India’s first Oscar winner, Bhanu Athaiya died at her home on Thursday after a prolonged illness. She was 91. Athaiya, who won an Oscar for her work in the 1983 epic film Gandhi, passed away peacefully in her sleep, her daughter Radhika Gupta said. Although AR Rahman, Resul Pookutty, and Gulzar also won the Oscar later, she is still the only Indian woman to win an Oscar up to date.
All about Bhanu Athaiya:
Born in Kolhapur as Bhanumati Annasaheb Rajopadhye, Athaiya began her career as a costume designer in the Hindi film industry with Guru Dutt’s ‘CID’.
She went to become a part of his core team, doing Pyaasa in 1957, Chaudhvin Ka Chand in 1960, and Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam in 1962. Her other popular projects include Brahmachari (1968), Guide (1965), Agneepath (1990), Lagaan (2001), and Swades (2004). For some time, she was the only woman costume designer in the industry.
Athaiya shared her 1982 Oscar for Gandhi with John Mollo. The film’s director, Richard Attenborough, described her as “the revered doyenne of Indian costume designers” in his foreword to her memoir, The Art Of Costume Design.
The two-time National award-winning designer has worked with several noted filmmakers including Raj Kapoor, Kamal Amrohi, Guru Dutt, Yash Chopra, BR Chopra, Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, Gulzar, Ketan Mehta, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Subhash Ghai, and Ashutosh Gowariker.
Bhanu Athaiya is survived by her daughter Radhika Gupta, who describes her mother as “God gifted”. Athaiya’s ethnic knowledge and research were tremendous, she said, and recalled her mother travelling to Ajanta and Ellora to research Amrapali’s costumes.
According to eports, she was diagnosed with a tumour in her brain, eight years ago and was bedridden because one side of her body was paralysed.
