Celebrating the gem of Alwal

His friends, Hyderabadis, and countrypeople poured into the hall, a wave of deep sorrow pervaded them all.

- NITIKA KRISHNA

For they had gathered to lend their ears to tales about a boy from Alwal. Who was this young lad—was he a director? A screenwriter? A documentary filmmaker? Oh yes, but above all, the late Shyam Benegal was the pioneer of Indian parallel cinema.

To the world around him, he was always known as this ‘legendary filmmaker.’ He certainly was, but the ones in the room who knew him closely—comedian and actor Shankar Melkote, director Narsing Rao, theatre thespian Mohammad Ali Baig, and producer and Lamakaan co-founder Elahe Hiptoola—took the dais at Guruswamy Centre to remember the legend in different ways. Organised by Guruswamy Centre and moderated by Sanghamitra Malik, the event ‘Remembering the Boy from Alwal’ was a truly moving experience.