Legendary theatre and film personality Vijaya Mehta passed away on 30th June in Bombay. She was 91. She had directed Rao Saheb in 1986. The other films she made include telefilm Smriti Chitre (1982) and Pestonjee (1988). Her Smriti Chitre won the National Award for the best Marathi film in 1982. She was the founder-member of theatre group Rangayan along with Vijay Tendulkar, Arvind Deshpande and Shriram Lagoo.
Vijaya Mehta married Farokh Mehta after her first husband, Harin Khote (son of actress Durga Khote), passed away.
Generations of theatre lovers knew Vijaya Mehta as Bai. Her commitment to stage plays lasted a lifetime and Vijayabai became the executive director of the NCPA in her later years. She was known as much for her keen sense of humour as for her eloquent artistic expression, eye for details and ability to take the best out of her actors including Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Tanvi Azmi, Neena Kulkarni, Nana Patekar and Bharti Achrekar.
