When Shyam Benegal Revealed He Was Envious Of His Cousin Guru Dutt's Success

Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal who passed away in December, 2024, at the age of 90, in an interview had opened up about his cousin Guru Dutt, who was a celebrated actor and filmmaker. Benegal, the pioneer of 'new wave' cinema, during his conversation with Samdish Bhatia on his YouTube channel, revealed why he used to envy Guru Dutt.

What Shyam Benegal said about Guru Dutt

Shyam Benegal said he used to feel envy when he was young. When asked to name the filmmaker he was most envious of, Benegal replied, "Well, in India, there was only one, Satyajit Ray. The person I used to admire greatly, was Satyajit Ray. And then a couple of people and my cousin, I mean Guru Dutt for instance."

He said he didn't admire Guru Dutt much, but used to envy him because of his success. He revealed as a filmmaker, he used to be very critical of Dutt's work. "But the fact was, I used to envy him. Well, you know the fact was that I used to admire him because you know, for reasons of his success, because he was very successful and also he had aesthetic lapses in his work. But by and large, he had a very restless mind. He used to try out different things often without success. I mean he made some wonderful films like Sahib and Ghulam. But he also bought a Kaagaz Ke Phool, which completely fell on his face," shared the National award-winning filmmaker.

How Shyam Benegal was related to Guru Dutt

Shyam Benegal and Guru Dutt were second cousins. Benegal's paternal grandmother and Dutt's maternal grandmother were sisters.

Shyam Benegal, the father of parallel cinema in India, is known for his films like Manthan, Ankur, Bhumika, Nishant, Mandi, Junoon, Kalyug and Zubeidaa among others.

Over his career span, Benegal received several accolades, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

He also bagged the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times and was also honoured with the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Guru Dutt, who passed away in 1964, at the age of 39, was an acclaimed filmmaker, whose films were ahead of time. Apart from acting, he also directed films like Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962).