Mr. Shyam Benegal is one of India's best known film directors, and was part of the Hindi parallel or art cinema of India during the 1970s and 1980s. A prolific film-maker, he has made feature films, TV films and documentaries, and hundreds of advertisement films in India.

Mr. Benegal speaks to Kamla Bhatt about growing up in Aliwal, near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, his career in the advertisement industry, his films and Guru Dutt, his cousin.

In this episode, Mr. Benegal talks about his recent nomination to the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian Parliament. Earlier this year President APJ Abdul Kalam nominated Mr. Benegal as a member of the Rajya Sabha. His tenure as a Member of Parliament (MP) is for a period of six years. This is the first time that the film-maker has held a political office.

Mr. Benegal was born and brought up in Aliwal, near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. He relocated to Bombay after graduating with a Masters in Economics from Hyderabad. He spent about a decade in the advertisement industry before he made his first feature film Ankur. After the success of Ankur, Mr. Benegal went on to make films like Mandi, Nishant, Bhumika, Junoon, Manthan, Kalyug, Zubeida and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero

Mr. Benegal introduced many talented actors like Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Smita Patil, and Naseerudin Shah among others to the Indian film industry.

A prolific film-maker, Mr. Benegal has no plans to retire and is busy with his next project called Chamki.

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