Filmmaker Shyam Benegal cremated with full state honours

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.

Benegal, known for films such as "Ankur", "Mandi", "Nishant", and "Junoon", died on Monday at a hospital here due to chronic kidney disease.

The last rites of the filmmaker, who celebrated his 90th birthday on December 14, were held around 3 pm at Dadar's Shivaji Park crematorium. His body was wrapped in the national flag and decked with garlands.

Benegal's cinema contemporaries, colleagues and younger generations of actors and artists accompanied wife Nira and daughter Pia in paying their last respects to the icon, whose movies captured the many realities of India.