He won acclaim from critics and audiences even as the gritty stories he put on the big screen grappled with some of India’s thorniest problems.

Deeply saddened by the passing of Shyam Benegal, whose storytelling had a profound impact on Indian cinema,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

Nationalist would be the most erroneous description to use for Shyam Benegal, even though his cinema remained perennially committed to the vital idea of India. Far from the jingoistic, exclusionist, chest-thumping associations of the word,

Benegal, celebrated for classics like Ankur and Manthan, shaped Indian cinema with socially impactful storytelling

Pioneering Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal died Monday in Mumbai following a chronic kidney disease. He was 90. His daughter Pia Benegal confirmed the news to India Today. He had recently celebrated his 90th birthday with friends, family and the likes of Shashi Kapoor’s son Kunal Kapoor, according to the local outlet.

Renowned Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, a titan of Indian cinema, passed away yesterday, leaving behind an indelible legacy that transformed the landscape of filmmaking in the country. Known as the pioneer of Indian parallel cinema,

Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the pioneer of the parallel cinema movement in Indian cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, was cremated on Tuesday with full state honours and a three-gun salute here