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Bhanu Athaiya is a Costume Design Indian born on 28 april 1929 at Kolhapur (Inde)

Bhanu Athaiya

Bhanu Athaiya
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Birth name Bhanumati Annasaheb Rajopadhye
Nationality Inde
Birth 28 april 1929 at Kolhapur (Inde)
Death 15 october 2020 (at 91 years)

Bhanu Athaiya née Rajopadhye (Marathi: भानु अथैय्या) (born 28 April 1929) is Indian cinema's most well-regarded costume designer, having worked in over 100 films, since 1950s, with noted filmmakers like Guru Dutt, Yash Chopra, Raj Kapoor, Ashutosh Gowariker, and international directors like Conrad Rooks and Richard Attenborough.

She made her debut as a film costume designer with the film C.I.D. in 1956, and followed it up with other Guru Dutt classics like Pyaasa (1959), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1964). In her career spanning 50 years she has received numerous awards. She won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (shared with John Mollo) for her work in the 1982 film, Gandhi. She became the first Indian to win an Academy Award. She also won two National Film Awards, in 1991 and 2002.

In March 2010, Athaiya released her book The Art of Costume Design, published by Harper Collins. On January 13, 2013, Athaiya presented a copy of the book to the Dalai Lama.

On February 23, 2012, it was reported that Athaiya wished to return her Academy Award to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because she felt that her family will not be able to take care of the trophy after her demise. On December 15, 2012, it was confirmed that the trophy had been returned to The Academy.

Biography

Bhanu Athaiya was born Bhanumati Annasaheb Rajopadhye in Kolhapur in Maharashtra. She was the third of the seven children born to Annasaheb and Shantabai Rajopadhye. Athaiya's father, Annasaheb was a painter. He expired when Athaiya was nine years old.

Her education in art began early. An art teacher used to come home to teach her drawing. Later after finishing her schooling, she enrolled at Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai. She graduated from there in fine arts with top honors, winning a gold medal and a fellowship. She was also nominated a member of the Progressive Artists' Group, founded by Francis Newton Souza.

Best films

Gandhi (1982)
(Costume Design)
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
(Costume Design)

Usually with

Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor
(10 films)
Guru Dutt
Guru Dutt
(4 films)
Mohammed Rafi
Mohammed Rafi
(8 films)
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
(7 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Bhanu Athaiya (32 films)

Display filmography as list

Costume and makup

Swades
Swades (2004)
, 3h30
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Shahrukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi, Lekh Tandon, Rajesh Vivek, Makarand Deshpande, Daya Shankar Pandey
Roles Costume Design
Rating81% 4.0983354.0983354.0983354.0983354.098335
Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan) is a non-resident Indian working as a project manager at NASA. He had been a student at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school. After the death of his parents and 12 years in the US, he decides to return to his hometown, Delhi, in India to find his nanny, Kaveri Amma (Kishori Ballal), with whom he has lost touch. After visiting the old-age home where Kaveri Amma resided, he finds out through her friend that Kaveri Amma was taken to a village Charanpur.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, 3h44
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Adventure, Historical, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Sports films, Cricket films, Musiques du monde, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Roles Costume Design
Rating80% 4.0480154.0480154.0480154.0480154.048015
In the small village of Champaner, (in the State of Gujarat, in western India) during the height of the British Empire in India in 1893, Captain Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne), the commanding officer of the Champaner cantonment, has imposed high taxes ("lagaan") on people from the local villages which they are unable to pay due to a prolonged drought. Led by Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), the villagers beg Raja Puran Singh (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) to help them. He tells them that much to his regret, he is also bound by British law.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
Directed by Jabbar Patel
Genres Biography, Historical
Actors Mammootty, Sonali Kulkarni, Mohan Gokhale, Govind Namdev, Mrinal Dev-Kulkarni, Aanjjan Srivastav
Roles Costume Design
Rating88% 4.442734.442734.442734.442734.44273
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, his film biopic on the National leader who fought also for dalits, which has been in the making for the past nine years, is now seeing the light of the day. The film which fetched Malayalam superstar Mammooty a National award in 1999, however took a while to reach the audience. After the English version received the award, Patel said "the decision was taken to go in for different dubbing versions. It was decided to dub the film in eight languages. So it needed time to write the script, go for script approval from prominent Sahitya Akademi winners,". That entailed going for dubbing teams and a series of voice trials. Mammooty is doing the Malayalam and Tamil dubbing but not the Hindi.
Ajooba
Ajooba (1991)
, 2h59
Directed by Shashi Kapoor
Genres Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes Superhero films
Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia, Rishi Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Sonam, Saeed Jaffrey
Roles Costume Design
Rating52% 2.605432.605432.605432.605432.60543
The Afghan kingdom of "Baharistan" is ruled by a just and kind Sultan Ali Rizwan Mohhamad Dokeer Khan (Shammi Kapoor). All is well in the land except that the Sultan seemingly can't have children. An evil devil-worshipping Vazir (Amrish Puri) seeks to usurp the throne, revive his "fauladi shaitan" (a huge demon-like figure made of stone), and take over the world. The Vazir instructs his maids to strangle every child born to the Sultan. Finally, however, a spark of divine intervention (presented literally as a spark which descends from the heavens and enters the womb) renders the next newborn son immune to the poisons and strangulations administered by the maids. This Shehezada (prince) eventually becomes Ajooba (miracle).
Henna
Henna (1991)
, 3h4
Directed by Randhir Kapoor
Origin Pakistan
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Actors Rishi Kapoor, Zeba Bakhtiar, Ashwini Bhave, Saeed Jaffrey, Farida Jalal, Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Roles Costume Design
Rating61% 3.0957053.0957053.0957053.0957053.095705
The story revolves around the mistaken straying (due to a car accident which also caused him to suffer amnesia) of Rishi Kapoor into the Pakistani side of Kashmir from his own home in Srinagar . A native girl called Henna (Zeba Bakhtiar), falls in love with him , amidst the controversial Indian-Pakistani tension on Kashmir which leads him to be suspected by the Pakistani police of being an Indian spy.
Lekin...
Lekin... (1990)
, 2h51
Directed by Gulzar
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Hema Malini, Amjad Khan, Alok Nath, Beena Banerjee
Roles Costume Design
Rating78% 3.9223653.9223653.9223653.9223653.922365
The movie takes place in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, which gives it something in common with Rudaali, another off-beat drama set in Rajasthan that was released around the same time and also featured Dimple Kapadia and Amjad Khan.
The Khayal Saga, 1h43
Directed by Kumar Shahani
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Rajat Kapoor, Mangal Dhillon, Mita Vashisht
Roles Costume Designer
Rating64% 3.245693.245693.245693.245693.24569
The film is presented in an abstract format, where a music student (Mangal Dhillon) listens to stories and legends about the birth and evolution of the Khayal form of classical Indian singing. These stories are re-enacted by actors Rajat Kapoor and Mita Vasisht, who play several key figures throughout the history of classical music.
Ram Teri Ganga Maili, 2h58
Directed by Raj Kapoor
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Rajiv Kapoor, Mandakini, Saeed Jaffrey, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Yash Pandit, Raza Murad
Roles Costume Design
Rating64% 3.2465353.2465353.2465353.2465353.246535
Ganga lives in Gangotri with her brother, Karam. One day she comes to the assistance of a young man, Narendra Sahay, who has come with a group of Calcutta-based college students to study the source of the holy river Ganga, and to get some holy water for his wheelchair-bound paternal grandmother. Both are attracted to each other, and on the next Puran Mashi get married, and spend the night together. Narendra leaves, but promises Ganga that he will be back soon. Months go by, but he does not return. She gives birth to a son, and as soon as she is able to, she starts her journey to Alipor, Calcutta, to confront Narendra and ensure a better future for their son. At Rishikesh she is exploited by two women and a man from whom she escapes and takes shelter in a crematorium. Then at Banaras, she is molested by a Pandit, rescued by the police and given a ticket to Calcutta. When she alights en route to get water for her baby, the train leaves, and she falls into the clutches of Manilal who feigns blindness and lures her to a brothel near Banaras, where she is forced to stay so that she can provide for her son. It is here that she is introduced to powerful politician, Bhagwat Choudhary, who pays a hefty sum and asks Manilal to bring Ganga to Calcutta where he intends to keep her as his and Jeeva Sahay's mistress. What Ganga does not know is that Bhagwat's daughter, Radha, is Narendra's bride-to-be; that Jeeva is none other than Narendra's father, and that soon she will be asked to dance at his wedding reception.
Gandhi
Gandhi (1982)
, 3h11
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Biography, Adventure, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about racism
Actors Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Edward Fox, Roshan Seth, John Gielgud
Roles Costume Design
Rating79% 3.997863.997863.997863.997863.99786
The screenplay of Gandhi is available as a published book. The film opens with a statement from the filmmakers explaining their approach to the problem of filming Gandhi's complex life story:
Prem Rog
Prem Rog (1982)
, 3h3
Directed by Raj Kapoor
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Actors Shammi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Nanda, Padmini Kolhapure, Tanuja, Raza Murad
Roles Costume Design
Rating70% 3.542853.542853.542853.542853.54285
Devdhar (Rishi Kapoor) is a poor orphan who in his childhood had a magnetic friendship with Manorama (Padmini Kolhapure), the only daughter of the rich and powerful Thakur. The benevolent Thakur helped Devdhar go to the city for higher studies. After eight years, Devdhar returns to his village, where he finds Manorama has grown up. After seeing her again, Devdhar falls in love. Due to family status difference, he is unable to express his love for her.
Mr. Natwarlal, 2h28
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Ajit Khan, Kader Khan, Amjad Khan, Iftekhar
Roles Costume Design
Rating64% 3.2477853.2477853.2477853.2477853.247785
Natwar is a young boy when his beloved older brother and caretaker, police officer Gridharilal (Ajit Khan), is framed for bribery by sinister criminal mastermind Vikram (Amjad Khan). When he grows up, Natwar (Amitabh Bachchan) creates a secret identity for himself, posing as a powerful and mysterious underworld figure named Mr. Natwarlal, determined to slowly but surely exact vengeance on Vikram. This was another 'Hit' of Amitabh Bachchan.
Rahu Ketu
Rahu Ketu (1978)

Directed by B. R. Ishara
Genres Drama, Action
Actors Shashi Kapoor, Prem Nath, Aruna Irani, Rekha, Bindu, Pran Krishan Sikand
Roles Costume Design
Rating58% 2.9329452.9329452.9329452.9329452.932945
Alaap
Alaap (1977)
, 2h41
Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Genres Musical, Romance
Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Asrani, Farida Jalal, Om Prakash, Chhaya Devi
Roles Costume Design
Rating65% 3.29293.29293.29293.29293.2929
Widowed Advocate Triloki Prasad (Om Prakash) lives a wealthy lifestyle in a small town in India with two sons, Advocate Ashok (Vijay Sharma) married to Geeta (Lily Chakravarty) and Alok (Amitabh Bachchan) who has yet to settle down in their law firm. Alok is fond of music and does enroll in classes run by Pandit Jamuna Prasad (A. K. Hangal). On his return, his father asks him to accompany Ashok to their law firm and start learning to practice, which he agrees to do. Then one day Triloki finds out that Alok has not been at the firm but is instead spending time in the local slums with a former courtesan named Sarju Bai Banaraswali (Chhaya Devi). He cautions Alok about this, but Alok continues to visit Sarju Bai. When Mr. Gupta (Yunus Parvez) approaches Triloki about taking possession & demolishing the slum area, Triloki readily agrees and with his expertise manages to sway the Court's decision in Gupta's favor. As a result, Sarju Bai and others are rendered homeless. With the fee he receives from Gupta, he asks Alok to purchase a used car for himself. But Alok purchases a horse-carriage and decides to drive it himself to make a living. His enraged father asks him to leave the house. When Triloki finds out that Alok is doing well in his work, he decides to hire motor coaches to transport people at a much cheaper price, thus cutting off Alok's earnings and perhaps forcing him to reconsider his decision, apologize, and return home to his father.