Bollywood Babylon Interviews with Shyam Benegal

Shyam Benegal is one of India's major film directors. A career spanning more than forty years includes documentaries and television programs as well as over twenty feature films. He has worked with, indeed launched the careers of, many of the major stars of the Bombay film industry such as Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri. From his first feature film, Ankur , to recent work like Zubeidaa , Benegal has always combined social analysis with aesthetic pleasure. These lively and engaging interviews cover Benegal's life and work and, in doing so, present a history of Indian cinema.

William van der Heide is a private researcher specializing in Asian cinemas and Honorary Associate at the University of Newcastle, Australia and author of Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures