India’s first Oscar-winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, 91, passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 15, 2020 after a prolonged illness. The last rites took place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai. She is survived by her daughter.
Athaiya had been diagnosed with a brain tumour eight years ago and was bedridden for the past three years as one side of her body was paralysed.
Born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Athaiya began her career as a costume designer in Hindi cinema with Guru Dutt’s superhit movie C.I.D (1956). She went on to collaborate with filmmakers including Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla.
At the 55th Academy Awards, Athaiya claimed the award for Best Costume Design in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), alongside her British co-designer John Mollo, one of eight Oscars won by the movie that night. Her work in this biopic, based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, thrust her into the global spotlight.
The movie Gandhi was the spotlight of her profession and the closest to her heart. Both the designers, Athaiya and Mollo, had lined an enormous span of 50 years of Gandhi’s life, which was an excessive task. In her acceptance speech for the Oscar in 1983, Athaiya thanked Lord Attenborough “for focusing world consideration on India”. In 2012, Athaiya, however, returned her Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for safe-keeping.
In a career spanning five decades and over 100 films, Athaiya won two National Awards for Gulzar’s mystery drama Lekin (1990) and the period film Lagaan (2001) directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. Her work on Lagaan earned her the Best Costume Design at India’s prestigious National Film Awards in 2002.
She also produced costumes for director Conrad Rooks’ film Siddartha (1972), an adaptation of the famed Hermann Hesse novel.
Courtesy: India Today,