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 filmmaker, he has made feature films, TV films and documentaries, and hundreds of advertisement films in India.

The conversation with Mr. Benegal is a multi-part episode, where he speaks about growing up in Aliwal, near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, his career in the advertisement industry, his films and Guru Dutt, his cousin.

In Part-1 Mr. Benegal talks about his recent nomination (2006) 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 filmmaker 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, and instead of joining his cousin Guru Dutt’s film production he decided to work in the advertisement industry.

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.

Mr. Benegal has no immediate plans to retire.

This interview was originally recorded in  Mr. Benegal’s office in Mumbai in April 2006.

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