Veteran actress Farida Jalal, 75, spoke warmly about late filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who died on Monday at the age of 90. He described him as a guru who allowed actors to express themselves freely and was always soft-spoken. Farida had worked with him in the 1994 film Mammo.

“If he understands your ability to put 100 percent into a given character, he will let you play,” Jalal said. PTI“There was no such instruction. That little smile on her face would tell you that she was happy with what you were doing… that smile was like that. It was a reassurance that ‘You’re okay, you can move forward, and I’m liking that.’ He was just there, and he would never hide it,” she recalled.

In Mammo, Farida Jalal played the lead role of a woman torn by Partition, who navigates the complexities of identity and belonging while finding solace in her family ties.

Jalal expressed deep gratitude for his experiences working with Benegal, saying, “I felt very privileged and happy when I met him in his office and he said, ‘This is Mammo’s story and you are Mammo. ‘ I can’t tell you what I felt the moment he placed the script in my lap.”

“He was a one-of-a-kind person,” she continued. “God bless him wherever he is. He is in a better place.” Farida also shared that the late filmmaker was addressed as Shyam Babu by her friends and colleagues.

Farida, who was last seen in Hiramandi, described working with Benegal as every actor’s dream. “Only an actor can tell what he felt on his sets. He was very disciplined, different from the rest. He was very soft-spoken and kind. His work speaks volumes of his talent and art. He gave birth to some great films and brought out some great talents like Shabana Azmi.

Shyam Benegal, who started the ‘Parallel Cinema’ movement in the 1970s and 80s, died due to chronic kidney diseaseHe has left a legacy of cinematic talent in films like Mandi, Nishant, Junoon, Zubaida and Welcome to Sajjanpur. He also gave shows like Bharat Ek Khoj, Yatra and Samvidhan.