Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, who won the first Academy Award for India, has died at the age of 91. He won the Oscar for Best Costume Design for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi in 1983, along with John Mollo. The expansive film, with Ben Kingsley playing the Mahatma, swept the Oscars with eight awards.
Athaiya’s daughter, Radhika Gupta, said she died Wednesday morning in her sleep; he suffered from a strain of pneumonia. His last rites were performed at Mumbai Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai. “He passed away early this morning. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. For the last three years, she was bedridden because one side (of her body) was paralyzed, ”said her daughter.
Kolhapur-born Athaiya began her career as a costume designer in Hindi cinema with Guru Dutt’s 1956 superhit CID. It was an impressive start to a career that spanned more than 100 films and six decades. His filmography included the Oscar-nominated film Lagaan. He worked with top Bollywood talents and designed costumes for Teesri Manzil, Pyaasa, Kagaz Ke Phool, Guide, Waqt, Razia Sultan, Karz, 1942 – A Love Story and Swades, to name just a few.
In her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, Athaiya had said, “It’s too good to believe. Thank you Academy and thank you Sir Richard Attenborough for focusing global attention on India. “In 2012, Athaiya returned her Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for safekeeping. In an interview with PTI, the veteran designer said she has no regrets to return the award. “I’ve wanted this for some time. I want to thank the Academy for helping me. Many Oscar winners in the past have returned their Oscars to keep them safe. It’s a tradition at the Academy,” he had said.
Apparently, Athaiya was concerned about the safety of the trophy. He had previously donated to the Academy “a huge collection of Gandhi-related items.
Recalling the moment her name was announced, Athaiya had said that other nominees had told her that she was one of the nominees for the best costume award. “I was sitting in the audience with the other nominees in my category. They all told me they had no chance of winning the Oscar. They told me my canvas was huge, so I would definitely win the award. In my mind, I had told myself that I had done everything I could, that I had done justice to Gandhiji’s name and to the freedom movement.
“When they called me by my name, I didn’t get carried away. I calmly went up on stage and thanked Sir Richard and the Academy. When I went backstage, I was surprised to see that there were so many photographers taking pictures. But it was a great feeling. I was happy, “he said.
The veteran who defined the aesthetics of Hindi cinema through her prolific work, she created some of Bollywood’s most remembered looks, including Vyjayantihmala in Aamrapaali, Waheeda Rehman in Guide, and Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram.
Athaiya, one of the most respected names in the film industry, also worked with prominent filmmakers like Yash Chopra. And in a career spanning more than five decades, he won two national awards: for the Gulzar Lekin mystery drama (1990) and the period film Lagaan directed by Ashutosh Gowariker (2001). Things didn’t change much after winning the Oscar, he said in 2010. The costume department remained a neglected part of the Indian film industry.
“Costumes play a very important role in making a movie look real and believable, but Indian filmmakers have never given it its due importance and today the trend is just to go shopping abroad and put things together. In my opinion, that’s not the right thing to do, ”she said at the launch of her book“ The Art of Costume Design ”published by Harper Collins at the time.
(With PTI inputs)
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