His introduction to the novel led him to the best of world literature. "I read everything from Hemmingway, Steinbeck, Maxim Gorky and Eugene O'Neil to our own genius, Premchand. I enjoyed the works of American and Russian writers loved Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and 19th century French poetry," says Benegal.

"The most exciting stage in literature for me was when I discovered the Latin-American writers like Marquez. Among Indian authors Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children left a deep impression on me. I am also fond of Amitav Ghosh and more recently I liked Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things," he says.Currently, Benegal is in search of books about the conflict inYugoslavia. "To me it seems very relevant -- living in India -- because of the kind of political ideas that have emerged there. I feel that one of the areas to study is to look at the problems of Yugoslavia and Bosnia. I've just read two books -- one is a wonderful account by a journalist who spent one year in Bosnia during the war. The other book, Blood and Belonging really affected me a lot," he says. On cinema his favourite book is Technique of Film Editing.