Bhanu Athaiya was an Indian costume designer and painter.
19 Facts About Bhanu Athaiya
2.
Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to win an Academy Award.
3.
Bhanu Athaiya was the only woman member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group.
4.
Bhanu Athaiya worked on international projects with directors such Conrad Rooks in Siddhartha and Richard Attenborough in Gandhi.
5.
For Gandhi, Bhanu Athaiya won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design.
6.
Bhanu Athaiya was born in a brahmin family Kolhapur in Maharashtra of British India.
7.
Bhanu Athaiya was the third of seven children born to Annasaheb and Shantabai Rajopadhye.
8.
Bhanu Athaiya's father, Annasaheb was a self-taught artist and photographer who worked in the films of Baburao Painter.
9.
Bhanu Athaiya studied at Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai, where she won the Usha Deshmukh Gold medal in 1951 for the artwork titled 'Lady In Repose'.
10.
Bhanu Athaiya started her career as an artist in Mumbai while still studying at JJ School of Art.
11.
Later when the Eve's Weekly editor opened a boutique, she asked Bhanu Athaiya to try designing dresses, hereupon she discovered her flair for designing clothes.
12.
Bhanu Athaiya soon became a part of the Guru Dutt team.
13.
Bhanu Athaiya won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work in the 1982 film, Gandhi and became the first Indian to win an Academy Award.
14.
Bhanu Athaiya won two National Film Awards, in 1991 and 2002.
15.
In March 2010, Bhanu Athaiya released her book The Art of Costume Design, published by HarperCollins.
16.
On 13 January 2013, Bhanu Athaiya presented a copy of the book to the Dalai Lama.
17.
On 23 February 2012, it was reported that Bhanu 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.
18.
In 2012, Bhanu Athaiya was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which eventually lead to her suffering paralysis on one side of the body and was bed-ridden for the last three years of her life.
19.
Bhanu Athaiya died on October 15,2020, in Mumbai at the age of 91, at a medical centre in South Mumbai.