India’s first Academy Award winner, Bhanu Athaiya, passed away today (15th October) at the age of 91. She died of complications from brain cancer, at a hospital in Bombay. The celebrated costume designer made a marked difference to the films she designed costumes for. She won the Oscar for her costumes in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), sharing the award with John Mollo. However, she returned the award to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in December 2012 because she thought, her family would not be able to take care of it after her demise. In India, she won the National Award for the best costume design twice — for Lekin and Lagaan.
In all, she designed costumes for over a hundred films including those made by Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, B.R. Chopra and Yash Chopra. Among her well-known films were Pyaasa, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Guide, Lekin,Chandni, Agneepath, Lagaan, 1942 A Love Story, Henna, Sultanat, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Razia Sultan, Prem Rog, Nikaah, Karz, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Shalimar, Mera Naam Joker, Guide, Waqt, Leader, Gunga Jumna, Kagaz Ke Phool and Swades. She had designed Rekha’s costume for a song-dance in Sushama Shiromanee’s Phatakdee (Marathi). Her illustrious career spanned almost half a century — from 1956 to 2004.
Bhanu started her career as a fashion illustrator for women’s magazine and slowly but surely graduated to becoming a dress designer in Guru Dutt’s C.I.D. (1956).