MUMBAI: India’s first Oscar winner, Bhanu Athaiya, died at her home after a prolonged illness. She was 91. She won an Oscar award for costume designing in the 1983 epic film “Gandhi”. The last rites took place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in south Mumbai “She passed away early this morning. Eight years ago, she was diagnosed with a tumor in her brain. For the last three years, she was bedridden because one side (of her body) was paralyzed,” her daughter said.
She began her career as a costume designer in Hindi cinema with Guru Dutt’s 1956 superhit “CID”. She went on to work in over 100 films. She won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi”, with Ben Kingsley as the Mahatma, along with John Mollo. The lavish biopic of Mahatma Gandhi swept the Oscars with eight awards. In 2012, Athaiya returned her Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for safekeeping. Athaiya was apparently worried about the safety of the trophy. She had previously donated “a huge collection of papers relating to “Gandhi” to the Academy.
One of the most respected names in the film industry, Athaiya also worked with noted filmmakers like Yash Chopra. And in a career of more than five decades won two National Awards — for Gulzar’s mystery drama “Lekin” (1990) and the period film “Lagaan” directed by Ashutosh Gowariker (2001). Things did not change much after the Oscar win, she said in 2010. The costume department continued to be a neglected part of the Indian film industry.
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