His smile would tell you he's happy with your work: 'Mammo' star Farida Jalal remembers Shyam Benegal

He understood the capabilities of his actors and let them play, says "Mammo" star Farida Jalal who remembers filmmaker Shyam Benegal as a soft-spoken man with a reassuring smile. Benegal, who ushered in the 'parallel cinema' movement in the 1970s and '80s, died on Monday at a Mumbai hospital due to chronic kidney disease at the age of 90.

The 1994 film "Mammo" saw Jalal play the title role of a woman uprooted by Partition, navigating the complexities of identity and belonging while seeking solace in her familial ties.


"If he understood your capacity to put in your 100 per cent into the character that he has given you, he would just let you play. There were no instructions as such.

"That little smile on his face would tell you that he's happy with what you're doing... That smile was something. It was a reassurance that 'You're right, you can go on and I'm loving it'. That was just there and he would never hide that," Jalal told PTI.

The 75-year-old actor recalled the time when Benegal approached her for the role and handed the script of "Mammo" to her.

"I was so privileged and happy when I met him at his office and he said 'This is the story of 'Mammo' and you're Mammo'. I can't tell you what I felt in that moment when he put the script in my lap."

"He was one of a kind. God bless him wherever he is. He is in a better place," she added.

It was every actor's dream to work with Shyam Babu, as he was fondly called by friends and colleagues, she said.

"Only an actor can tell what he or she would feel on his sets. He was so disciplined, different from the rest. He was so soft spoken, kind. His work speaks for his talent and art. He has given some of the best movies. He got some of the best talents like Shabana Azmi (to the forefront)," Jalal added.

Ranging from short films, documentaries, and TV shows, Benegal had a vast filmography also boasting of feature-length movies such as "Mandi", "Nishant", "Junoon", "Zubeidaa", and "Welcome to Sajjanpur", shows "Bharat Ek Khoj", "Yatra", and "Samvidhaan".

His most recent project as a director was "Mujib: The Making of a Nation", which released in theatres in 2023.