Background
Development was born in Bombay to Som Benegal, a theatre director, and his wife Suman. Development Benegal grew up in New Delhi.
Development was born in Bombay to Som Benegal, a theatre director, and his wife Suman. Development Benegal grew up in New Delhi.
He studied Cinematography for two years at the Film School of New York University in the late 1980s.
He has one brother, Rahul. Som Benegal was the younger brother of Shyam Benegal, the noted film director, and a relative of Guru Dutt, the renowned film actor and director In 1979, he left Delhi for Mumbai (then Bombay), to pursue a career in movies.
He directed several documentaries, including Shabana! (2003) with Indian film star Shabana Azmi and Abhivardhan: Building for a New Life (1992).
In 1994 he wrote and directed his adaptation of Upamanyu Chatterjee"s 1989 novel by the same name, based on the Indian Administrative Service. The film received praise from critics for its modern and urban themes and was hailed as the cinematic counterpart to the later Anglo-Indian literary movement.
Benegal"s latest film,, about a travelling cinema troupe in Rajasthan, and starring Abhay Deol and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the lead, premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. His project Samurai was selected for the Hong Kong Asia Film Finance Forum (HAF), but eventually was not screened.
Development Benegal is currently developing a film on the life of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Shabana! (2003) Merchants & Marxists: Stones of the Raj (1997) Field of Shadows (1993) Abhivardhan: Building for a New Life (1992) Kalpavriksha: The Tree of Life (1988) Kanakambaram: Cloth of Gold (1987) Anantarupam: The Infinite Forms (1987).
Festival des 3 Continents 1994: Silver Montgolfiere (Silver Grand Prix): English, August 1994: Gilberto Martinez Solares (Best First Film): English, August 1994: Special Jury Award: Torino International Film Festival: English, August 1995: National Film: Best Feature Film in English: English, August.
