It has always been a privilege to represent your country on international levels. For the entertainment industry, the Oscar is the most prestigious award. The award has international recognition, and the event is held annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
Bhanu Athaiya is the first lady from the Indian entertainment industry to make India shine on an international stage. She was the first Indian to win an Oscar award for best costume design along with John Mollo.
In 1983, Bhanu Athaiya worked with Richard Attenborough in his film "Gandhi "as a costume designer. Bhanu did not convince Hollywood of her achievement as they thought it was not worth it. Even some Indian filmmakers were also not happy as they thought everything was so ordinary and dull.
But Athaiya knew what she was doing and the worth of her work. She said, "Richard Attenborough was making a complex film, and he needed someone who knew India inside out. "
Dedication about Fashion
Bhanu was born in Kolhapur on 28th April 1929. Her father used to work in production. As a teenager, she traveled to Mumbai, and she started her fashion career as a freelancer for various women's magazines.
From there, she started exploring designing and found a new career path. After being successful in the designing field, she was approached by many celebrities and filmmakers. Her career took off from Guru Dutt's film "C.I.D "in 1956.
After that, she worked in nearly 100 films and did a tremendous job. Indian filmmakers like Yash Chopra, B.R. Chopra, Raj Kapoor, Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, and Ashutosh Gowariker were all delighted with her work; also international director Conrad Rooks and Richard Attenborough approached her.
Athaiya said Richard offered her job in 15 minutes of her interview. It was challenging to design costumes for Gandhi with no internet access. To capture the look over decades and to do justice with it. In an interview, she said, "You can well imagine the kind of study I undertook to create the look. "
But in the end, it was all worth it; by winning an Oscar for 'Gandhi,' Athaiya put India on the map of the world. She said 'Gandhi' was an impactful film of her career.
Her career was a way to express her life. She has even won 2 national awards respectively in 1991 and 2002. Except for designer, she was a well-known painter; she has exhibited her paintings along with FN Souza and MF Hussain.
After building a successful career in costume design in Filmmaking, she decided to publish a book about costume designing. In March 2010, Athaiya released her book The Art of Costume Design, published by HarperCollins.
The Academy Return
On 23rd February 2012, it was reported that Athiya requested to return the Academy Award to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bhanu returned the figurine in a particular container to its original place.
She said, "It was a burden. I wanted the trophy to be in a safe place," For taking such a big step, she explained, "If Tagore's Nobel medal could be stolen, then how come my trophy would be safe? We lack a tradition in maintaining our heritage."
Life Span
She contributed to the field of art till 2004. In 2012 she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and stayed in Mumbai with her daughter.
In the year 2020, when we were all battling with the pandemic, we lost many gems from the industry, and sadly Athaiya was one of them. On 15th October 2020, she left her legacy of fashion for us.
We have an immense number of designers today, but none of them has portrayed the kind of work she had done.
On 26th April 2021, in the remembrance segment of the 93rd Academy Awards, In Memoriam paid tribute to Bhanu Athaiya and Irrfan Khan. The way she took care of the little details shows how dedicated she is to her work.
It was a proud moment for us as Indians not only because she won the first award, but she won that award for the film that portrays India's freedom movement. It is sad for us that many of us still don't recognize our country's talent.
Bhanu Athaiya was a true gem of the Indian entertainment industry.
Author Name: Vidisha Shah
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