Director Shyam Benegal has been bestowed the Dada Saheb Phalke award. Benegal, who began his career in 1971 with Ankur, is in the capital and has expressed his gratitude and honour. It is an award that would make any director proud, he said.

Benegal has had a long and illustrious career. Though his last film, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose�The Forgotten Hero did not go down too well with critics and the masses, his earlier films have been landmark films. One of his greatest contribution to Hindi cinema has been actors like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri among many others. The director, who is distantly related to the late Guru Dutt, began his career with advertising till Ankur happened. After that he continued to ride the wave of parallel cinema which was very strong in the 70s and the 80s. He tried to go commercial and directed Zubeida with Karishma Kapoor in the lead. Benegal also ventured into television and made some quality programmes like Yatra, Katha Saagar with the most memorable being Bharat Ek Khoj. He has received many honours at home and abroad and it is a fitting tribute to his work that he has been honoured with the Phalke award.