ: Javed Akhtar Calls Legendary Filmmaker Shyam Benegal 'The Father Of Parallel Hindi Cinema' Yes everyone talks of his vast knowledge? I was a part of his repertory, and literally he groomed everybody by his talking style, by his knowledge about history, not history of only India, the world, and his knowledge about food, and fashion.
He was in this industry for so long! He started as ad filmmaker at Lintas, and then he started making so many films. So prolific yet so calibred! He was an internationally acclaimed director, and as we call him, the Bhishma Pitamah of Parallel Cinema. Through his cinema, he brought a new kind of awareness about our society, and working with him was a treat.
One got to see farmers, dacoits, weavers staying with him for 45 days and more. He has given all of us an extended family. Working as a family on every project? Whoe.
