Filmmaker Shyam Benegal has won the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for 2005.

The Phalke award was embroiled in a bit of a controversy, as it was speculated that the award would go to either Marathi actress Sulochana or Bengali actress Suchitra Sen.

In fact, this is the reason for its delay because the jury was divided and could not come to a conclusion.

Benegal, 72, has directed well-reviewed films like Manthan, Junoon and Ankur. His last film was Bose: The Forgotten Hero, a film on the freedom fighter, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

He is considered as one of the pioneers of parallel cinema in India in the 1970s and 1980s.