Bollywood’s legendary filmmaker, Shyam Benegal who is known to be a pioneering figure of the parallel cinema passed away on December 23, 2024. He was 90. His contribution to Indian cinema is remarkable with movies like Ankur, Zubeidaa, Mandi and more to his credit.
In a long-list of movies, he also made a documentary on the history of Punjab beginning from the founding of the Sikh empire by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 19th century.
The film is a regular fixture at a museum being set up at Kartarpur, near Jalandhar, in memory of freedom fighters, especially Punjabis, who fought for the country’s independence. In an earlier interview with a leading daily, Benegal told that Ranjit Singh’s role hadn’t been enacted in the film, but the legendary ruler figured in the celluloid narrative in other forms.
But there are over a hundred actors playing roles of other key figures such as Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh. The documentary was sponsored by the Punjab government.
The museum being set up en route of Harmandar Sahib in Amritsar is in the vicinity of Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala.
