India's first Academy Award winner
Bhanu Athaiya has passed away at the age of 91. She made history by winning the
Oscar
for
Best Costume Design
for Lord
Richard Attenborough's Gandhi in 1983.
In an exclusive interaction with ETimes, her daughter Radhika confirmed that she passed away in her sleep this morning. She added that she had slight fever and cough and was taking antibiotics. It was kind of pneumonia.
She won the Best Costume Design Oscar for her work in the film ‘Gandhi’.
Bhanu Athaiya worked with all top filmmakers including Oscar nominated film ‘Lagaan’. She designed costumes for films like ‘Pyaasa’, ‘Chaudvin Ka Chaand’ ‘Kagaz Ke Phool’, ‘Waqt’, ‘Raat Aur Din’, ‘Guide’, ‘Teesri Manzil’, ‘Johny Mera Naam’, ‘Karz’, ‘Ek Duuje Ke Liye’, ‘Razia Sultan’, ‘Agneepath’, ‘Ajooba’ and ‘1942 – A Love Story’ and others. The last film for which she designed costumes were Aamir Khan’s ‘Lagaan’ and Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Swades’.