‘I was envious...’: Shyam Benegal’s relationship with cousin, Guru Dutt

Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal said in an interview that even though he admired the success of his cousin Guru Dutt he was critical of the filmmaker’s works

Legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who passed away at 90 on Monday (December 23), shared a complex, fascinating relationship with his second cousin Guru Dutt, hailed as one of the greatest filmmakers of India. 

Dutt’s maternal grandmother and Shyam’s paternal grandmother were sisters, making the two directors second cousins. Dutt, an iconic actor and director, is known for his moody, melancholic masterpieces like Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool. The cousins held distinct worldviews and approaches towards art and cinema. While one pioneered the Indian New Wave, focused on realism and social critique, the other operated within the confines of Bombay cinema, and enjoyed more popular acclaim.

In a YouTube interview with Samdish, Benegal said he was “envious of” Dutt’s success. “I used to not admire but envy him (Dutt) because of his success. I used to be very critical of his work. There used to be aesthetic lapses. However, by and large, he had a very restless mind and he used to try different things, and often they would become successful,” said Benegal.

“He made some wonderful films like Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) but Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)flopped. Some parts of Kaagaz Ke Phool were interesting. V K Murthy, his cameraman, became my cinematographer later,” he added.

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In another interview in 1989, Benegal says he was impressed with Dutt’s picturisation of songs. “In terms of techniques and the way he used to picturise songs had a tremendous impact on those who made films after him,” he says.